Board index ‹ Slavery in the Bible

[Newbie]

The Bible has a lot of slavery in it. Do you feel slavery is ever OK?

[jimwalton]

Slavery is a social construct, and not necessarily a moral dilemma. There are some situations where people choose to be slaves because of a bond between themselves and their master. There are some situations where forms of slavery are much like systems of employment or apprenticeship. I think that where slavery enters the moral realm is when it comes to how people are perceived and how they are treated. The Bible always insists that the people enslaved be regarded as human beings in every full sense and treated with dignity and kindness.

[Pew]

> The Bible always insists that the people enslaved be regarded as human beings in every full sense and treated with dignity and kindness.

You have not read the Bible if you think this. "Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and equitable but also to those who are perverse. (1 Peter 2:18 NAB)". "If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6 NLT)". Here a slave has to choose between being a slave and being with his family or leaving his family. Do you have a family? A wife and children? This is evil, plain and simple. Stop trying to delude the slavery in the Bible to make yourself feel better. I have heard plenty of pastors try to say slavery isn't bad yadda yadda yadda but in every instant people are bought and sold as property in the Bible and children are born into slavery also. It is not employment, there was also employment in the old testament. You are trying to make it not bad so that you can come to terms it with it. It is not OK in any sense to own another human being as property.

Here's some other gems: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment. (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT)."

"When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB)" So it's not punishable to beat your slave if it's not bad enough that they get back up after a day or two.

Why don't you become my slave, I'll give you much to do around my house and you can live in on my farm with me. I'll feed you and cloth you, but I'll also f*** you and beat you for doing things wrong. It's OK though, it's just a social construct and not a moral one. Everything I would do to you will be permissible by law, I won't overstep any of the rules set forth in the Bible.

[jimwalton]

> 1 Peter 2.18.

Because God asks his followers to be submissive doesn't mean he endorses the harsh punishment they are receiving. Just as Jesus said, "When someone strikes you, turn the other cheek," doesn't mean he approved of the strike. Unfortunately, there were jerks who were masters back then just as there are jerks who are bosses now. So the teaching is "be a good person no matter how you are treated." Nothing wrong with that.

> Ex. 21.2-6.

You misunderstand this situation. First of all, obviously, as it says, if the person comes with a wife, he gets to leave with her (3). Secondly, this is a situation of debt-slavery. It's serving another person for a period of time to pay off a debt owed. We do the same thing today but call it "employment." (I know there's a difference between the two systems, but we also commit ourselves to others to pay off our debts.) But if this master gives him a wife from someone who is already his debt-slave, that debt isn't necessarily paid off. The man, then, has options (we know this from ancient culture): (1) Wait for the wife and kids to pay off their debt-service while he works elsewhere. The longest period this could be is 7 years, for after 7 years all debt-slaves are freed in Israel. (2) He can pay off the debt for them with his earnings, releasing them from their contractual obligations. (3) He can choose to work permanently for his employer/master. There were contractual obligations to be fulfilled, even if they get married, and so the legal contracts are still binding.

> Ex. 21.7-11

This is another example of casuistic case law. Such regulations don't assume that what is described is a good idea, but "IF" such a thing happens, "THEN" here is how it should be handled. Case law begins with specific examples that don’t necessarily present best-case scenarios, but merely with real-life situations. So the law here instructs Israelites about what should be done under certain inferior conditions. Even if the conditions are less than ideal, the goal is to protect women in unfortunate circumstances.

Ex. 21.7-11 section is about marriage. In days of arranged marriages, daughters would be given in return for a dowry. Marriage was as much an economic arrangement as a social one. You'll notice here that the sale of a daughter into slavery is a marriage arrangement as a way of paying off a debt. As a way to protect those in poverty, and to protect the rights of the woman given to a man with this understanding, the debt would be liquidated, the daughter would have a husband, and he must treat her properly. You see in Ex. 21.8 that if the man is not pleased with her, he can't just dump her or abuse her, but must let her be redeemed by someone else in proper, legal form. If he passes her on to his son (v. 9), she becomes a daughter, not a slave. V. 10 speaks of provision of food, clothing, and marital rights. If he falters on any of these points, she is free to go (11). There is nothing about this that is brutal.

> Ex. 21.20-21

There is nothing in the law in Ex. 21.20 to suggest that God commands it, approves of it, or in any way endorses it. It is an "if...then" directive. The spirit of the law is clearly that slaves are to be treated by the same talionic laws as everyone else: whatever punishment they receive fits the crime, not exceeds it. Slaves are considered persons with rights. Any treatment of them was to be along the lines of what is fair and just, and not what is abusive, as was common in other countries. Brutality was not commanded or approved.

> It's OK though, it's just a social construct and not a moral one.

To make a point, you're ignoring that I specifically said, "slavery enters the moral realm is when it comes to how people are perceived and how they are treated."