Thematic Bible: Slaves or bond
Thematic Bible
Servants » Slaves or bond » To participate in all national rejoicings
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}.
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}.
Servants » Slaves or bond » All israelites sold as, to be free at the jubilee
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.
He shall be with you like a hired worker, like a temporary resident; he shall work with you until the Year of Jubilee. 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.
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Seizing and stealing of men for, condemned and punished by the law
"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}.
sexually immoral people, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and {whatever} else is opposed to sound teaching,
" 'And {whoever kidnaps someone} and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death.
Servants » Slaves or bond » By birth
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.
Ah, Yahweh, I [am] indeed your servant; I am your servant, the child of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.
Servants » Slaves or bond » When israelites not to be treated with rigor
" '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.
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}.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Persons of distinction had many
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.
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » When israelites to have their liberty after six years service
'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing.
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}.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Of others not to be coveted or enticed away
'And you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor, and you shall not crave the house of your neighbor, his field or his slave or his slave woman or his ox and his donkey or anything {that belongs to your neighbor}.'
"You shall not covet the house of your neighbor; you will not covet the wife of your neighbor or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that [is] your neighbor's."
Servants » Slaves or bond » Captives taken in war often kept as
When the Arameans went [on] a raid, they brought back a young girl from the land of Israel, and {she came into the service of} the wife of Naaman.
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » When foreigners to be circumcised
{You must certainly circumcise} {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner}. And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant.
And all the men of his house, {those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner}, were circumcised with him.
Servants » Slaves or bond » By purchase
And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the imperial guard.
And all the men of his house, {those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner}, were circumcised with him.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Persons unable to pay their debts liable to be sold as
A certain woman from the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead. Now you know that your servant was a fearer of Yahweh, but the creditor came to take two of my children for himself as slaves.
And there were those who were saying, "We have borrowed money on our fields and our vineyards for the tax of the king. Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons are like their sons. Look, we are subduing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and there are some from our daughters being molested. {We are powerless}, and our fields and vineyards [belong] to others."
Servants » Slaves or bond » Engaged in the most menial offices
he got up from the dinner and took off [his] outer clothing, and taking a towel, tied [it] around himself. Then he poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe [them] dry with the towel {which he had tied around himself}.
She got up and bowed down [with] her face to the ground and said, "Here is your female servant, as a slave to wash the feet of my lord's servants."
Servants » Slaves or bond » Called bondmen
And the men were afraid when they were brought into the house of Joseph. And they said "We were brought [here] on account of the money that was returned to our sacks the first time, that he might attack us and fall upon us to take us as slaves with our donkeys."
Whoever is found with it from among your servants shall die. And moreover, we will become slaves to my lord."
Servants » Slaves or bond » To be furnished liberally, when their servitude expired
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Sometimes intermarried with their master's family
And Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave, and his name [was] Jarha. So Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his slave for a wife, and she bore to him Attai.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Israelites sold to strangers as, might be redeemed by their nearest of kin
" '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. read more.
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.'"
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.'"
Servants » Slaves or bond » Seeking protection not to be delivered up to masters
"And you shall not hand over a slave to his master who has escaped [and fled] to you from his master.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Sometimes rose to rank and station
I have even seen slaves [riding] on horses and princes walking like slaves on the earth!
Servants » Slaves or bond » More valuable than hired servants
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}.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Laws respecting, often violated
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. 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. read more.
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.'
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.'
Servants » Slaves or bond » Persons belonging to other nations might be purchased as
" '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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Strangers sojourning in israel might be purchased as
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Maimed or injured by masters, to have their freedom
" '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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Laws respecting the killing of
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Laws respecting marriage with female
" '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. And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. read more.
If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver [paid for her].
If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver [paid for her].
Servants » Slaves or bond » Custom of branding, alluded to
Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Israelites sold as, refusing their liberty, to have their ears bored to the door
But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," 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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Could not when set free demand wives or children procured during servitude
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. 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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » Masters to be recompensed for injury done to
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.
Servants » Slaves or bond » To be allowed to rest on the sabbath
But the seventh day [is] a Sabbath for Yahweh your God; you will not do any work--you or your son or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your animal, or your alien who [is] in your gates--
Servants » Slaves or bond » Thieves unable to make restitution were sold as
(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.