“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
Parallel Translations
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“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.
If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’
then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
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If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: 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 were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master have given him a wife, and she have 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 servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
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 for ever.
Show all 3 translations
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If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;
then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (2)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (39)
- Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (v2) If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go…
- Deuteronomy 15:17 (v6) then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant…
- Exodus 12:44 (v2) but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.
- Leviticus 25:40 (v6) As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee.
- Deuteronomy 15:16-17 (v5) It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you, then you…
Show all 39 cross-references
- Deuteronomy 15:18 (v2) It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you; for he has been double the value of a hired hand as he served you six…
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (v5) For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge thus, that one died for all, therefore all died. He died for all, that those who…
- Exodus 22:3 (v2) If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
- Leviticus 25:39-45 (v2) “ ‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you, you shall not make him to serve as a slave. As a hired servant, and…
- Deuteronomy 15:1 (v2) At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts.
- Deuteronomy 19:17-18 (v6) then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those…
- Deuteronomy 31:10 (v2) Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of booths,
- 1 Samuel 28:2 (v6) David said to Achish, “Therefore you will know what your servant can do.” Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you my bodyguard…
- Nehemiah 5:1-5 (v2) Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brothers the Jews. For there were some who said, “We, our sons…
- Nehemiah 5:8 (v2) I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your…
- Jeremiah 34:8-17 (v2) The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim…
- Genesis 27:28 (v2) God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
- Genesis 27:36 (v2) He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my…
- Exodus 12:12 (v6) For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will…
- Exodus 18:21-26 (v6) Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be…
- Exodus 21:22 (v6) “If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as…
- Exodus 22:8-9 (v6) If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out whether or not he has put his hand on his…
- Exodus 22:28 (v6) “You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
- Leviticus 25:23 (v6) “ ‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me.
- Numbers 25:5-8 (v6) Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.” Behold, one of the children of Israel…
- Deuteronomy 1:16 (v6) I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and…
- Deuteronomy 15:12-14 (v3) If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go…
- Deuteronomy 16:18 (v6) You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the…
- 1 Samuel 1:22 (v6) But Hannah didn’t go up, for she said to her husband, “Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before…
- 1 Samuel 8:1-2 (v6) When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah. They…
- 1 Samuel 27:12 (v6) Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.”
- 1 Kings 12:7 (v6) They replied, “If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them, and answer them with good words, then they will be your…
- 2 Kings 4:1 (v2) Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead. You know that…
- Psalms 40:6-8 (v6) Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said,…
- Isaiah 26:13 (v5) Yahweh our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, but we will only acknowledge your name.
- Zephaniah 3:3 (v6) Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
- Matthew 18:25 (v2) But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
- 1 Corinthians 6:20 (v2) for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
- Isaiah 1:26 (v6) I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called ‘The city of…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6 Paying no money for his liberty.
Paying no money for his liberty.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Exo 21:2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six…
Exo 21:2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Ver. 2. In the seventh year.] No longer might they serve, because they were God’s servants; {Lev 25:42} whose privilege, see in Isa 65:13-14 Christ’s "freemen." {1Co 7:22}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6 If thou buy an Hebrew servant; of which practice…
If thou buy an Hebrew servant; of which practice see Jer 34:14. This was allowed in two cases:
1. When a man for his crimes was condemned by the judges to be sold; of which see Exo 22:3; 2Ki 4:1; Mat 8:25.
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2. When a man pressed by great poverty sold himself or his children; of which see Lev 25:39,40. The seventh year is to be numbered, either,
1. From the last sabbatical year, or year of release, which came every seventh year; and the sense of the place is, not that he shall always serve six full years, but that he shall never serve longer, and that his service shall last only till that year comes. Or rather,
2. From the beginning of his service; for,
1. It were a very improper speech to say, he shall serve six years, of one who possibly entered into his service but a month before the year of release.
