Reference: Slave
American
See Verses Found in Dictionary
[Is] Israel a slave? Or {a slave born in a house}? Why has he become plunder?
and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and {slaves} and human lives.
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 strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.
" 'And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth.
" 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman. And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you. read more. And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property {for all time}--you may let them work. But [as for] your countrymen, the {Israelites}, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over {one another}.
And they went to Joshua at the camp [at] Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, "We have come from a far land; so then {make a covenant with us}." And the men of Israel said to the Hivites, "Perhaps you [are] living among us; how can we {make a covenant} with you?" read more. They said to Joshua, "We [are] your servants." And Joshua said to them, "Who [are] you, and from where do you come?" And they said to him, "Your servants have come from a very far land because of the name of Yahweh your God; we have heard of his reputation, of all that he did in Egypt, and of all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who [were] beyond the Jordan--to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, who [was] in Ashtaroth. So our elders said to us and all the inhabitants of our land, 'Take in your hand provisions for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, "We [are] your servants; so then {make a covenant with us}." ' This [is] our bread; [it was] hot [when] we took it from our houses as provisions on the day we set out to come to you. But now, look, it is dry and crumbled. These [are] the wineskins that we filled new, but look, they have burst; and these [are] our clothes and sandals that have worn out from the very long journey." So the leaders took from their provisions, but {they did not ask direction from Yahweh}. And Joshua made peace with them, and {he made a covenant with them} to allow them to live happily, and the leaders of the congregation swore [an oath] to them. And it happened that at the end of three days, after they made a covenant with them, they heard that {they were their neighbors} and living among them. And the {Israelites} set out and went to their cities on the third day (their cities [were] Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath Jearim). But the {Israelites} did not attack them, because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured {against their leaders}. But all the leaders of the congregation said, "We have sworn to them by Yahweh the God of Israel, and so we cannot touch them. This we will do to them: [we will] let them live so that wrath will not be on us because of the oath we swore to them." And the leaders said to them, "Let them live." So they became woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, just as the leaders had said to them. And Joshua summoned them and said, "Why have you deceived us saying, 'We [are] very far from you' when you [are] living among us? Therefore you [are] cursed; some of you will always be slaves as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God." And they answered Joshua and said, "Because it was told with certainty to your servants that Yahweh your God commanded Moses his servant to give to you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, so we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and so we did this thing. So then, look, we [are] in your hand; do with us whatever seems good and right in your eyes." So he did this to them: he saved them from the hand of the {Israelites}, and they did not kill them. And that day Joshua made them woodcutters and water carriers for the congregation and for the altar of Yahweh, to this day, in the place that he should choose.
[Is] Israel a slave? Or {a slave born in a house}? Why has he become plunder?
and cinnamon and amomum and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and {slaves} and human lives.
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
When Abram heard that his {relative} was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen [of them], and he went in pursuit up to Dan.
Then Abram said, "O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? {I continue to be} childless, and {my heir} is Eliezer of Damascus."
And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.
And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.
And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh
And Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "This [is] the statute of the Passover: No foreigner may eat it. But any slave of a man, an acquisition by money, and you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing. If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him.
his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.
his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.
" 'And {whoever kidnaps someone} and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death.
And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged. Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.
Yet if he survives a day or two days, he will not be avenged, because he is his money.
" 'And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth.
If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he will give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox will be stoned.
(If the sun has risen over him, [there is] bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If {he does not have enough}, he will be sold for his theft.
" 'And when a man lies with a woman [and there is] an emission of semen and she [is] a female slave promised to a man, but she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not be given to her, [there] shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed.
" 'And when a man kills any human being, he certainly shall be put to death.
{You must have} one norm; as [for] the alien, so it must be [for] the native, because I [am] Yahweh your God.'"
