Reference: Slave
American
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Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been given over as a prey?
and cinnamon and odours and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and of sheep, and of horses, and of chariots and of bodies and souls of men.
Easton
Jer 2:14 (A.V.), but not there found in the original. In Re 18:13 the word "slaves" is the rendering of a Greek word meaning "bodies." The Hebrew and Greek words for slave are usually rendered simply "servant," "bondman," or "bondservant." Slavery as it existed under the Mosaic law has no modern parallel. That law did not originate but only regulated the already existing custom of slavery (Ex 21:20-21,26-27; Le 25:44-46; Jos 9:6-27). The gospel in its spirit and genius is hostile to slavery in every form, which under its influence is gradually disappearing from among men.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And if a man smites his slave or his maid with a rod and he dies under his hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.
And if someone smites the eye of their slave or the eye of their maid that it perishes, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake. And if he smites out his manslave's tooth or his maidslave's tooth, he shall let them go free for their tooth's sake.
Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves. Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession. read more. And ye shall possess them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit as a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the sons of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor.
Thus they came unto Joshua to the camp at Gilgal and said unto him and to the men of Israel, We are come from a far country; now, therefore, make ye a covenant with us. And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us, and how shall we make a covenant with you? read more. And they said unto Joshua, We are thy slaves. And Joshua said unto them, Who are you and where do you come from? And they said unto him, From very far lands thy slaves are come because of the name of the LORD thy God, for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side of the Jordan, and to Sihon, king of Heshbon, and to Og, king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. Therefore, our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, Take provision with you for the journey and go to meet them and say unto them, We are your slaves; therefore, now make ye a covenant with us. This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to come unto you, but now, behold, it is dry and mouldy. These bottles of wine, we also filled new, and, behold, they are rent, and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. And the men of Israel took of their provision and did not ask counsel at the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; also the princes of the congregation swore unto them. At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard how they were their neighbours and that they dwelt among them. And the sons of Israel journeyed and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon and Chephirah and Beeroth and Kirjathjearim. And the sons of Israel did not smite them because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the LORD God of Israel; therefore, now we may not touch them. This we will do to them; we will let them live lest wrath come upon us because of the oath which we swore unto them. And the princes said unto them, Let them live but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation, as the princes had said unto them. And Joshua called for them, and spoke unto them saying, Why have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you, when ye dwell among us? Now, therefore, ye are cursed, and ye shall always be slaves and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. And they answered Joshua and said, Because it was certainly told thy slaves how the LORD thy God commanded his slave Moses that he was to give you the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you; therefore, we feared greatly of our lives because of you and have done this thing. And now, behold, we are in thy hand; as it seems good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. And so did he unto them; he delivered them out of the hand of the sons of Israel, so that they did not slay them. And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, in the place which he should choose; which they are even unto this day.
Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been given over as a prey?
and cinnamon and odours and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and of sheep, and of horses, and of chariots and of bodies and souls of men.
Fausets
Hired service was little known anciently; slavery was the common form of service. But among the Hebrew the bond service was of a mild and equitable character; so much so that ebed, "servant," is not restricted to the bond servant, but applies to higher relations, as, e.,g., the king's prime minister, a rich man's steward, as Eliezer (Ge 15:2; 24:2), God's servant (Da 9:17). Bond service was not introduced by Moses, but being found in existence was regulated by laws mitigating its evils and restricting its duration. Man stealing was a capital crime (De 24:7); not only stealing Israelites, but people of other nations (Ex 21:16). The Mosaic law jealously guarded human life and liberty as sacred. Masters must treat Hebrew servants as hired servants, not with rigour, but with courteous considerateness as brethren, and liberally remunerate them at the close of their service (De 15:12-18; Le 25:39-41). Ex 21:2 provided that no Israelite bound to service could be forced to continue in it more than six years.
Leviticus supplements this by giving every Hebrew the right to claim freedom for himself and family in the Jubilee year, without respect to period of service, and to recover his land. This was a cheek on the oppression of the rich (Jer 34:8-17). Property in foreign slaves might be handed down from father to son, so too the children born in the house (Ge 14:14; 17:12). Some were war captives (Nu 31:6-7,9; De 20:14); but Israelites must not reduce to bondage Israelites taken in war (2Ch 28:8-15). The monuments give many illustrations of the state of the Israelites themselves reduced to bondage by foreign kings to whom they were delivered for their rebellion. Others were enslaved for crime (Ex 22:3, like our penal servitude), or bought from foreign slave dealers (Le 25:44), so they were his property (Ex 21:21). The price was about 30 or 40 shekels (Ex 21:32; Le 27:3-4; Zec 11:12-13; Mt 26:15).