2. In the law of the sabbatical year there is no mention of the release of servants, as there is of other things, Le 25; Deu 15; and in the year of jubilee, when servants are to be released, it is expressed so, as Lev 25:54,55.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–6 If thou buy an Hebrew servant,.... Who sells himself…
If thou buy an Hebrew servant,.... Who sells himself either through poverty, or rather is sold because of his theft, see Exo 22:3 and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"when ye shall buy for his theft, a servant, a son of an Israelite;''agreeably to which Aben Ezra observes, this servant is a servant that is sold for his theft; and he says, it is a tradition with them, that a male is sold for his theft, but not a female; and the persons who had the selling of such were the civil magistrates, the Sanhedrim, or court of judicature; so Jarchi, on the text, says, "if thou buy", &c. that is, of the hand of the sanhedrim who sells him for his theft:
six years he shall serve; and no longer; and the Jewish doctors say (d), if his master dies within the six years he must serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor any other heirs:
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and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing; without paying any money for his freedom, as it is explained Exo 21:11, nay, on the other hand, his master was not to send him away empty, but furnish him liberally out of his flock, floor, and wine press, since his six years' servitude was worth double that of an hired servant, Deu 15:13, and his freedom was to take place as soon as the six years were ended, and the seventh began, in which the Jewish writers agree: the Targum of Jonathan is, at the entrance of the seventh; and Aben Ezra's explanation is, at the beginning of the seventh year of his being sold; and Maimonides (e) observes the same. Now as this servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by his theft, his robbing God of his glory by the transgression of his precepts; so likewise, in his being made free, he was an emblem of that liberty wherewith Christ, the Son of God, makes his people free from the said bondage, and who are free indeed, and made so freely without money, and without price, of pure free grace, without any merit or desert of theirs; and which freedom is attended with many bountiful and liberal blessings of grace.
(d) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 2. (e) Hilchot Abadim, c. 2. sect. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 6 If thou buy an Hebrew servant - Either sold…
If thou buy an Hebrew servant - Either sold by him or his parents through poverty, or by the Judges for his crimes, yet even such a one was to continue in slavery but seven years at the most.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6 Verse 2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant] Calmet…
Verse 2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant] Calmet enumerates six different ways in which a Hebrew might lose his liberty:
1. In extreme poverty they might sell their liberty. Le 25:39: If thy brother be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, c.
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2. A father might sell his children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant see Ex 21:7.
3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. My husband is dead - and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen, 2Kg 4:1.
4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the fine laid on him by the law, was to be sold for his profit whom he had robbed. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft; Ex 22:3-4.
5. A Hebrew was liable to be taken prisoner in war, and so sold for a slave.
6. A Hebrew slave who had been ransomed from a Gentile by a Hebrew might be sold by him who ransomed him, to one of his own nation.
Six years he shall serve] It was an excellent provision in these laws, that no man could finally injure himself by any rash, foolish, or precipitate act. No man could make himself a servant or slave for more than seven years; and if he mortgaged the family inheritance, it must return to the family at the jubilee, which returned every fiftieth year.
It is supposed that the term six years is to be understood as referring to the sabbatical years; for let a man come into servitude at whatever part of the interim between two sabbatical years, he could not be detained in bondage beyond a sabbatical year; so that if he fell into bondage the third year after a sabbatical year, he had but three years to serve; if the fifth, but one. See Clarke on Ex 23:11, &c. Others suppose that this privilege belonged only to the year of jubilee, beyond which no man could be detained in bondage, though he had been sold only one year before.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6 Exo 21:2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant —…
