Burning Bush Blogs
Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Group Study
Thread: Slavery and the Bible
Post Topic: The Old Testament’s Slavery Laws for Hebrews
Post in Thread: #2
Previous Post: The New Testament’s Runaway Slave
Next Post: The Old Testament’s Slavery Laws for Foreigners
Scripture: Exodus 21:2-11
Key Verses:
Exodus 21:2
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
Observations
Context
The Israelites had escaped slavery in Egypt. They had experienced God’s deliverance from the pursuing Pharaoh at the Red Sea. Now they were crossing the wilderness of Sinai to get to the Promised Land.
Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai, where he met God and received the Ten Commandments and the other laws that would govern God’s chosen people. Included were regulations regarding the practices of slavery.
In this post we will discuss what slavery amongst the Hebrews looked like. Spoiler – it was more like indentured servanthood. In the next post in the series we will discuss slavery of foreigners. These regulations are a hot-button topic with unbelievers today.
Moses received the laws in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. Map provided by biblemapper.com.
Six Year Plan (verses 2-6)
Verse 2 is a summary:
- You can buy a Hebrew as a servant/slave.
- He/she will serve you for 6 years, and go free on the 7th year.
- There are no strings attached after 6 years. He/she is free.
Verse 3 – if he came into the contract with a wife, she can go free with him.
Verses 4-6 – If he took a wife during the 6 year term:
- He is free to leave without her. She is indebted to finish her term.
- He can choose to stay as a permanent slave of the owner.
- They must get a judge involved as a witness.
- He must have his ear pierced as a public sign of this commitment.
Discussion
In verse two, some translations of the Hebrew text use the word slave; some translations use the word servant. Based on what you’ve read so far, which is a better translation? (Note – we’ll dive deeper in the interpretation section)
Selling one’s Daughter (verses 7-11)
Verse 7 – if a man can sell his daughter as a servant/slave, she doesn’t have the same 6-year plan.
Verses 8-11 – These verses demonstrate that this type of contract is about the daughter becoming a wife or a concubine in the purchaser’s home:
- Scenario 1 – the purchaser bought the woman for himself to marry.
- If she does not please him (he doesn’t marry her or he divorces her), he must let her be redeemed (bought back by her family, or perhaps work the six years like a male servant).
- He cannot sell her to foreigners, because he is the one who has broken the original agreement.
- Scenario 2 – the purchaser bought the woman for his son to marry.
- He must grant her the rights of a daughter.
- This makes her more than just an object for his son to mistreat.
- The father cannot have sexual relations with her, if she is thought of as his daughter.
- If the husband marries another different woman, he must still provide for her in every way.
- If he brings another woman into the house as his wife, she would become like a concubine, with a lower status. But he can’t treat her that way. He must still treat her like a wife, including allowing her to have her own children to take care of her.
- If he doesn’t live up to this provision, she is free to go without any cost of redemption.
Discussion
- What’s your initial reaction, as a westerner in today’s society, to read about selling one’s daughter as a servant?
- Before we get to the Interpretation section, what do you guess this selling his daughter text means is really happening here? Why might it say that she doesn’t go free after six years like we saw in verse 2? Think through verses 8-11 as part of your answer.
Interpretation
Setting
The world was a different place with different customs than we have today. It’s important to understand these cultural norms as we study the instructions God gave to his people. These instructions need to be interpreted within the context of this time and place:
- Slavery was a part of everyday life around the world. Some cultures had laws that protected slaves. Most laws were more protective of the slave owners.
- Indentured servanthood was an accepted method for debtors to reconcile their financial problems. Some cultures regulated this practice better than others, but in most societies, the debtor became a permanent slave.
- Arranged marriages were the norm. They could be arranged with the father or directly with the person getting married. Social status was often a factor in these arrangements. A dowry or mohar was given to the bride’s family by the groom, but would typically be saved for her as protection against a failed marriage or a death.
- Women had very few rights in any culture of that time. If they did not have a husband to provide for them, they faced a very uncertain future.
Takeaways – Protection of Debtors (v2-6)
- Yes, you could buy/sell somebody as though they were property. But in Israel, unlike most cultures, these debtors/slaves had rights.
- After 6 years, their debt was paid, and they were free.
- God’s law ensured they’d be provided for after they were freed:
- In Deuteronomy 15:12-15, when you set this slave free, you were required to provide for them. Send them off with a severance package, if you will.