The slave was encouraged to become a "proselyte" (doulos) (Ex 12:44). He might be set free (Ex 21:3,20-21,26-27). The law guarded his life and limbs. If a married man became a bondman, his rights to his wife were respected, she going out with him after six years' service. If as single he accepted a wife from his master, and she bore him children, she and they remained the master's, and he alone went out, unless from love to his master and his wife and children he preferred staying (Ex 21:6); then the master bored his ear (the member symbolizing willing obedience, as the phrase "give ear" implies) with an awl, and he served for ever, i.e. until Jubilee year (Le 25:10; De 15:17); type of the Father's willing Servant for man's sake (compare Isa 50:5; Ps 40:6-8; Heb 10:5; Php 2:7).
A Hebrew sold to a stranger sojourning in Israel did not go out after six years, but did at the year of Jubilee; meantime he might be freed by himself or a kinsman paying a ransom, the object of the law being to stir up friends to help the distressed relative. His brethren should see that he suffered no undue rigour, but was treated as a yearly hired servant (Le 25:47-55). Even the foreigner, when enslaved, if his master caused his loss of an eye or tooth, could claim freedom (Ex 21:6; Le 19:20). He might be ransomed. At last he was freed at Jubilee. His murder was punished by death (Le 24:17,22; Nu 35:31-33). He was admitted to the spiritual privileges of Israel: circumcision (Ge 17:12), the great feasts, Passover, etc. (Ex 12:43; De 16:10; 29:10-13; 31:12), the hearing of the law, the Sabbath and Jubilee rests. The receiver of a fugitive slave was not to deliver him up (De 23:15-16).
Christianity does not begin by opposing the external system prevailing, but plants the seeds of love, universal brotherhood in Christ, communion of all in one redemption from God our common Father, which silently and surely undermines slavery. Paul's sending back Onesimus to Philemon does not sanction slavery as a compulsory system, for Onesimus went back of his own free will to a master whom Christianity had made into a brother. In 1Co 7:21-24 Paul exhorts slaves not to be unduly impatient to cast off even slavery by unlawful means (1Pe 2:13-18), as Onesimus did by fleeing. The precept (Greek) "become not ye slaves of men" implies that slavery is abnormal (Le 25:42). "If called, being a slave, to Christianity, be content; but yet, if also (besides spiritual freedom) thou canst be free (bodily, a still additional good, which if thou canst not attain be satisfied without, but which if offered despise not), use the opportunity of becoming free rather than remain a slave." "Use it" in verse 23 (?) refers to freedom, implied in the words just before, "be made free" (2Pe 2:19).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his tried and experienced servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed.
And Abraham said unto his eldest slave of his house, who ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh,
And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This shall be the ordinance of the passover: No stranger shall eat of it, but every man's slave that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.
If thou should buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he was married, then his wife shall go out with him.
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever.
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever.
Likewise he that steals a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
And if a man smites his slave or his maid with a rod and he dies under his hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.
Notwithstanding, if he continues a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money.
And if someone smites the eye of their slave or the eye of their maid that it perishes, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake. And if he smites out his manslave's tooth or his maidslave's tooth, he shall let them go free for their tooth's sake.
If the ox shall gore a manslave or a maidslave, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
If the sun is risen upon him, he that killed him is guilty of his blood; the thief should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
And when a man lies carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband and has not been completely ransomed nor been given her freedom, both shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death because she is not free.
Likewise he that kills any man shall surely be put to death.
Ye shall have one manner of law: as for the stranger, so shall it be for the natural; for I am the LORD your God.
And ye shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every one unto his possession, and ye shall return each one unto his family.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee. read more. Then he shall depart free from thy house, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he be restored. For they belong to me, I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves.
And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; read more. either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he and his children with him. For the sons of Israel are mine; they are my slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I AM your God.
Regarding the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it is a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.
And Moses sent them to the war; he sent a thousand of every tribe; and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, went to the war with the holy instruments, with the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they fought against the Midianites as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
And the sons of Israel took all the women of Midian captives and their little ones and took the spoil of all their beasts and all their flocks and all their goods.
Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no ransom for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. read more. So ye shall not pollute the land where ye are, for this blood shall defile the land; and the land cannot be reconciled of the blood that is shed therein except by the blood of the one that shed it.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. read more. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God ransomed thee; therefore, I command thee this thing to day. And it shall be, if he says unto thee, I will not go away from thee because he loves thee and thy house because he is well with thee, then thou shalt take an aul and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy slave for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
then thou shalt take an aul and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy slave for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise. It shall not seem hard unto thee when thou sendest him away free from thee, for he has served thee for half the cost of a hired servant for six years; and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
And thou shalt do the solemn feast of weeks unto the LORD thy God; out of the voluntary abundance of thy hand thou shalt give, according as the LORD thy God has blessed thee.
Only the women and the little ones and the animals and all that is in the city, all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat of the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God has given thee.
Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the slave who is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates where he likes it best; thou shalt not oppress him.
When a man is found stealing any of his brethren of the sons of Israel and making merchandise of him or selling him, then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put the evil away from among you.
Ye stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God, your princes of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy strangers that dwell within thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water, read more. that thou may enter into covenant with the LORD thy God and into his oath, which the LORD thy God makes with thee today, to confirm thee today as his people and that he may be unto thee as God, as he has said unto thee, and as he has sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Gather the people together, men and women and children and thy strangers that are within thy gates, that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the LORD your God and observe to do all the words of this law,
And the sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, in addition to taking much spoil from them, which they brought to Samaria. But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was angry with Judah, he has delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage. This reaches up unto heaven. read more. And now ye purpose to keep subject the sons of Judah and Jerusalem for menslaves and womenslaves unto you, but are ye not guilty against the LORD your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. Then certain of the heads of the sons of Ephraim, Azariah, the son of Johanan, Berechiah, the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah, the son of Shallum, and Amasa, the son of Hadlai, stood up against those that came from the war and said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives here, for the sin against the LORD shall be upon us. Ye intend to add more to our sins and to our guilt, for our guilt is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. And the men which were expressed by name rose up and took the captives, and, with the spoil, clothed all that were naked among them and arrayed them and shod them and gave them to eat and to drink and anointed them and carried all the feeble of them upon asses and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren; then they returned to Samaria.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened; burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required. Then said I, Behold, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, read more. I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my bowels.
The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; that every man should let his manslave, and every man his maidslave, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should use of his brethren, the Jews, as a slave. read more. Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that each one should let his manslave and each one his maidslave go free, that no one should use them any more as servants, then they listened and let them go. But afterward they repented and caused the slaves and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return and brought them into subjection for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, At the end of seven years each one shall let his Hebrew brother go, who has been sold unto thee; therefore he shall serve thee six years, and thou shalt send him forth free from thee: but your fathers did not hearken unto me, nor incline their ear. And ye were now converted and had done right in my sight in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: but ye turned and polluted my name and caused each man his slave and each man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for slaves and for handmaids. Therefore thus hath the LORD said: Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, each one to his brother and each man to his neighbour; behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, said the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy slave and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is made desolate, by the Lord.
And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my wages; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the treasury: a goodly price that I was appraised at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them in the house of the LORD unto the treasury.
and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Art thou called being a slave? care not for it; but if thou may be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a slave, is the Lord's freeman; likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's slave. read more. Ye are bought with a price; do not make yourselves the slaves of men. Each one, brothers, in that state in which he was called, let him abide with God.
but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, made in the likeness of men,
Therefore when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire, but a body hast thou prepared me;
Therefore, be subject to every human ordinance that is of the Lord, whether it be to a king or to a superior, and unto governors as unto those that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those that do well. read more. For this is the will of God, that in well doing ye may silence the ignorance of vain men, as being free, yet not using your liberty to cover maliciousness, but as slaves of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and humane, but also to the unjust.
promising them liberty, being they themselves the slaves of corruption: for he who is overcome by someone is subject to bondage by the one that overcame him.
Smith
Slave.
The institution of slavery was recognized, though not established, by the Mosaic law with a view to mitigate its hardship and to secure to every man his ordinary rights. I. Hebrew slaves. --
1. The circumstances under which a Hebrew might be reduced to servitude were-- (1) poverty; (2) the commission of theft; and (3) the exercise of paternal authority. In the first case, a man who had mortgaged his property, and was unable to support his family, might sell himself to another Hebrew, with a view both to obtain maintenance and perchance a surplus sufficient to redeem his property.
(2) The commission of theft rendered a person liable to servitude whenever restitution could not be made on the scale prescribed by the law.