Exo 21:2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant — Either sold by himself or his parents through poverty, or by the judges for his crimes, yet even such a one was to continue in slavery but seven years at the most. See the texts referred to in the margin.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6 A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in…
A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in consequence either of debt Lev 25:39 or of the commission of theft Exo 22:3. But his servitude could not be enforced for more than six full years. Compare the marginal references.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6 Servant, or slave. A man might sell himself and…
Servant, or slave. A man might sell himself and his children. But if they were females, under age, God prescribes how they are to be treated, ver. 7. --- Six years: in case he were brought immediately after the expiration of the Sabbatic law: none could be detained for a longer period. If a person lost his liberty in the fourth year after the general release, he would recover it in the space of two or three years at latest. (Haydock) (Bonfrere)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant--Every Israelite was free-born;…
If thou buy an Hebrew servant--Every Israelite was free-born; but slavery was permitted under certain restrictions. An Hebrew might be made a slave through poverty, debt, or crime; but at the end of six years he was entitled to freedom, and his wife, if she had voluntarily shared his state of bondage, also obtained release. Should he, however, have married a female slave, she and the children, after the husband's liberation, remained the master's property; and if, through attachment to his family, the Hebrew chose to forfeit his privilege and abide as he was, a formal process was gone through in a public court, and a brand of servitude stamped on his ear (Psa 40:6) for life, or at least till the Jubilee (Deu 15:17).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 6 2. Buy a Hebrew servant — In the time…
2. Buy a Hebrew servant — In the time of Moses slavery existed among all the nations, and commonly in most oppressive forms. The Israelites themselves had just escaped a bondage of serfdom in Egypt. The Hebrew patriarchs had owned many slaves who inter-married and begat children, and these were regarded as the property of the patriarchal chieftain. Comp. Gen_14:14. The Mosaic legislation was adapted to mitigate the evils of the system, and provided for universal emancipation. Lev_25:10. This verse shows that a Hebrew might be bought and sold, but under definite restrictions. It appears, (1.) That a Hebrew might sell himself, voluntarily, for a term of years not exceeding six, (except in the case specified in Exo_21:6.) (2.) He might, on account of poverty, feel obliged to sell himself (Lev_25:39) even to a foreigner.
Lev_25:47. (3.) One might sell his daughter to be a maidservant, (Exo_21:7,) or one might be sold for theft, (Exo_22:3.) (4.) Captives taken in war might become the possession of the conquerors, (Deu_20:14; Deu_21:10-14; Num_31:1; Num_31:8,) and, (5.) Hebrews might purchase bond-servants of the heathen, and treat them with greater rigour than was allowable with any of their own brethren.
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Lev_25:44-46. But stealing and selling men were punishable with death, (Exo_21:16,) and the rendition of fugitive slaves was strictly forbidden. Deu_23:15-16. The Mosaic law does not authorize the involuntary sale of any one except for crime.
In the seventh he shall go out free — Furnished also with liberal gifts. Compare Deu_15:13-14. This humane provision made it impossible for any Hebrew to become involved in unwilling bondage. Such a provision adopted by any slaveholding people would speedily abolish all holding of human beings in unjust bondage.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–6 2. If thou buy] In the Heb. the primary…
2. If thou buy] In the Heb. the primary cases (vv. 2, 7, 20, 22 &c.) are introduced by ki, ‘when,’ the subordinate ones (vv. 3a, 3b, 4, 5; 8, 9, 10, 11, &c.) by ’im, ‘if,’ or ’ô, ‘or if’; but the distinction is not preserved in EVV.
an Hebrew servant] better, an Hebrew bondman (RVm.) or male slave, i.e. one of Hebrew birth, as opposed to foreigners, who did not enjoy the same privileges as Hebrew slaves, and might be slaves for life (Lev_25:44-46). The release in the seventh year, after six years of servitude, seems, like the Sabbatical Year (Exo_23:10 f.), to be suggested by the weekly sabbath closing the six days of toil.
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go out free] Cf. Ḥammurabi’s Code, § 117 (below, p. 421). The philanthropic legislator of Deuteronomy (Exo_15:13 f.) enjoins the master to bestow a handsome present upon his slave when he thus leaves him.
2–6. Hebrew male slaves. Their term of service is fixed for six years (v. 2). A slave is to leave his master’s service exactly as he entered it: if he entered it without a wife, he is to leave it without wife, even though he may have taken a wife in the meantime (vv. 3a, 4). If on the other hand he was married when his master bought him, his wife may accompany him when he receives his Freedom (v. 3b). Provision is further made for a voluntary life-service (v. 5 f.).
