Did God Condone Slavery in the Bible?

Is God Mean | Episode 8

Did God Condone Slavery in the Bible?

Revealing God’s heart for all who are oppressed

Is Christianity White Man’s Religion?

Did God condone slavery in the BIble? Is Christianity the “White Man’s Religion” Well, there are a lot of people who would say yes. And, it is definitely true that throughout history, there have been lots of morally depraved self-proclaiming Christians who have twisted scripture to promote slavery. In fact, at one point in our own nation’s history, self-proclaimed Christians actually distributed “slave bibles” that had all the portions of scripture that condemn slavery taken out in order to prevent uprisings. Talk about twisting scripture!

This obviously does not mean, however, that just because evil people attempted to distort God’s word for their own demented and selfish gain, that God actually condoned or permitted slavery in the Bible. I can emphatically say, no, God does not condone the evil practice of slavery in the Bible, and although you will often hear critics of Christianity quote scriptures they say proves otherwise, I’m going to show you when you understand the original language and the culture of the day that the Bible was written in, that nothing could be further from the truth.

Some of the most seemingly-damning scriptures that critics use to condemn Christianity are:
Ephesians 6:5
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

The next scripture is even a little more tricky
Exodus 21:20-21
“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.”

Wow, this scripture sounds like it’s not only condoning owning slaves, but also endorsing cruelty and violence to those slaves just as long as you don’t murder them! But that is not at all what this scripture means, and the common misunderstanding comes from the poor english translation of the original text. You’re going to be shocked when you find out what this scripture really means.

Now, probably the most difficult passage that usually trips Christians up and leaves them scratching their heads:
Leviticus 25:44-46
“‘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.

You’ve never heard that scripture taught in church have you? I bet not. This scripture leaves most Christians running for the hills, but we’re not running in this video, we’re going to tackle it head on. Once you see and understand what this scripture truly says you’ll never view Christianity as the “White Man’s Religion” again and you’ll see God’s love and protection even in these seemingly harsh scriptures in the Bible, and I’m not going to be just throwing out the usual indentured servitude argument that most apologists go-to either. While we are going to cover that, we’re going a lot deeper, and will bring to light information you’ve probably never heard before, even if you grew up in church.

So if you’ve been confused by these scriptures in the past, or if you’ve been stumped by the arguments of critics of Christianity, or if you’d just like to settle the matter in your own mind, then stay tuned, because I’m uncovering the truth now.
The same page of history

Hey and welcome to Is God Mean, a video series that reviews God’s seemingly harsh actions in the Old Testament in order to reveal His loving nature in even the most challenging portions of scripture. We’ve been tackling the most difficult questions that critics of Christianity could throw at us, which brings us today’s topic. Did God endorse slavery in the Bible?

To answer that question accurately, I want to start by making sure that we’re all on the same page and that we’re all talking about the same thing when we use the word “slavery”, as throughout history the term slave has meant very different things then what it means to our current understanding of the word.
What does the Bible mean by “slave”?

Did you know that the word slave only appears in the King James Version of the Bible two times. The King James version of the Bible is one of the earlier English translations of the Bible, so you’d think that we’d see the word more in this earlier translation as slavery was more commonly practiced in those days. Yet,neither of the only two times that the word appears is it considered controversial or a point of contention with critics of Christianity. All the controversial scriptures that I quoted earlier in this video, that make people so angry, didn’t even have the word slave in them in the earlier translations of the Bible.

However, in some of our more modern English translations of the Bible we find the word slave used over 150 times. Why is this happening? Why does the word slave appear in our modern translations so much more than it did in the early translations? I believe it is because our understanding of the word slave has been evolving over time. The word slave doesn’t mean the same thing to people in today’s culture as it did when the Bible was written. So we need to clarify terms to understand exactly what the Bible is talking about.
Slave Versus Servant: What’s the difference?

Interestingly enough, there is no word in the original language that the Old Testament was predominantly written in (which is Hebrew) that means “slave” as we understand it in today’s culture. The only word ancient Hebrew had for slave was the word “eved, and it didn’t inherently refer to forced labor. It was not a negative term. The word is often translated as “servant”, and many times throughout scripture the label was worn as a badge of honor.