The thief was bound to work out the value of his restitution money in the service of him on whom the theft had been committed. (3) The exercise of paternal authority was limited to the sale of a daughter of tender age to be a maidservant, with the ulterior view of her becoming the concubine of the purchaser.
2. The servitude of a Hebrew might be terminated in three ways: (1) by the satisfaction or the remission of all claims against him; (2) by the recurrence of the year of jubilee,
and (3) the expiration of six years from the time that his servitude commenced.
Ex 21:2; De 15:12
(4) To the above modes of obtaining liberty the rabbinists added, as a fourth, the death of the master without leaving a son, there being no power of claiming the salve on the part of any heir except a son. If a servant did not desire to avail himself of the opportunity of leaving his service, he was to signify his intention in a formal manner before the judges (or more exactly at the place of judgment), and then the master was to take him to the door-post, and to bore his ear through with an awl,
driving the awl into or "unto the door," as stated in
De 15:17
and thus fixing the servant to it. A servant who had submitted to this operation remained, according to the words of the law, a servant "forever."
These words are however, interpreted by Josephus and by the rabbinsts as meaning until the year of jubilee.
3. The condition of a Hebrew servant was by no means intolerable. His master was admonished to treat him, not "as a bond-servant, but as an hired servant and as a sojourner," and, again, "not to rule over him with rigor."
At the termination of his servitude the master was enjoined not to "let him go away empty," but to remunerate him liberally out of his flock, his floor and his wine-press.
De 15:13-14
In the event of a Hebrew becoming the servant of a "stranger," meaning a non-Hebrew, the servitude could be terminated only in two ways, viz. by the arrival of the year of jubilee, or by the repayment to the master of the purchase money paid for the servant, after deducting a sum for the value of his services proportioned to the length of his servitude.
A Hebrew woman might enter into voluntary servitude on the score of poverty, and in this case she was entitled to her freedom after six years service, together with her usual gratuity at leaving, just as in the case of a man.
De 15:12-13
Thus far we have seen little that is objectionable in the condition of Hebrew servants. In respect to marriage there were some peculiarities which, to our ideas, would be regarded as hardships. A master might, for instance, give a wife to a Hebrew servant for the time of his servitude, the wife being in this case, it must be remarked, not only a slave but a non-Hebrew. Should he leave when his term had expired, his wife and children would remain the absolute property of the master.
Again, a father might sell his young daughter to a Hebrew, with a view either of marrying her himself or of giving her to his son.
It diminishes the apparent harshness of this proceeding if we look on the purchase money as in the light of a dowry given, as was not unusual, to the parents of the bride; still more, if we accept the rabbinical view that the consent of the maid was required before the marriage could take place. The position of a maiden thus sold by her father was subject to the following regulations: (1) She could not "go out as the men-servants do," i.e. she could not leave at the termination of six years, or in the year of jubilee, if her master was willing to fulfill the object for which he had purchased her. (2) Should he not wish to marry her, he should call upon her friends to procure her release by the repayment of the purchase money. (3) If he betrothed her to his son, he was bound to make such provision for her as he would for one of his own daughters. (4) If either he or his son, having married her, took a second wife, it should not be to the prejudice of the first. (5) If neither of the three first specified alternatives took place, the maid was entitled to immediate and gratuitous liberty.
The custom of reducing Hebrews to servitude appears to have fallen into disuse subsequent to the Babylonish captivity. Vast numbers of Hebrews were reduced to slavery as war-captives at different periods by the Phoenicians,
the Philistines,
, the Syrians, 1 Macc. 3:42; 2 Macc. 8:11, the Egyptians, Joseph Ant. xii. 2,3, and above all by the Romans. Joseph. B.C. vi. 9,3. II. Non-Hebrew slaves. --
1. The majority of non-Hebrew slaves were war-captives, either of the Canaanites who had survived the general extermination of their race under Joshua or such as were conquered from the other surrounding nations.
ff. Besides these, many were obtained by purchase from foreign slave-dealers,
and others may have been resident foreigners who were reduced to this state by either poverty or crime. The children of slaves remained slaves, being the class described as "born in the house,"
and hence the number was likely to increase as time went on. The average value of a slave appears to have been thirty shekels.
2. That the slave might be manumitted appears from
3. The slave is described as the "possession" of his master, apparently with a special reference to the power which the latter had of disposing of him to his heirs, as he would any other article of personal property.