2–11. The law of slavery. Cf. Deu_15:12-18, Lev_25:39-55 (H and P), where there are other regulations on the same subject, in some respects differing remarkably from those of Ex., and springing evidently out of a different and more advanced stage of society. The present law deals only with Hebrew slaves: the case of foreign slaves is dealt with in Lev_25:44-46. The conditions of society in ancient Israel were such that slavery could not be abolished: but it was regulated, and restrictions were imposed on the power of a master over his slave (see also vv. 20 f., 26 f.). An Israelite might fall into slavery from different causes: (1) he might be sold by his parents, a case of particularly common occurrence with daughters; (2) he might be sold for theft (Exo_22:3) or insolvency (2Ki_4:1, Amo_2:6); (3) he might be obliged by poverty to sell himself (Lev_25:39). Of course, also, he might be born a slave. The later legislation of Lev_25:39-46 sought to limit slavery to foreigners.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–6 (2) If thou buy an Hebrew servant.—Ancient society was…
(2) If thou buy an Hebrew servant.—Ancient society was founded upon slavery. “The ultimate elements of the household,” says Aristotle, “are the master and his slave, the husband and his wife, the father and his children” (Pol. i. 2, § 1). In any consideration of the rights of persons, those of the slave class naturally presented themselves first of all, since they were the most liable to infraction. Slaves might be either natives or foreigners. A Hebrew could become a slave—(1) through crime (Exo_22:3); (2) through indebtedness (Lev_25:39); (3) through his father’s right to sell him (Neh_5:5). Foreign slaves might be either prisoners taken in war, or persons bought of their owners (Lev_25:45). The rights of Hebrew slaves are here specially considered.
Six years shall he serve.—The Hebrew was not to be retained in slavery for a longer space than six years. If a jubilee year occurred before the end of the six years, then he regained his freedom earlier (Lev_25:39-41); but in no case could he be retained more than six years in the slave condition, except by his own consent, formally given (Exo_21:5). This law was an enormous advance upon anything previously known in the slave legislation of the most civilised country, and stamps the Mosaic code at once as sympathising with the slave, and bent on ameliorating his lot. It has been thought strange by some that slavery was not now abrogated; but even Christianity, fifteen hundred years later, did not venture on so complete a social revolution.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–5 Vers 2-11. Slavery.
Vers 2-11. Slavery.
If thou buy a Hebrew servant. Slavery, it is clear, was an existing institution. The law of Moses did not make it, but found it, and by not forbidding, allowed it. The Divine legislator was content under the circumstances to introduce mitigations and alleviations into the slave condition. Hebrews commonly became slaves through poverty, (Lev_25:35, Lev_25:39) but sometimes through crime. (Exo_22:3)
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In the seventh he shall go out. Not in the Sabbatical year, but at the commencement of the seventh year after he became a slave. If the jubilee year happened to occur, he might be released sooner; (Lev_25:40) but in any case his servitude must end when the sixth year of it was completed. This was an enormous boon, and had nothing, so far as is known, correspondent to it in the legislation of any other country. Nor was this all. When he went out free, his late master was bound to furnish him with provisions out of his flock, and out of his threshing floor, and out of his winepress, (Deu_15:12-14) so that he might have something wherewith to begin the world afresh. The humane spirit of the legislation is strikingly marked in its very first enactment.
HOMILETICS.
Vers. 2-11; 20, 21; 26, 27; 32. The slave laws.
Slave laws belong to all communities, and not to some only, slavery being really a universal and not a partial institution. In the most civilised communities of modern Europe, there are two large classes of slaves lunatics and criminals. The law openly condemns these last to penal servitude, which may be for life; and this "servitude," as Lord Chief Justice Coleridge has repeatedly pointed out, is simply a form of slavery. Ancient communities differed from modern
1. In the extent to which slavery prevailed;
2. In the grounds upon which men were bound to it; and
3. In the treatment whereto those bound to it were subjected.
I EXTENT OF ANCIENT SLAVERY. The slaves in ancient states were almost always more numerous than the freemen. At Athens they amounted to more than four-fifths of the community. Every free person was a slave owner, and some owned hundreds of their fellow-creatures. Perpetual insecurity was felt in consequence of the danger of revolt; and this fear reacted on the treatment of slaves, since it was thought necessary to break their spirit by severities. The evil effects of the institution pervaded all classes of the community, fostering pride and selfishness in the masters, dissimulation, servility, and meanness in the slaves.
