Self-Redemption Possible.
Either kind of servant is entitled to redeem himself by paying his master a portion of the original purchase price proportionate to the number of years still unexpired; thus if he was bought for ninety shekels for a term of six years, the master must allow him to go upon the payment of fifteen shekels for every year still remaining of this term.
(…).
Differences Between the Two Kinds.
While the man sold into service is bound for a term of six years, the man who sells himself voluntarily binds himself for a term longer than six years, generally ten or twenty. While the former may not be sold to a non-Israelite (not even to a convert), the latter may sell himself to an Israelite, to a convert, to a denizen (“ger toshab”), or even to the “root of the family of a stranger,” that is, to a Gentile (see above). But under all circumstances, if within the power of Israel’s laws, he becomes free, like every other Hebrew servant, in the year of jubilee.
The man sold by the court may live with a Canaanite bondwoman whom his master assigns to him (Ex. xxi. 4); but the self-sold servant may not. The former may extend the period of his servitude by having his right ear pierced by his master at the door or door-post, after which he must serve “forever,” that is, to the jubilee; the latter may not extend his term of service, and his ear is not pierced. The former, after his ear is pierced, has another possibility of freedom. The text says “he shall serve him” (his master): by taking this literally, he “acquires himself” or becomes free by the death of his master (see Nid. i. 2; Baraita, ib. 14b).
Within the six years, or within the time for which a man has sold himself, the Hebrew servant is not freed by the death of the master (if an Israelite) if the latter leaves a son, but need not serve a daughter or other surviving heirs. When a man is sold by the court, the master is bound to furnish such a servant’s wife with food; he having, it seems, the right to her services, which hitherto belonged to her husband (Nid. 22a).
The Hebrew Bondmaid.
According to tradition, a Hebrew female may not be sold by the court for theft, nor may she sell herself; she may be sold for a bondmaid (“amah”) only in the one way shown in Ex. xxi. 7: “When a man sells his daughter for a bondmaid” (A. V. “maid servant”). The father has this power over his daughter only while she is a minor, that is, less than twelve years of age, or at least while she does not bear the signs of puberty; and he should use his right only in the extreme of poverty, and then as the last resort before selling himself. The sale becomes complete by the delivery of money or money’s worth, or through a deed (“sheṭar”) written in the father’s name. The girl remains in service at most six years, like a man servant. If the jubilee arrives before the expiration of this term she is discharged by virture of that fact; or if the master dies, though he leaves a son, she goes free. She may also obtain her freedom by redemption at a reduced price, as explained above, or by a deed of emancipation given to her by her master. All this is implied in the words of the text (Deut. xv., Hebr.), “Thou shalt do likewise to thy bondmaid.” But over and above all these paths to liberty she has another: as soon as her signs of puberty appear the master must marry her or must betroth her to his son, or must send her free. In case of marriage she stands as a wife on the same footing as any freewoman in Israel. By the very words of the text in Exodus the master is forbidden to sell her to an outsider (lit. “to a foreign people”), either as a worker or as a wife.
In conclusion, it may be said of Hebrew man servants and bondmaids that, unlike Canaanite servants, they do not become free by reason of an assault on the part of the master which results in the loss of an eye or a tooth; but, as shown under Assault and Battery, in such a case the master is liable to them in an action for damages.
The Parting Gift.
According to Deut. xv., whoever dismisses his Hebrew man servant or maid servant must not send either of them away empty-handed, but must provide a parting gift. This law, however, does not apply to the following: a man who has sold himself; a servant sold by the court, who hastens his freedom by redeeming himself at a price reduced by lapse of time; one who has run away from his master, and who while at large has become free through the jubilee. A baraita (Nid. 17a) fixes the value of the gift at thirty shekels (this being the average value of three cited in as many opinions); and it should be made “from thy flock, thy thrashing-floor, and thy wine-press,” i.e., in products, the visible blessing of God, not in money or in clothing. The literal meaning of the verb used in reference to this parting gift in the text seems to be “to hang round the neck.”
(cont.)
