On Slavery in the Old Testament

In our era, the only kind of slavery we permit is slavery to sin; in fact it seems to be a required social virtue, but the social institution of slavery is long gone. Sacred Scripture, to the contrary, insists against slavery to sin, but posits that, in certain cases, slavery is justifiable. I shall argue that the Bible is, on this matter, fully comprehensible.

None of the books of Scripture were intended to be treatises on social institutions, nor philosophical works, for which reason "slavery" is not defined as such anywhere therein. Suffice it to say, however, that there is ample evidence that slavery involved a withdrawal of several freedoms (in varying degrees for different people) and an enforced servitude to either a person or a household, usually for six years.(Ex 21: 2, Deut 15:12) Slaves were bought and sold without any apparent guilt on the part of the persons involved.

The first instance of slavery in the Bible consists of Noah's punishment of his son Canaan for some serious sexual sin (the details of which are unknown): "Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers."(Gen 9: 27). Slavery, then, was in the first Biblical instance a punishment for some grievous sin. Generally this was the rule of the Law, with an exception to be noted below. Thus theives and enemies of the Jews could be made slaves,(cf. Ex 22:2; 2 Chr 28:8-15) but a Jew who arbitrarily took a slave would be punished by death.(Ex 21: 16)

Nevertheless, we in our slavery to sin cannot imagine there being so harsh a punishment as the loss of freedom and forced labor over the course of years. This is why life in many of our prisons in the western world has become so comfortable -indeed luxurious- in comparison with the life our poor and middle classes live. A criminal can obtain university degrees, watch television, get good meals, have water and plumbing looked after, and enjoy other comforts without having to pay a thing. Not long ago, it was the norm that a criminal was truly and justly deprived of his freedom, of his family, of comforts, and forced into unpaid labor for years. That is to say, a vile criminal was made to be a slave to society. Our justice system, then, as far as it remains, is seen to support and insist upon this slavery, and quite rightly so from the point of view of real justice. For this reason, Scripture is seen to operate within justice, in making real criminals slaves.

The Law of the Jews, as the laws of our prisons, afforded the slave certain rights and corresponding protections. The master of a slave would, according to the Law, be punished for killing him (the manner and degree of which is unspecified in written tradition).(Ex 21:20) If a master caused a woman slave to miscarry, there would be a fine determined by the woman's husband, and "If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."(Ex 21: 22-23) Slaves would rest on the sabbath day (Ex 20: 8-11) and be restored to freedom after six years of servitude (except for non-Jews, which shall be discussed later). In these things, then, the Jewish Law on slavery is quite comparable to the slavery with which criminals in our society have been and still are frequently punished.

This is not to say that the Jews were always defensible in their taking and selling of slaves. First, some Jews felt forced to unlawfully (1) sell their children into slavery, on account of famine and poverty: "And there were those who said, 'We have borrowed money for the king's tax upon our fields and upon our vinyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children are as their children; yet we are forcing our sons and daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved; but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vinyards."(Neh 5: 4-5) As much as the parents of these impoverished families wanted their children to be in households where they would eat, the end does not justify the means. By committing grievous crimes, a criminal throws away his own humanity, but these children were innocent, and therefore not to be made property. The laws set up for the protection of the slave's food, clothing, and marital rights,(Ex 21: 10) do not suffice: there was the chilling fact: "the slave is his [master's] money."(Ex 21: 21)

Further, the Jews were not always willing to let go of their slaves after six years. The most notable and shocking Scriptural instance of this is in the fact that the Jews were not made by the Law to release non-Jewish slaves after six years, but were allowed to keep them until death. According to Christ, Moses, after receiving instructions and thorough education on the topic of Law, on returning to the Israelites, chose not to push certain points, due to the stubborn vices of the people.(2) Before the reader finds fault with the Mosaic Law as such for the tolerance of this evil, let him remember that such is the way law must be promulgated, i.e. prudently. A quick survey of the Jews' performances in the desert should be enough to make my point clear, even without the reference to Jesus. Moses merely cautions them, "You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."(Ex 21:9) Of course, in no way does this lessen the blameworthiness of the Jews for their racial discrimination of slaves. Rather, it makes it worse, that they would be unwilling to accept such a law from Moses.

In practise, however, there was less discrimination than one might expect: the Jews were known to refuse to release even their Jewish slaves at the appointed time.(Jer 34: 8-22) But for this they were punished by God: "I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant." (v. 22)

Finally, even in Genesis, the virtuous Jew was the one who did not seek to aquire slaves when justified. Joseph, an Old Testament archtype of Jewish godliness, who had been sold into slavery to the Egytians by his brothers out of mere jealousy, at his brothers' repentance, was offered them as slaves. Joseph replied, "Fear not, for am I in the place of God?"(Gen 50: 17-19) and declined. In the end, the Old Testament demanded an end to slavery of the innocent though neither the Jews, nor later the Christians, generally took the charge seriously for some time, "to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke..."(Isa 58: 6)

If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,

the pointing of the finger, and speaking of wickedness,

if you pour yourself out for the hungry

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

then shall your light rise in the darkness

and your gloom be as the noonday.

And the Lord will guide you continually,

and satisfy your desire with good things,

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters fail not.

Isa 58: 11

Notes:

1. Against this, the Law forbade the Jews to accept a slavery based upon poverty: "When, then, your countryman becomes so impoverished beside you that he sells you his services, do not make him work as a slave. Rather, let him be like a hired servant or like your tenant, working with you until the jubilee year, when he, together with his children, shall be released from your service and return to his kindred and to the property of his ancestors."(Lev 25: 39-41)
2. Cf. Jesus' explanation of the Mosaic tolerance of divorce, Mark 10: 2-12.

If you have read this and still have a question or problem with the Scriptures on this matter, please email me.

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