II GROUNDS ON WHICH ANCIENT SLAVERY RESTED. Ancient slavery did not necessarily imply any mental or moral fault in the slave. Some reached it through mental defect, as our lunatics; some through crime, as our convicts. (see Exo_22:3) But the great majority were either born in the condition, or became slaves through the fortune of war. Thus slavery was not commonly a deserved punishment, but an undeserved misfortune. Men found themselves, without any fault of their own, the goods and chattels of another, with no political and few social rights, bound to one who might be in all respects inferior to themselves, but who was their lord and master. A sense of injustice consequently rankled in the bosom of the slave, and made him in most cases dangerous. Slave revolts were of frequent occurrence.
III TREATMENT OF SLAVES IS ANCIENT STATES. Some considerable differences may be observed between the treatment of slaves in different communities; but there are certain features which seem to have been universal.
1. Slaves were for the most part the property of individuals, and dependedlargely on the caprice of individuals, who might be harsh or mild, brutally tyrannical, or foolishly indulgent.
2. Slave families might at any time be broken up, the different membersbeing sold to different masters.
3. Slaves might everywhere be beaten, and unless in case of serious injury,there was no inquiry.
4. Very severe labour might be required of them; they might be confined inworkshops, which were little better than prisons, made to toil in mines, or chained to the oar as galley slaves.
5. They might be badly lodged, badly clothed, and badly fed, without thelaw taking any notice.
6. In most places there was no redress for any injury that a slave mightsuffer short of death; and in some the law took no cognisance even of his murder. The Mosaic legislation, finding slavery established under these conditions, set itself to introduce ameliorations, without condemning the institution altogether. Compare St. Paul"s conduct when he sent Onesimus back to Philemon. (Phm_1:12, Phm_1:16) It divided slaves into two classes, Hebrew and foreign, changing the slavery of the former into a species of apprenticeship for six years, and guarding, not merely the life, but the members and organs of the latter. It acknowledged the family lie in the case of the slave, and laid down rules tending to check the separation of wives from husbands. It protected slave concubines from the caprice of a sated husband. It absolutely forbade the practice of kidnapping, whereby the slave-market was largely recruited in most countries, putting men-stealers on a par with murderers, and requiring that they should suffer death. We may gather from the Mosaic legislation on the subject
I THAT THERE ARE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH SLAVERY SHOULD BE TEMPORARILY MAINTAINED. Where a whole community is uncivilised, or half-civilised, where slavery is an old-established institution, engrained not only into the laws, but into the habits and manners of the people where there are no prisons or means of building them, and where the alternative for slavery would he the massacre of prisoners taken in war, and of criminals, it may be well that even Christian legislators should for a time tolerate the institution. The Europeans who obtain political influence in Central Africa, and other similar regions are bound to bear this in mind; and while doing their utmost to put down man-stealing, should carefully consider in each case that comes before them, whether slavery can in the particular community be dispensed with or no. To tolerate it for a while is simply to act on the lines laid down by Moses and St. Paul.
II THAT IF UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES SLAVERY HAS TO BE MAINTAINED, ALL POSSIBLE AMELIORATIONS OF IT SHOULD BE INTRODUCED WITHOUT DELAY. The slave is entitled to be protected in life and limb, to he decently lodged, fed, and clothed, to have the enjoyment of the Sunday rest, to be undisturbed in his family relations, to have the honor of his wife and daughters respected, to have an appeal from his master if he regards himself as in any way wronged. The efforts of missionaries and other humane men in uncivilised communities, should be directed primarily to the introduction of such reforms as these into the systems which they find established there.
III THAT, WHERE DOMESTIC SERVICE HAS SUPERSEDED SLAVERY, THERE IS STILL ROOM FOR AMELIORATIONS IN THE CONDITIONS OF SERVICE. It is not the masters of slaves only who are hard and tyrannical. In all service there is room for the exhibition on the part of the master, of indulgence on the one hand, or strictness and severity on the other. We at the present day may either oppress our servants, or deal kindly with them. True, they may leave us if we oppress them; but a good servant will not readily leave a respectable place, and a good deal of tyranny is often borne before warning is given. It is the duty of masters, not only to "give to their servants that which is just and equal", (Col_4:1) but to show them sympathy and kindness, to treat them with consideration, and avoid hurting their feelings. More warmth and friendliness than are at all usual in the present treatment of servants, seem to be required by the fact that they are our brethren in the Lord, joint-heirs of salvation with us, and perhaps to be preferred above us in another world.
