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He joins a biblical character - an old slave (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

helot

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'an old slave' is the definition.
'helot' can be an answer for 'slave' (slave in ancient Sparta). I'm not certain of the 'an old' bit.

'he joins a biblical character' is the wordplay.
'joins' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a biblical character' becomes 'lot' (I've seen this in another clue).
'he'+'lot'='HELOT'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for helot that I've seen before include "downtrodden?" , "He's bound to land" , "Spartan slave" , "Hotel (anag) - serf" , "One made to work" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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