And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and you shall proclaim a release in the land for all its inhabitants. It [is] a Jubilee; it shall be for you, and you shall return. You must return--everyone to his property and everyone to his clan.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. read more. And he and his sons with him shall go out from you, and he shall return to his clan, and to the property of his ancestors he shall return. Because they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they shall not be sold {as a slave}.
" 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman.
" 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, read more. or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"
if your proper value is [for] a male from {twenty years of age} up to {sixty years of age}, then your proper value shall be fifty shekels [of] money according to the sanctuary's shekel. But if it [is for] a female, then your proper value shall be thirty shekels.
Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the battle, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the battle with them, and the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets of the blast [were] in his hand. And they fought against Midian just as Yahweh commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
The {Israelites} took captive the women of Midian and their children, and they plundered all their domestic animals and all their livestock and all their wealth.
Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who [is] guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death. You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest. read more. So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out.
If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. read more. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you; therefore I [am] commanding you thus {today}. And then [if] it will happen [that] he says to you, '{I do not want to go out} from you,' because he loves you and your family, because it is good for him [to be] with you; then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust [it] through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you {a slave forever}; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman.
then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust [it] through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you {a slave forever}; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman. It shall not be hard in your eyes {when you send him forth free}, because for six years he has served you [worth] twice the wage of a hired worker; and Yahweh your God will bless you {in whatever you will do}.
And [then] you shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks for Yahweh your God with the measure of the freewill offering of your hand that you shall give [just] as Yahweh your God has blessed you.
Only the women and the little children and the domestic animals and all that shall be in the city, all of its spoil you may loot for yourselves, and you may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that Yahweh you God has given to you.
"And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped [and fled] to you from his master. He shall reside with you in your midst in the place that he chooses in one of {your towns wherever he pleases}; you shall not oppress him.
"If a man is {caught} kidnapping somebody from [among] his countrymen, the {Israelites}, and he treats him as a slave or he sells him, then that kidnapper shall die, and [so] you shall purge the evil {from among you}.
"You [are] standing {today}, all of you, {before} Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, your little children, your women and your aliens who [are] in the midst of your camp, from the choppers of your wood to the drawers of your water, read more. {in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God}, and into his oath that Yahweh your God [is] {making with you} {today}, in order to establish you {today} {to himself} as a people and [so that] he may be for you [as] God, [just] as he {promised} to you and {just as} he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little children and your aliens that are in your {towns}, so that they may hear and so that they may learn and they may revere Yahweh your God, and {they shall diligently observe} all the words of this law.
And the Israelites captured two hundred thousand of their brothers, women, sons, and daughters. And they also plundered much booty from them and brought the booty to Samaria. Now a prophet of Yahweh was there; Oded [was] his name. And he went out before the army that was coming to Samaria and said to them, "Look, [it is] on account of the anger of Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, against Judah [that] he gave them into your hands, and you killed them in a rage reaching to the heavens. read more. So now, you yourselves plan to subdue people of Judah and Jerusalem as slaves and female servants for yourselves. {Is there not also guilt on your part} against Yahweh your God? So now, listen to me and return the captives of your brothers whom you have taken captive, for the fierce anger of Yahweh [is] against you." Then men from the heads of Ephraim--Azariah the son of Jehohanan, Berekiah the son of Meshillemoth, Hezekiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai--stood against those returning from the fight. And they said to them, "You shall not bring the captives here, for [it is] as guilt [against] Yahweh upon us. You yourselves plan to add to our sins and to our guilt, but our guilt is very great, and [there is] great anger against Israel." So the soldiers left the captives and the plunder before the commanders and all the assembly. Then the men designated by name arose and took the captives and from the plunder clothed all their nakedness. So they clothed them, gave them sandals, gave them food to eat, gave them water to drink, anointed them, and guided them with the donkeys [provided] for all those who stumbled, and brought them to Jericho, the city of the palm trees, next to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
A sacrifice and offering you do not desire. {My ears you have opened}. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded. Then I said, "Look, I come. In [the] scroll of [the] book it is written concerning me: read more. 'I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law [is] {deep within me}.'"