Vers. 2-12. Hebrew bond-service.
The laws relating to this subject are to be found, in addition to those in the present chapter, in Exo_12:43-45 Exo_22:3; Lev_25:39-55; Deu_12:12, 18 15:15-19 16:11, 14 21:10-15 23:15; 24:7. An impartial examination of these laws will show how fallacious mustbe every argument attempted to be deduced from them in favour of modern slave-holding. (On the fallacy of all such arguments, based on the state of matters in primitive society, see Maine"s "Ancient Law," pp. 162-166.) The Mosaic law did not establish slavery at most it accorded to it a very modified toleration. It accepted it as an existing usage, labouring to the utmost to reduce, and as far as that was practicable, to abolish, the cvils connected with it. It could not well do more, for slavery, under the then existing conditions of society, was in some form or other almost inevitable, and was often the only alternative to a worse evil. Yet the law in its entire spirit and fundamental doctrines was opposed to slavery. Its doctrines of the dignity of man as made in God"s image, and of the descent of all mankind from one pair, contained in principle the recognition of every human right. As a member of the theocracy, redeemed by Jehovah for himself, every Israelite was free by constitutional right. (see the emphatic annunciation of this principle in Lev_25:42, 55 26:13) If from temporary causes, the Hebrew lost the use of his freedom, the right to it was not thereby destroyed. It returned to him at the beginning of the seventh year. A law can hardly be regarded as favourable to slavery which makes man-stealing a crime punishable by death (ver. 18), and which enacts that a fugitive slave, taking refuge in Israel from his heathen master, is not to be delivered back to him, but is to be permitted to reside where he will in the land. (Deu_23:15, Deu_23:16) Bondsmen (both Hebrew and non-Israelite) were incorporated as part of the nation, had legal rights, sat with the other members of the family at the board of the passover, took part in all religious festivals, and had secured to them the privilege of the Sabbath rest. The master was responsible for the treatment of his slave; and if he injured him, even to the extent of smiting out a tooth, the slave thereby regained his freedom (vers. 26, 27). A female slave was to be treated with strictest honour (vers. 7-11), and with due consideration for her womanly feelings. (Deu_21:10-15) Humanity and kindness are constantly inculcated. When the Hebrew bondsman went out in the seventh year he was to go forth loaded with presents. (Deu_15:13-16) The legislation of Moses is thus seen to be studiously directed to the protection of the slave"s interests and rights. If there is a seeming exception, it is the one precept in ver. 20, on which see below. The law as a whole must be admitted to be framed in the spirit of the greatest tenderness and consideration, recognising the servant"s rights as a man, his privileges as a member of the theocracy, his feelings as a husband and father. As respects the Hebrew bondsman, indeed, his position did not greatly differ from that of one now who sells his labour to a particular person, or engages to work to him on definite terms for a stated period (Fairbairn). He could be reduced to servitude only by debt, or as the penalty for theft. In this latter case, (Exo_22:3) liberty was justly forfeited is forfeited still in the case of those convicted of felony, and doomed to compulsory labours, or to transportation, or lengthened terms of imprisonment. The laws in the present section embrace three eases
1. That of the Hebrew servant who is unmarried (ver. 2). He goes out at the beginning of the seventh year.
2. That of the Hebrew servant who is married. In this case, if the wife camein with her husband, she goes out with him in the year of release (ver. 3); but if his master has given him a wife presumably a non-Israelite he has not the privilege of taking her with him when he leaves. He may, however, elect to remain in his master"s service, in which case his servitude becomes perpetual (vers. 5, 6). The retention of the wife may appear oppressive, but it was, as Keil points out, "an equitable consequence of the possession of property of slaves at all.
3. The third case is that of a Hebrew daughter, sold by her father to be amaidservant, i.e. , as the sequel shows, as a housekeeper and concubine (vers. 7-12). The master may betroth her to himself, or may give her to his son, but in either case the law strictly guards her honour and her rights. If her full rights are not accorded her, she is entitled to her freedom (ver. 11). Lessons.
