Master-servant relationships were predominant up until recent times, and in many countries around the world, still exist. These relationships were not one of mutual exchange of labor and compensation, but rather one of service under an expected moral obligation of the master to lookout for the servants in their household. There are indeed many laws in the Torah that describe what masters can and cannot do to both servants and slaves, but little is said regarding the behavior of the servant to the master. Instead, there appears to be an implicit assumption that the servant will obey the master and that the master will be bound by their moral duties to their servants as described in our laws. Yet, our histories are full of countless stories and indeed societies where the master does not fulfill his obligation to the servant, and the servants have little recourse. Instead they are told to fear Heaven, which simply reinforces the situation and promotes complicity with one’s lot in life.

Antigonus lived just before the Maccabean revolt, when the ideas of Greek philosophy suffused Israeli (elite) society, and when the rewards and punishment for obeying G-d’s laws in the Torah were demonstrably false in this world. The notion of reward in ‘olam ha-ba’ which would dominate Judaism, and its offshoots, Christianity and Islam, for millennia. Here, Antigonus appears to be pushing back on this idea by embracing not a Jewish idea, but that of Stoicism, where virtue is its own reward. In our modern age, where faith in ‘olam ha-ba’ has fallen out of favor again as conditions for Jews throughout the world have improved, this idea has appeal, and yet the caution to ‘fear’ Heaven, would seem out of place with this notion. However, mora may be instead translated as ‘awe’, perhaps suggesting we should be in awe of the Heavenly system which allows us to participate in a moral system of exchange.

Antigonus a man of Socho received [the oral tradition] from Shimon the Righteous. He used to say: do not be like servants who serve the master in the expectation of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without the expectation of receiving a reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.

Open Mishnah

Antigonos aus Socho empfing [die Tora] von Simon dem Gerechten. Er Tat den Ausspruch: Seid nicht wie Knechte, die dem Herrn dienen in der Absicht, Lohn zu empfangen, sondern seid wie Knechte, die dem Herrn dienen ohne die Absicht, Lohn zu empfangen, und es sei Gottesfurcht über euch.

Mischnajot mit deutscher Übersetzung und Erklärung. Berlin 1887-1933 [de]
Source: talmud.de
Digitization: Sefaria License: [missing]

ANTIGONOS AUS SOKHO EMPFING SIE VON ŠIMO͑N DEM GERECHTEN; ER TAT DEN AUSSPRUCH: SEID NICHT WIE DIENER, DIE DEM HERRN DIENEN, IN DER ABSICHT LOHN ZU ERHALTEN, SONDERN SEID WIE DIENER, DIE DEM HERRN DIENEN, OHNE DIE ABSICHT LOHN ZU ERHALTEN; NUR DIE EHRFURCHT VOR DEM HIMMEL SEI ÜBER EUCH.

Talmud Bavli. Lazarus Goldschmidt. 1929 [de]
Source: nli.org.il
Digitization: Sefaria License: Public Domain

Antigone de Sokho, disciple de Chimôn le juste, disait: «Ne soyez pas comme des serviteurs qui servent leur maître afin de recevoir un salaire; mais soyez comme des serviteurs qui servent leur maître sans en attendre de rémunération, et que la crainte de Dieu soit sur vous.»

Antignos de Sojó que recibió la tradición oral de Shimón el Justo, solía decir: no imitéis a los esclavos que sirven a sus amos con la esperanza de ser recompensados; mas servid a Dios como aquellos servidores que lo hacen desinteresadamente, profesando siempre la veneración a Dios.

Antigonos, homem de Sokho, recebeu de Shimon, o Justo. Ele dizia: “Não sejas como os servos que estão servir o mestre a fim de receber uma recompensa, mas antes como servos que estão servir o mestre sem ser para receber uma recompensa; e que o temor do Céu esteja sobre ti”.