Holy Hormones Bible Study
THE TORAH AND ISRAELITE SLAVERY: THE SECOND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS LAW.
The Biblical Hebrew Version of Bankruptcy
Brace yourself! This is more of a teaching blog than an entertaining one. It may not be an easy read because there is more here than a normal, well adjusted person would normally want to know but it will be worth it. It is the detail which makes me a boring person that brings the Bible alive for me. But if you happen to like what you read, there’s more to be found here.
[NOTE: Important words analysed below are identified with Hebrew/Greek transliterations into English and Strong’s Numbers so that whoever wants to can check them out — it is strongly recommended that you do. I use the Blue Letter Bible (https://www.blueletterbible.org/ )]
Summary of Hebrew Slavery
The evidence below has been used to postulate that a reasonable person could deduce that the Hollywood rendition of SLAVERY is far removed from that practiced in Israel in Biblical times. The Written Word of God separates Jewish practices from those of the surrounding Pagans.
According to the Torah:
- Israelites only became slaves in order to redeem a debt.
- They had rights.
- There was a “sunset clause” on the duration of the slavery — six years.
- At the end of the six years the ‘owner’ of the male slave had to give him enough to establish a new life.
- Female Israelite slaves had the same rights as the male — with an additional option of marriage into the “owner’s” family.
Foreign male captives had only two options — death or slavery.
- They could buy their freedom.
- God commanded that female foreign captives not be mistreated.
- Female foreign captives had the option of marriage into the family but, if they chose to reject the option, they had to be treated well.
- God forbade Human Trafficking with a zero tolerance policy — instant death was the penalty.
All slaves had the option to reject freedom and become “Bond Slaves” (a.k.a. “Love Slaves”) to masters who treated them well. They proudly had a hole punched through their ear lobe to show that they could be free but chose to remain servants to that person.
Epaphas is a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Colossians 4:12
Peter calls us bond-slaves of God. 1 Peter 2:16
Peter introduces himself as a bond-slave for Christ. 2 Peter 1:1
Paul introduces himself as a bond-slave for Christ. Romans 1:1
Painting Yesterday with Today’s Colours
Ex Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, a self-proclaimed “God-botherer,” once made a comment that the New Testament was an anachronism because it rejected homosexuality while endorsing slavery. The comment on the term ‘slavery’ in the Bible indicates that he had scant knowledge of ancient Israel. It is important to identify the different types of slave owners so they are not all tared with the same brush.
In Biblical times slavery was rife in the Roman Empire, it is estimated that 35% — 40% of the population of Italy were slaves at the end of the 1st Century (Reference 1 below). This is what we see in today’s movies.
But Israel must be separated from the rest of the pack because the Ordinances of God Himself declared they had rights (ref 2). The second Industrial Relations Law is written in Deuteronomy 15:12–15
“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. 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.
It can be inferred from Deuteronomy 15:12–15 that the bulk of slaves in Israel were bonded to pay off debt (ref 3), and there was a six year sunset clause on the bondage. In a parallel with the Sabbatical Year system, the Covenant Code (ref 4) offered automatic manumission (ref 5) — that is, freedom — of male Israelite slaves after they have worked for six years. (Female Israelite slaves were associated with eventual marriage.) At the end of this time they were each to be given goods and chattels to allow them to re-establish their life. The flavour was that they were not chattels in the usual sence of a slave. They were closer to being indentured workers with rights protected by God, Himself. Also, the Talmud records that there were jobs that they were not bound to do. It is recorded that an Israelite could not be forced to wash another Israelite’s feet. That is what is so deep about Jesus washing the Disciples’ feet.
Foreign slaves
For foreign female captives, in Deuteronomy 21:10–14 God commands that they not be mistreated. For foreign male captives the only two options were death or slavery (but they didn’t inherit the benefits of the Hebrews if they chose slavery). In addition, God reviled Human Trafficking as exemplified in Exodus 21:16 and 1 Timothy 1:8 where the penalty was death.
So slavery in Israel was more than we are conditioned to see them by Hollywood movies.
A post script is that the slaves in days of yore knew they were slaves. Kevin plundered a budget surplus that my grand-kids will be paying for — is that a post-dated anachronism?
The forgoing evidence has not been presented to convince any reader but to allow a personal decision to be made. There is much more to know about this subject. Perhaps you’ll pay another visit, sometime.
All Glory to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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(1) Slavery in Rome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome#cite_ref-27
(2) Israel slaves’ rights http://www.gotquestions.org/bible-slavery.html
(3) Debt repayment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery#cite_ref-33
(4) Covenant Code http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_Code
(5) Manumission http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manumission
