Ex. 21:1- 11
1 "Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.
3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
5 But if the servant plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'
6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
7 "And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
10 If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights.
11 And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.
Before anyone jumps up and tries to make slavery out as a bad thing, think about how it was back then. Trust me, I will stand and fight slavery to my last breath today. At lest the form that comes to mind for many of us today. Yet here we are looking at a form of slavery that doesn't come to mind when we hear the word. Let me explain.
For the people of Israel, (and many other cultures) slavery was for the destitute. If a man or women was able to work, yet couldn't find work, they sold them self for a set sum. That sum was their worth for 6 years. True it was for less than you would pay someone that had a job, or worked their own land and was just looking for a little extra. Now if you sold your self with only 3 years to go until jubilee, (hope I spelled that right) you would only get the price for that 3 years. So even though we see the word slave, it may be a bit more clear if we see it as contract labor.
Once you fulfilled your contract, you were free to leave. If a person left before it's fulfillment, they would then need to buy out the remainder of said contract.
Many in the ancient word that had to sell them self into slavery, may have thought that HaShem abandoned them. Yet with a reading of this passage, it becomes clear that He hadn't. In fact if a person reads this passage, it should be clear to them that HaShem loved the slaves just much as He does the free man. How can that be said with such certainty? In the law that has been set down for the treatment of, and freedom of slaves. This idea is also backed by the following.
Lev.25:39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
Deut. 15:15 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.
There are many passages in the Tanakh dealing slavery. Yet did things change when it came to the NT? Did it some how remove this law, or do away with slavery?
Gal. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Eph. 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
Col. 3:11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
1 "Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.
3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
5 But if the servant plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'
6 then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
7 "And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.
10 If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights.
11 And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.
Before anyone jumps up and tries to make slavery out as a bad thing, think about how it was back then. Trust me, I will stand and fight slavery to my last breath today. At lest the form that comes to mind for many of us today. Yet here we are looking at a form of slavery that doesn't come to mind when we hear the word. Let me explain.
For the people of Israel, (and many other cultures) slavery was for the destitute. If a man or women was able to work, yet couldn't find work, they sold them self for a set sum. That sum was their worth for 6 years. True it was for less than you would pay someone that had a job, or worked their own land and was just looking for a little extra. Now if you sold your self with only 3 years to go until jubilee, (hope I spelled that right) you would only get the price for that 3 years. So even though we see the word slave, it may be a bit more clear if we see it as contract labor.
Once you fulfilled your contract, you were free to leave. If a person left before it's fulfillment, they would then need to buy out the remainder of said contract.
Many in the ancient word that had to sell them self into slavery, may have thought that HaShem abandoned them. Yet with a reading of this passage, it becomes clear that He hadn't. In fact if a person reads this passage, it should be clear to them that HaShem loved the slaves just much as He does the free man. How can that be said with such certainty? In the law that has been set down for the treatment of, and freedom of slaves. This idea is also backed by the following.
Lev.25:39 ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.
Deut. 15:15 “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.
There are many passages in the Tanakh dealing slavery. Yet did things change when it came to the NT? Did it some how remove this law, or do away with slavery?
Gal. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Eph. 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
Col. 3:11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
Some may well be thinking that this is only for the Jewish people. That for some reason HaShem gave one set of Laws on how to deal with fellow Jews, and left it open to treat gentiles just how ever. That sadly is something that I have seen said many times. In that claim, they try to show how the NT has changed the Torah. That teaching, though it may make some people feel better is not true at all. To show this, please read,
Deut. 24:17 "You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge. 18 But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing.
As one can see, laws are to be applied equally to both Jew and Gentile. At lest that is, any that are not clearly for Israel, and Israel alone. They will be made clear not by any teacher, or person, rather by the Word. As we will soon see, there are many laws that are only for one class of people.
Sorry i over this, it just came to mind when I was looking over my last post.