(1) Ver. 2. The natural right of mar. to his freedom.
(2) Ver. 5. Recognition of the slave"s personality. "In modern systems, the man is a mere chattel, but in the Mosaic system, the slave"s manhood is declared. He is sovereign over himself, and is allowed the power of choice. The Southern slaveholder would not permit his slave to say, "I will not"; but the Hebrew slave is permitted to say, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free (Burrows).
(3) Vers. 5, 6. Love, the true reconciler between servitude and freedom. Paul the "slave" of Christ, yet the truest freeman.
(4) Jehovah"s care for the unfriended. This comes beautifully out in the law for the protection of the woman. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant.
Exo_21:2-6
If thou buy an Hebrew servant.
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Slavery and sovereignty
These judgments of God are the declarations of human rights.
I. These judgments dealt with an existing institution. The circumstances under which an Hebrew might be reduced to servitude were--
1. Poverty.
2. The commission of theft.
3. The exercise of paternal authority.
II. This admitted institution does not sanction modern slavery. There is in the Divine revelation a spirit ever working to the enfranchisement of the race. More closely consider the conditions of Mosaic slavery--
III. This system asserted the slaves personal sovereignty. In modern systems, the man is a mere chattel, but in the Mosaic system the slaves manhood is declared. He is sovereign over himself, and is allowed the power of choice. The Southern slaveholder would not permit his slave to say, I will not; but the Hebrew slave is permitted to say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.
IV. This system declared the slaves right to be a man of feeling. The man was not to be separated from the wife he had chosen prior to his days of servitude. This part of the Mosaic regulations would not harmonize with the painful scenes which took place at slave marts.
V. This system proclaimed the slaves right to freedom, and that it is the highest condition. The Hebrew slave worked on to the day of happy release. This term of service was no longer than a modern apprenticeship. The bells of the seventh year rang out the old order of slavery, and rang in the new glorious order of freedom.
VI. This system typically sets forth that the service of love is the highest, and alone enduring. He only was to serve for ever who chose continued servitude on account of love to his master, and love to his wife and his children. The service of love outstrips in dignity and surpasses in duration all other forms of service. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Attachment to a master
The following anecdote is furnished by an officer who went through the campaign in Egypt against the French in the time of the first Napoleon. I am glad, he says, to recall to my memory the remembrance of a deed done by a brave and faithful servant. While in Egypt, the plague broke out in the 2nd Regiment of Guards. A large tent was immediately set apart as a hospital for the stricken. It was, naturally, regarded with extreme dread by the unfortunate sufferers, who despaired of ever leaving it alive. The surgeon of the Guards, discovering that he had symptoms of the disorder about him, bravely gave himself up as an inmate of the plague tent. His servant, who was greatly attached to him, was in despair. At least, he said, let me go with you, and nurse you. His master, however, made answer that such a step was impossible, since the tent was guarded by sentinels, who had orders to admit no one without a pass. The breach of this rule was punishable with death. The man was silenced for the moment, but at nightfall, regardless of the danger of disease or detection, he crept on hands and knees past the sentinels, and slipping under the cords of the doomed tent, he presented himself at his masters bedside. Here he went through many days of patient and tender nursing of the sick man, till the plague claimed another victim, and the good surgeon died. Then the servant walked quietly out of the tent door, and went through the usual form of disinfection, after that returning to his regiment, where he was received with open arms. To have dared so much for a beloved master raised him to the rank of a hero, both among officers and men. He had shown that love for a fellow-man was stronger even than the love of life in his breast, and those who might not have been brave enough to dare such fearful risks, were noble enough to own their admiration of one who had done so. Such faithful service is registered in heaven, the writer adds. (Great Thoughts.)
Love for a master
In the latter days of Sir Walter Scott, when poverty stared him in the face, he had to announce to his servants his inability to retain them any longer. But they begged to be allowed to stay, saying they would be content with the barest fare if only they might remain in his employ. This was permitted, and they clung, to him until the last. (H. O. Mackey.)
