Mosaic Slavery

[Curious_Hobbit]

Hello, I have a question about the bible and slavery. I get the impression that the mosaic kind of slavery is much different then Roman slavery and Egyptian slavery. The Jews didn’t despise labor so slaves weren’t a thing of contempt or of lower class necessarily. The masters had to care for their servants, give them compensation (of some form), feed them, and the servant was to be released after a while. I know that many people would willingly take on masters when they were having financial trouble. It seems like paid labor wasn’t very common back then, you would either fend for yourself or you would go work for someone and be something like an indentured servant.

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished- exodus 12:20

At the end of every seven-year period you (slave) shall have a relaxation of debts- Deut. 15

If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. -Exodus 21:2

Anyone who stole a man and put him to slavery (Ex 21 v16) was to be put to death. There were various laws dealing with physical abuse of slaves (Ex 21 v20 & 26). If an Israelite fell upon hard times they could offer to work for someone else who would in turn look after them (Lev 25 v39). If a thief was caught and could not make restitution then they were to be sold for the theft (Ex 22: v3).

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery- Exodus 20:2

If God rescued the Jews from Egyptian slavery, then it would seem strange that he allows them to enslave each other. So the Mosaic slavery must have been of a different kind if It is seen as a good thing that the Jews were rescued from Egyptian slavery by God.
My question is this right here
'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves"- Leviticus 25:44

Why were the Jews allowed to buy slaves from foreign lands? Is my understanding of the Mosaic slavery correct? I am in a discussion with someone and they raised this point.

Thanks!

P.S. Also, weren’t the old Jewish laws only for that specific group of people in that specific time?

 

[SnakeMauler]

Jewish slaves were essentially bondservants. Basically it was almost like a free technical school since you learned a profession and then when you were freed your master had to give you money and stuff so you weren’t broke.

For more info, see this book:

amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Bible-Guides/dp/1596985208

 

[Curious_Hobbit]

Thanks for the response and the book! I’ve been trying to learn more about this issue.

 

[Nooj]

Foreign slaves could be bought and kept for life. The debt-slavery thing was for Israelite slaves. Foreigners could be permanently enslaved.

 

[Curious_Hobbit]

Nooj, can you cite any sources? I am trying to learn more about this and I would greatly appreciate any articles or web pages you could refer me to. Thanks!

 

[Nooj]

Sure thing Curious Hobbit. The first thing, I suppose, is to check the Bible.

Leviticus 25:39-46

39 If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall not make them serve as slaves. 40 They shall remain with you as hired or bound labourers. They shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. 41 Then they and their children with them shall be free from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property. 42 For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold. 43 You shall not rule over them with harshness, but shall fear your God. 44 As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. 45 You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. 46 You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. These you may treat as slaves, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.

NRSV

There’s a book called Everyday Law in Biblical Israel: An Introduction by Raymond Westbrook that might be of interest to you, it’s a good primer.

 

[Darryl1958]

Female slaves were basically in a differentset of circumstances than males. the idea of female slavery was social mobility where girls from the poorer strata of society would be brought into richer families, and eventually would marry into the family, at which point that servitude would be over.

Herein was the problem with Hagar and Sarah. Sarah assumed that Hagar could have the child for her, and still remain a bond servant. But this was not true. There was no such thing as being a surrogate mother under God’s rules of the game. Once Hagar slept with Abraham, the whole social dynamic was changed. Hagar was no longer Sarah’s slave, but Abraham’s wife. Not only that but she was in many ways more blessed because of her child, no longer inferior in status, not even equal, but in many ways superior.

This to Sarah was very grating and humiliating indeed. Her unwillingness to accept the situation for what it was created many problems that in a very real sense still exist today between the sons and daughters of Ishmael and the sons and daughters of Isaac.