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[Salam]

Lev. 24:22 says that the same law applies to the gerim (sojourners) and the Hebrews. Lev. 19:18 & Deut 10:19 say that the sojourner must be loved, and treated as one of yourselves.

The problem is this seems to contradict because it wasn't allowed to enslave an ancient Israelite for more than 7 years, yet it was permissible to enslave a sojourner forever. (Lev 25:45). How do you resolve this apparent contradiction? Thanks.

[jimwalton]

Thank you for asking. This is not a contradiction in the least, but a matter of not reading the text. It’s no different than if I were to tell my wife “I’m going to pick up some food,” and then calling her from the store 30 minutes later saying “I’m coming home now.” How do I solve this apparent contradiction? Am I leaving or coming? You can see how silly that is.

This is what you (or whatever website you got this from) has done. They haven’t even bothered to read. Allow me to explain.

Leviticus 24 is a series of laws about the community: Blasphemy, murder; and killing animals are capital crimes. Injury to someone will be judged with appropriate measures. It doesn’t matter if you are a foreigner or a resident—these things are wrong wrong wrong and everyone will be treated the same with regard to these matters. These laws are about humanity, not ethnic groups. They apply to everyone the same.

Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 10 are about how to be holy as God’s people. We treat all people with respect, since all people are in the image of God. We are to take care of the poor and give them food. We don’t steal or lie. We tell the truth in court. We pay fair wages. We don’t abuse or insult physically handicapped people. We don’t pervert justice or show partiality. Everyone gets judged fairly. And this means everyone, whether they are native-born or foreigners. We’re all human beings and we should treat each other as such.

Leviticus 25 is a completely different situation. It’s a chapter about the year of Jubilee, what Jubilee is and how it works. What it is telling us is that foreigners are not part of the Jubilee, and they don’t benefit from Jubilee privileges. That’s what the chapter is about. We have to read and understand things in their context. Non-Israelite servants (a better understanding than “slave”) don’t benefit from Jubilee. Jubilee is only for Israelites. Sort of like July 4 is an American holiday about American independence; it has no meaning in Egypt, for instance. Jubilee is only for Israelites.

But we are not to understand Lev. 25.45 as speaking about chattel slavery. There was no chattel slavery in ancient Israel. People were not property in Israel. Plenty of other texts tell us that such servants had rights, were to be treated with human dignity, and they had just as much protection under the law as anyone else. This law merely indicates the the Jubilee doesn’t apply to non-Israelite servants; it never implies that the servant is a piece of property at the mercy of his master.

So there is no contradiction at all between these texts. You actually have to read the texts, and not just the isolated verses, yanked out of context, and therefore misunderstanding their meanings because you are just reading one sentence instead of the whole paragraph.

Thanks for asking.