The Lord Yahweh has opened an ear for me, and I, I was not rebellious. I did not turn backwards;
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after king Zedekiah {made} a covenant with all the people who [were] in Jerusalem to proclaim release to them, to let go each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, the Hebrew and the free Hebrew, [so that] no one among the Judeans [should] enslave his fellow countryman. read more. And all the officials and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant to let go each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, not enslaving them again, and they obeyed and they let [them] go. But {afterward} they turned back and they brought back the [male] slaves and the female slaves whom they had let go free, and they subdued them as [male] slaves and female slaves. And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, {saying}, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: 'I {made} a covenant with your ancestors on the day of my bringing them out from the land of Egypt, from [the] house of slaves, {saying}, "At [the] end of seven years you must let go each one his fellow countryman, the Hebrew who has been sold to you and who has served you six years, and you must let him go free from you." But your ancestors did not listen to me, and they did not incline their ears. And you turned back {recently} and you did right in my eyes, to proclaim release each one to his neighbor, and you {made} a covenant {before me} in the house that is called {by} my name. But you turned back and you profaned my name when you brought back each one his [male] slave and each one his female slave, whom you had let go free according to their desire, and you subdued them to be to you as [male] slaves and as female slaves.' "{Therefore} thus says Yahweh, 'You have not listened to me to proclaim release each one to his fellow countryman and each one to his neighbor. Look, I [am] going to proclaim to you a release,' {declares} Yahweh, 'to the sword, to the plague, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
"And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine your face upon your desolate sanctuary {for your sake, O Lord}.
And I said to them, "If {it seems right to you}, give [me] my wages, but if not, {keep them}." And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver [shekels]. And Yahweh said to me, "Throw it to the potter," {this noble price} [at] which I was valued by them!" So I took the thirty silver [shekels] and I threw them to the potter [in] the house of Yahweh.
[and] said, "What are you willing to give me if I in turn deliver him to you?" So they set out for him thirty silver coins.
Were you called [while] a slave? Do not let it be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, rather make use of [it]. For the one who is called in the Lord [while] a slave is the Lord's freedperson. Likewise the one who is called [while] free is a slave of Christ. read more. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Each one in [the situation] in which he was called, brothers--in this he should remain with God.
but emptied himself [by] taking the form of a slave, [by] becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in appearance like a man,
Therefore, [when he] came into the world, he said, "Sacrifice and offering you did not want, but a body you prepared for me;
Subject yourselves to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of those who do evil and the praise of those who do good. read more. For the will of God is as follows: [by] doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish people. [Live] as free [persons], and not using your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God. Honor all [people], love the community of believers, fear God, honor the king. Domestic slaves, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those [who are] good and gentle, but also to those [who are] unjust.
promising them freedom [although they] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved.
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
When Abram heard that his {relative} was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen [of them], and he went in pursuit up to Dan.
And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.
And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.
But any slave of a man, an acquisition by money, and you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing.
If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and [the slave] will go out single. But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," read more. his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever.
his master will present him to God and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever. " 'And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out.
" 'And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. If {she does not please her master} who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her.
If {she does not please her master} who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters.
And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. read more. And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver [paid for her].
And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged.
" 'And if a man strikes the eye of his male slave or the eye of his female slave and destroys it, he shall release him as free in place of his eye. And if he causes the tooth of his male slave or the tooth of his female slave to fall out, he will release him as free in place of his tooth.
If the ox gores a male slave or a female slave, he will give thirty shekels of silver to his master, and the ox will be stoned.
" 'If a man steals an ox or small livestock and slaughters it or sells it, he will make restitution with five cattle in place of the ox and with four sheep or goats in place of the small livestock.
(If the sun has risen over him, [there is] bloodguilt for him. He will make full restitution. If {he does not have enough}, he will be sold for his theft.