But, on the other hand, provision was made for the protection of his person.
A minor personal injury, such as the loss of an eye or a tooth, was to be recompensed by giving the servant his liberty.
The position of the slave in regard to religious privileges was favorable. He was to be circumcised,
and hence was entitled to partake of the paschal sacrifice,
as well as of the other religious festivals.
De 12:12,18; 16:11,14
The occupations of slaves were of a menial character, as implied in
consisting partly in the work of the house and partly in personal attendance on the master. It will be seen that the whole tendency of the Bible legislation was to mitigate slavery, making it little than hired service, and to abolish it, as indeed it was practically abolished among the Jews six hundred years before Christ.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his tried and experienced servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed.
And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger, who is not of thy seed.
but every man's slave that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.
If thou should buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If his master has given him a wife, and she has born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the slave shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free. read more. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever.
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him forever. And if a man should sell his daughter to be a maidslave, she shall not go out as the menslaves do.
And if a man should sell his daughter to be a maidslave, she shall not go out as the menslaves do. If she pleases not her master, who therefore took her not unto himself to wife, then it is permitted that she be ransomed; and he may not sell her unto a strange nation when he rejects her.
If she pleases not her master, who therefore took her not unto himself to wife, then it is permitted that she be ransomed; and he may not sell her unto a strange nation when he rejects her. And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
And if he has betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. If he takes another wife, her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, he shall not diminish. read more. And if he does not do these three things unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
And if a man smites his slave or his maid with a rod and he dies under his hand, he shall be surely punished.
And if someone smites the eye of their slave or the eye of their maid that it perishes, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake. And if he smites out his manslave's tooth or his maidslave's tooth, he shall let them go free for their tooth's sake.
If the ox shall gore a manslave or a maidslave, he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
If a man shall steal an ox or a sheep and kill it or sell it he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
If the sun is risen upon him, he that killed him is guilty of his blood; the thief should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
And when a man lies carnally with a woman that is a bondmaid, betrothed to a husband and has not been completely ransomed nor been given her freedom, both shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death because she is not free.
Likewise he that kills any man shall surely be put to death.
Ye shall have one manner of law: as for the stranger, so shall it be for the natural; for I am the LORD your God.
If thy brother becomes poor and has sold away some of his possession, his redeemer shall come, his closest kinsman, and shall redeem that which his brother sold.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave.
And when thy brother becomes poor, being with thee, and if he should sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee.
As a hired servant and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee.
Thou shalt not rule over him with rigor, but shalt fear thy God. Both thy menslaves and thy maidslaves, which thou shalt have, shall be of the Gentiles that are round about you; of them shall ye buy slaves. read more. Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession.
Ye may also buy of the children of the strangers that live among you and of those of their lineage that are born in your land, who are with you, and they shall be your possession. And ye shall possess them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit as a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the sons of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor. read more. And if a sojourner or stranger who is with thee becomes rich and thy brother who is with him becomes poor and sells himself unto the stranger or sojourner who is with thee or to the race of the lineage of the stranger, after he is sold he shall have redemption; one of his brethren shall redeem him; either his uncle or his uncle's son shall redeem him; or any that is near of kin unto him of his lineage shall redeem him; or if he is able, he may redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. If there are yet many years, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him; and the other shall not rule with rigor over him in thy sight. And if he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he and his children with him. For the sons of Israel are mine; they are my slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt. I AM your God.
Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou and Eleazar, the priest, and the heads of the fathers of the congregation,
and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye and your sons and your daughters and your menslaves and your maidslaves and the Levite that is within your gates because he has no part nor inheritance with you.
But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall have chosen, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all the work of thy hands.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free.
And if thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold unto thee and serves thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt send him forth from thee free. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty.
And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not send him away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy threshing floor and out of thy winepress; of that with which the LORD thy God has blessed thee thou shalt give unto him.
then thou shalt take an aul and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy slave for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite that is within thy gates and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God has chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt rejoice in thy solemn feast, thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy manslave and thy maidslave and the Levite and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy gates (or within thy towns).
I got myself slaves and maidens and had sons born in my house; also I had great possessions of cattle and sheep above all that were in Jerusalem before me;
and ye have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border.
and ye have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem unto the Grecians that ye might remove them far from their border.
Thus hath the LORD said: For three transgressions of Gaza and for the fourth, I will not convert her because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:
Watsons
SLAVE. See SERVANT.