Essay On Slavery In The Bible

Slavery in the Bible is a difficult topic to discuss because our paradigm or idea of slavery is influenced for the most part by the enslavement of Africans in the 17th-19th centuries. This, however, is not the type of slavery that is mentioned in the Bible. Slaves in recent history were more than likely tricked/kidnapped and forced to work. They received no pay and they had no human rights—they were the property of another person, no different than an animal or tool. 

In an ideal world, slavery would be neither an option nor a necessity. Because of the socioeconomic situation of Old Testament Israel, God did allow slavery, but He allowed it for a simple purpose: to help the poor survive. A person could sell himself into slavery (similar to indentured servitude) in order to pay off debt or to provide for their basic needs. God did not intend for Israel to have poverty (Deut 15:4), but sin made it inevitable (Deut 15:5), and therefore God allowed slavery to deal with that reality. 

Like I said earlier, the biblical concept of slavery is much different than what would have been seen in the 1700’s and 1800’s. The OT records different types of slaves however none of these are the same as the slaves in the last few hundred years. There were two basic types of slaves in biblical times: foreigners and debtors.

Foreigners were those taken in war. The Gibeonites in Joshua 9 avoided war altogether by offering themselves as servants to the Israelites. This was common but not the most common form of slavery amongst the Israelite culture.

The more common slave was one who had voluntarily sold themselves or had been sold by their parents to pay off a debt. In a time without extensive government aid or social services (like welfare and social security) pledging one's work was legitimate currency. The Mosaic Law gave slaves the right of Sabbath (Exodus 23:12), required significant compensation for abuse (Exodus 21:20, 26-27, 32), gave specific protection for women (Exodus 21:7-11) and commanded that all slaves be set free on the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:39-41). Job even asserts that God not only holds him accountable for his slaves' well-being, but God actually sees no difference between the master and slave (Job 31:13-15). Often, if a man had no heir, his property passed on to his slave (Genesis 15:2-3). These concessions do not condone the practice of one human being owned another, but they do provide for the care and support of those unable to support themselves.

Again, it is important to note that though the Bible talks about slavery it is not the same as the slavery we see in the United States in the 1800s (or in the sex trafficking industry currently). Masters did not “own” their slaves’ humanity—they instead leased their work. The slavery of the Bible was more like indentured servitude (working for someone to pay off a debt) than modern-day slavery (being captured and forcefully placed in a position as someone else’s possession). The Bible's punishment for kidnapping someone and keeping or selling him was death—in other words, involuntary slavery was a capital offense (Exodus 21:16). 

This brings us to the passage your friend pointed out. Like I said earlier, the Bible regulates slavery and it regulates it in two primary ways: physical protection for slaves and financial provision for slaves. You can see these regulations played out even more in Leviticus 25:39-40, 2 Samuel 9:9-10, Exodus 20:10. If you read Exodus 21:20-21 you actually see that this is a passage about the protection of a slave’s physical health. Unlike other cultures at this time period, slave owners could not beat their slaves to death. If they did, we see here that they would be punished because they had violated someone’s fundamental right as a human being…which is much different than the modern day concept of slavery. What seems to be puzzling in this passage is the final words of v. 21. The ESV reads “for the slave is his money”. Now in Hebrew, this phrase reads kinda funny. It literally reads “for his money he is”. So it would seem that this is identifying the slave as the money or currency of the master. However, we have already noted that slaves were NOT seen as property without human rights. So what does this mean? Here’s what I (and some scholars that are a lot smarter than me) think. The phrase “the slave is his money” relates only to the financial circumstances of the one he serves; it is neither a description of how a slave as a person is to understood, not a prescription for how a slave is to be treated. So basically it’s as if Moses is saying that for an owner to beat and even kill his slave would be for him to lose the money or debt that particular slave owed him. 

For example, let’s say you owed me $100 and decided to sell yourself to work for me to pay it off. Every year you worked, I took $10 off your account. Well let’s say after 8 years I killed you. I would still be out $20…so by killing you I would actually be hurting myself financially.

Now, despite all of this, we have to understand that slavery is not a part of God’s design for this world. Like divorce and polygamy, slavery was never in God's perfect plan. God does not support it or condone it…He regulates it. In fact, as we see from a closer examination of the OT, God actually commanded His people to provide “slaves” with more rights than they would have been given in other cultures at this time. 

Ultimately, as is God’s mission, slavery is redeemed.

You see, as the story of God develops, we begin to notice that God is not primarily aimed first and foremost at social reform. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a GOOD THING—however it is not God’s primary goal. Jesus is ushering a kingdom that cannot be shaken and in this kingdom slavery is eradicated. However, first Jesus is working on kingdom people. Before he redeems the whole world and ushers in a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21) he first is ushering in a new people—Christians…and you see, the social reform this world desperately needs is enacted BY Christians who have first been redeemed

personally. 

The beauty of the gospel is that our Master became our servant (see further Philippians 2:5-7, John 13:3-5, Mark 10:45). This is the essence of Christianity: we become his servant because he first became ours (Rom 1:1, Phil 1:1). Jesus came to set the captive free (Is. 61:1-2). The paradox though is that we become free by submitting to a gracious master: Jesus.