" 'And when a man lies with a woman [and there is] an emission of semen and she [is] a female slave promised to a man, but she indeed has not been ransomed or freedom has not be given to her, [there] shall be an obligation to compensate; they shall not be put to death, because she has not been freed.
" 'And when a man kills any human being, he certainly shall be put to death.
{You must have} one norm; as [for] the alien, so it must be [for] the native, because I [am] Yahweh your God.'"
" 'When your brother becomes poor and he sells part of his property, then {his nearest redeemer} shall come, and he shall redeem the thing sold by his brother.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}.
" 'And if your countryman [who is] with you becomes poor, and he is sold to you, {you shall not treat him as a slave}. He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee.
He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee.
You shall not rule over him with ruthlessness, but you shall revere your God. " 'As for your slave and your slave woman who are yours, from the nations that [are] all around you, from them you may buy a slave or a slave woman. read more. And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you.
And you may buy also from the children of the temporary residents who are dwelling with you as aliens and from their clan who are with you, who have children in your land; indeed, they may be as property for you. And you may pass them on as an inheritance to your sons after you to take possession of as property {for all time}--you may let them work. But [as for] your countrymen, the {Israelites}, you shall not rule with ruthlessness over {one another}. read more. " 'And if [the] alien or [the] temporary resident [who are] with you {prosper}, but your countryman [who is] with him becomes poor and he is sold to an alien, a temporary resident [who is] with you, or to a descendant of an alien's clan, after he is sold redemption shall be for him; one of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his uncle's son may redeem him, or {one of} {his close relatives} from his clan may redeem him; or [if] {he prospers}, he may redeem himself. And he shall calculate with his buyer from the year of {his selling himself} until the Jubilee; and the value of his selling shall be according to the number of years--it shall be with him like a hired worker's days. If [there are] still many years, {in keeping with them} he shall restore his redemption {in proportion to his purchase price}. And if [there are] a few years left until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate for himself; he shall restore his redemption {according to the number of his years}. He shall be with him {as a yearly hired worker}; he shall not rule over him with ruthlessness {in your sight}. And if he is not redeemed by [any of] these [ways], then he and his sons with him shall go out in the Year of Jubilee. Indeed, the {Israelites} [are] servants for me; they [are] my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I [am] Yahweh your God.'"
"You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the {families} of the community, {take count} of the war-booty that was captured, both humans and the domestic animals;
And you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God, you and your sons and your daughters and your slaves and your slave women and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, because there is not for him a plot of ground and an inheritance with you.
But only {before} Yahweh your God you shall eat it, at the place that Yahweh your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite who [is] in your {towns}, and you must rejoice {before} your God {in all your undertakings}.
If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}.
If your relative who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman is sold to you, and [he or she] has served you six years, then in the seventh year you shall send that person [out] {free}. And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed.
And when you send him [out] free from you, you shall not send him [away] empty-handed. You shall generously supply him from [among] your flocks and from your threshing floor and from your press; [according to] that [with which] Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
then you shall take an awl, and you shall thrust [it] through his earlobe and into the door, and he shall be to you {a slave forever}; and you shall also do likewise for your slave woman.
And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite that [is] in your {towns} and the alien and the orphan and the widow who are in your midst in the place that Yahweh your God will choose to let his name dwell there.
and you shall rejoice at your feast, you and your son and your daughter and your slave and your slave woman and the Levite and the orphan and the widow that [are] in your {towns}.
I acquired male slaves and female slaves, as well as children [born in my] house. I also had livestock, cattle, and flocks more than anyone who [was] before me in Jerusalem.
And the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you sold to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them from their border.
And the sons of Judah and Jerusalem you sold to the sons of the Greeks, in order to remove them from their border.
Thus says Yahweh: "For three transgressions of Gaza and for four I will not revoke [the punishment], because they exiled a whole community, handing them over to Edom!
Watsons
SLAVE. See SERVANT.