Your male
and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them
you may buy slaves. You
may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and
members of their clans born in your country, and they will become
your property. You
can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make
them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow
Israelites ruthlessly. (Leviticus 25:44-46, NIV)
Another
way that critics try to portray the Bible as “evil” is to claim
that the Bible condones slavery. The criticism strikes a chord with
many people because of America's tragic history of slavery. We
consider ourselves to be a better nation for having ended the
practice here and so, when we read passages like Leviticus 25 which
seem to support slavery, doubt about the Bible can creep into our
minds.
It
should be noted first that there's a little bit of dishonesty behind
the criticism – even if it's not intentional. When we hear the
word, slavery, we immediately think about the subjugation of
blacks in the South. It's a highly, emotionally charged word which
is the impression critics want us to have. It's an unfortunate
consequence of translation that words of different languages seldom
have exactly the same semantic range of meaning. It's nearly
unavoidable that when we substitute an English word for a Hebrew or
Greek word, we interpret the text according to our understanding of
the English word. In English, slavery sounds like a terrible
thing which makes this criticism seem to have merit.
This
is not a trivial point. This criticism's entire weight rests upon
the negative connotation implied by the word, slavery.
Critics routinely beat this drum by using disparaging language like,
“Except
for murder, slavery has got to be one of the most immoral things a
person can do”
(source). It's a
type of straw man argument. The moral quandary only exists if the
slavery mentioned in the Bible resembles the slavery as the typical,
modern reader understands it.
The
reality is that the “slavery” discussed in the Bible is not at
all like we experienced in the US. For example, Exodus 21:16
specifically proscribes the death penalty for anyone who kidnaps a
person in order to sell him. In his letter to Timothy, the Apostle
Paul includes “enslavers” (ESV) in the same list as murderers,
liars, and other sinners (1 Timothy 1:8-10). The type of slavery
once practiced in the US, where dark-skinned natives were kidnapped
in Africa and sold in America, is specifically forbidden in Mosaic
Law and is clearly identified as a sin.
When
the Bible talks about “slaves,” it is primarily talking about 2
groups of people. First, a tiny minority of slaves were prisoners
taken in war. War was a grim reality at the time of the Old
Testament and conquered kingdoms meant defeated populations that
needed to be dealt with. If you defeat and enemy, you can't simply
pack up and go home or else you'll be fighting the same enemy again
sometime later. The Law gave instructions in dealing with enemy
prisoners that was more practical than internment camps and more
humane than summary execution. This doesn't mean that God “condones”
war or slavery. Just like Jesus said about the law allowing divorce
(Matthew 19:8), laws dealing with captured prisoners were merely
allowances made for people living in a fallen world. It doesn't
reflect God's perfect will.
The
far more common slaves in biblical times are what we might call
indentured servants. In biblical times (both the Old and New
Testaments), there were no such things as government welfare or
bankruptcy. Out of economic necessity, chronically poor people could
pledge their future labor in exchange for things like forgiveness of
debt, a lump sum of money, and food and shelter. The practice isn't
as foreign when we look at similar arrangements that aren't called
slavery. Kings had vassals. Knights had squires. Vassals never
became kings and squires never became knights but in both situations,
the subordinate served the master exclusively and permanently.
Such
an arrangement might still sound bizarre to modern readers, but it
was often easier for the impoverished person to do this rather than
try to provide for himself. Once again, such an arrangement isn't
“condoned” by the Bible. God created a world where “work”
meant tending a garden and picking food off the trees to eat. In the
fallen world, people have to work hard to eat. This type of
arrangement existed and the Law gave instructions to regulate it.
It
would take too much space to address every verse in the Bible that
discusses slavery but, in general, the Bible tries to make the
arrangement more professional and less like “slavery” as we
typically understand it. Colossians 4:1 commands masters to treat
their slaves “justly and fairly.” Jewish slaves were commanded
to be freed in the year of Jubilee (every seven years). Even after
being freed, a Jewish servant could choose to permanently remain with
his master. In other nations, female slaves were often used for sex
but the Law commanded that if a Jewish owner had sex with a slave, he
must treat her like a wife. These are just a few of the types of
regulations the Bible lists concern the practice.
Finally,
God ultimately does not distinguish between slave and master – both
are equal in His eyes (Galatians 3:28). In his letter, Paul tells
Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a slave but as a brother
(Philemon 1:16). Paul even refers to himself as a “slave” to
Christ (Greek,
δοῦλος,
Romans 1:1, et
al).
Indeed, Christ Himself gave us the parable of the unprofitable
servant, Luke 17:7-10. He has forgiven my debt, paid the penalty for
my sins, and given me eternal life. He is my Lord. I owe Him all I
have and could serve Him my entire life and still never repay all He
has done for me.