- As we saw in verse 6, they could decide to stay on as a slave for life. This gave them protection if they didn’t have anywhere else to turn after their release and were afraid of falling back into a bad situation.
- Exodus 21:16 contains strict prohibitions against kidnapping. Both the kidnapper of the slave and the one who possessed the slave could be put to death. Doesn’t sound much like New World slavery!
- Exodus 21:26-27 allows for a slave to go free if they are mistreated. Their debt is cancelled.
- Deuteronomy 23:15-16 – A runaway slave that has come to you cannot be sent back to their master. Wow.
Discussion
- Did you know about the runaway slave provision? Why do you think skeptics never mention scriptures like that? (layup question)
- Harder question – Why wouldn’t slaves just run away first chance they get?
Imagine Together
Imagine you are a landowner in ancient Israel. You need help working your fields. Given all the regulations above, if you bought a debtor’s contract so that he would serve you for six years, how would you treat him?
Takeaways – Protection of Daughters Sold (v7-11)
- These verses have more of a feel of arranged marriages than slavery.
- It could be a marriage arranged directly with the purchaser.
- It could be a marriage arranged for the purchaser’s son.
- So what’s the difference from an arranged marriage? Why the language about selling a daughter?
- First, the Bible is not saying this is ideal. The first word in verse 7 is if. The passage is describing a hypothetical situation that could lead to other hypothetical situations, and discussing how to handle those.
- There are a number of scenarios where the father might decide to do this. Remember the final point under setting. A woman who has no husband and/or children to provide for them had a very bleak future.
- Perhaps the daughter has no hope of marriage any other way because of the family’s social situation, or other reasons.
- Perhaps the family is totally destitute, and the mohar/dowry could not be reserved for the daughter’s protection.
- Perhaps the father is an evil man and wants the money.
- Perhaps the father could not support the daughter for the customary betrothal period of a year before the marriage.
- However, let’s be honest – the man who made the purchase had more power in this arrangement.
- Even so, these laws provided more protection for women than other cultures.
- The fact that she couldn’t be sold off to foreigners to be taken away was big.
- The man was obligated to provide for her if he divorced her or didn’t provide for her or took on another wife with a higher status. This was a deterrent to his abusing the situation.
- A family member could pull her out of the situation by redeeming her.
Discussion
Do you feel better about the selling his daughter concept after studying the culture and the responsibilities of the purchaser?
Correlation
Leviticus 25:39-43 – More discussions of Hebrew slaves
- This passage talks about poverty-stricken Hebrews who sell themselves. It doesn’t mention a six-year plan, so there is disagreement about whether this is the same type of slave as we find in Exodus 21.
- Regardless, they are to be treated like a hired worker would be treated. They are not to be treated like a slave.
- When the Year of Jubilee comes (once every 50 years), they and their children are to be released to return home and reclaim their family’s property.
- They are Israelites, brought out of Egypt by God, and to be thought of as His servants.
- Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
Deuteronomy 15:12-18
- Reiterates the policy of releasing Hebrew slaves after they’ve served six years.
- Challenges masters to not only release the slaves, but to also make sure they are well provided for. They are to be supplied liberally from the flock, winepress, and threshing floor. Imagine the sense of brotherhood this would have inspired!
- Setting them free and providing for them should not be considered a hardship. Possessions are a gift from God. The same God who redeemed the nation from slavery in Egypt.
Discussion
What is the general tone of all these passages regarding Hebrew slaves?
Application
Generic Applications
Bible skeptics might start with the Exodus passage to say that the Bible condones slavery. They will also point to the section about selling one’s daughter into slavery as an abomination. But this isn’t the point of these laws. They were meant to provide structure around practices that already existed. And that structure was mean to protect the vulnerable.
But this Application section is about applying the passage to our own lives. How can we do that here? Some ideas:
- First, let’s understand God’s heart for protecting and providing for the vulnerable around us. We should pray for that same heart within us.
- Treat our subordinates at work with respect.
- Protect the vulnerable in our society. The elderly, the children, etc…
Group Discussion
Who are the vulnerable around us that we can provide for and protect? We mentioned the elderly and children, but are there others?
Personalize it
Think quietly to yourself. Is there someone you’ve taken advantage of? Or someone in particular that you could stand up for?
Group Discussion
Is there someone in our church or community that our group could do something nice for? Take out for a meal, mow their lawn, or just take time to say hello?
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.