The ear bored with an aul
We are going to use this as a type, and get some moral out of it:
1. And the first use is this. Men are by nature the slaves of sin. Some are the slaves of drunkenness, some of lasciviousness, some of covetousness, some of sloth; but there are generally times in mens lives when they have an opportunity of breaking loose. There will happen providential changes which take them away from old companions, and so give them a little hope of liberty, or there will come times of sickness, which take them away from temptation, and give them opportunities for thought. Above all, seasons will occur when conscience is set to work by the faithful preaching of the Word, and when the man pulls himself up, and questions his spirit thus:--Which shall it be? I have been a servant of the devil, but here is an opportunity of getting free. Shall I give up this sin? Shall I pray God to give me grace to break right away, and become a new man; or shall I not?
2. Our text reads us a second lesson, namely, this. In the forty-first Psalm, in the sixth verse, you will find the expression used by our Lord, or by David in prophecy personifying our Lord, Mine ear hast thou opened, or Mine ear hast thou digged. Jesus Christ is here, in all probability, speaking of Himself as being for ever, for our sakes, the willing servant of God. Will you not say, Let my ear be bored to His service, even as His ear was digged for me?
I. First, let us speak upon our choice of perpetual service.
1. The first thing is, we have the power to go free if we will.
2. We have not the remotest wish to do so.
3. We are willing to take the consequences. The boring of our ear is a special pain, but both ears are ready for the aul. The Lords service involves peculiar trials, for He has told us, Every branch that beareth fruit He purgeth it. Are we willing to take the purging?
II. Now, secondly, our reasons for it. A man ought to have a reason for so weighty a decision as this. What reasons can we give for such decided language?
1. We can give some reasons connected with Himself. The servant in our text who would not accept his liberty, said, I love my master. Can we say that? The servant in our text, who would not go free, plainly declared that he loved his wife, so that there are reasons connected not only with his Master, but with those in his Masters house, which detain each servant of Jesus in happy bondage. Some of us could not leave Jesus, not only because of what He is, but because of some that are very dear to us who are in His service. How could I leave my mothers God? Besides, let me add, there are some of us who must keep to Christ, because we have children in His family whom we could not leave--dear ones who first learned of Christ from us.
2. There are reasons also why we cannot forsake our Lord which arise out of ourselves; and the first is that reason which Peter felt to be so powerful. The Master said, Will ye also go away? Peter answered by another question. He said, Lord, to whom shall we go?
3. And why should we go? Can you find any reason why we should leave Jesus Christ? Can you imagine one?
4. And when should we leave Him if we must leave Him? Leave Him while we are young? It is then that we need Him to be the guide of our youth. Leave Him when we are in middle life? Why, then it is we want Him to help us to bear our cross, lest we sink under our daily load. Leave Him in old age? Ah, no! It is then we require Him to cheer our declining hours. Leave Him in life? How could we live without Him? Leave Him in death? How could we die without Him? No, we must cling to Him; we must follow Him whithersoever He goeth.
III. In the last place, I want to bore your ear. Do you mean to be bound for life? Christians, do you really mean it? Come, sit ye down and count the cost.
1. And, first, let them be bored with the sharp awl of the Saviours sufferings. No story wrings a Christians heart with such anguish as the griefs and woes of Christ. The bleeding Lamb enthralls me. I am His, and His for ever. That is one way of marking the ear.
2. Next, let your ear be fastened by the truth, so that you are determined to hear only the gospel. The gospel ought to monopolize the believers ear.
3. Furthermore, if you really give yourself to Christ, you must have your ear opened to hear and obey the whispers of the Spirit of God, so that you yield to His teaching, and to His teaching only. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 5 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh tells Moses his laws for the people of Israel.
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If he came by himself, he must go free by himself
What "by himself" means can be stated clearly. Some languages require that the additional condition, that he marries while a slave, be stated clearly. AT: "If he became a slave while he had no wife, and if he marries while he is a slave, the master need only free the man" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
by himself
"alone" or "without a wife"
if he is married
"if he was married when he became a slave" or "if he came as a married man"
translationWords
Hebrew
servant
servant
free
lord
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2–4 21:2 A man might sell himself into slavery in…
21:2 A man might sell himself into slavery in order to get money to pay his debts. This law states that the man was never to become the permanent property of the master.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.