High ranking officials in the king’s palace would proudly refer to themselves as servant (‘eved) of the king. All of our Bible heroes celebrated the fact that they were servants (‘eved) of the Most High God. In fact, in the Ancient Near East, everyone considered themself a servant. The poor voluntarily opted for contract labor as servants, the rich were considered servants of the king, and the king himself was considered a servant of God. Everyone was a servant, and it was just as often considered an honor as it was misfortune to be labeled one.

In fact, still today, every Christian’s goal is to hear the words Jesus shared in His parable of the talents:
“…Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21 KJV

Here again we see the term servant being used as a badge of honor and something that is passionately sought after. It is clearly not a term that is used to denote forced labor. Being a servant of Christ is pure choice. There is nothing forced about it. So in this scenario, the word servant is used to describe a voluntary position that actually leads to rulership, not oppression. In this parable, the servant is made a great ruler and invited to enjoy all the wealth of his master.

I share this Greek use of the word servant to highlight that being labeled a servant is not an inherently bad thing. In Bible days, the term was often used as a term to honor someone, and it is a term that every believer carries to this day. Yeshua is many things to us: our brother, our savior, the bridegroom to the church, and the King of all kings, and, as the King of the universe, we are honored to be His servants. As such, we will be invited to share everything He has and to rule along with Him.

Even in a modern day monarchy, like the British monarchy, the King’s immediate family is expected to carry out the will of the King, and thus are technically servant’s of the king. Yet, no one would ever consider the royal family slaves! Even Christ Himself, the King of Kings and Lord of lords, humbly took on the title of servant during His time on earth as He came to serve the will of His father and to serve mankind, and He is a slave to no one!

So before we go any further, we need to first understand that when we see this word “slave” in these scriptures we are investigating in the Old Testament, the real word being used is “‘eved”, which carries no inherent overtones of forced labor. In fact, there is not a single time that God gives instructions or regulations for how to treat a servant that is referring to a kidnapped slave situation. Kidnapping was always expressly prohibited.
God brutally condemns the forced enslavement of others
To discover God’s opinion towards kidnapping and slavery as the modern world understands it, let’s start by looking at the famous 10 commandments, probably the most iconic portion of scripture when considering the laws of God. It’s a commonly held belief that all of God’s commands can be summed up in the 10 commandments. Well, in Exodus 20:15, one of the ten commandments, we find this scripture:

“Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15 (KJV)

What’s interesting about this scripture is that according to Jewish tradition this scripture is not actually referring to general theft, but is specifically referring to kidnapping. In Judaism, they actually understand this scripture as “thou shalt not kidnap”. They come to this conclusion based on some rules in the Talmud, and, as a Christistian, since I don’t interpret scripture through the Talmud’s instruction, I can’t say that I’m fully convinced that this scripture is referring only to kidnapping. However, it does, without a doubt, include kidnapping! You can’t steal people!

Then, just one chapter later, we get this scripture:

Exodus 21:16 (ESV)
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”

This scripture makes it absolutely clear that kidnapping is expressly prohibited, and not only is it prohibited, but the kidnapper is to be put to death, but not just the kidnapper, anyone in possession of a kidnapped person, even if they’re not the one who originally did the kidnapping. You can’t get more clear than that. This one scripture alone completely eviscerates the argument that God supports our modern understanding of slavery.

Let me be as simple and as clear as I possibly can. No, God does not condone slavery. According to God, if you kidnap someone, or keep someone who was kidnapped, you die. Period. So all of the slave owners of the United States early south, according to Old Testament law, deserved the death penalty. That’s how God feels about slavery.
Why does it appear that God gives regulations on how to own and treat slaves?

If, according to God, slave owners are to be put to death, then what are all of those confusing scriptures in the Bible where God is giving regulations on how to own and treat slaves? Well, remember that there is no word for “slavery” in Biblical Hebrew, as there is no word that refers exclusively to forced labor against one’s will. There is only ‘eved, which can also refer to voluntary servitude.

All of the places in scripture where we see God giving regulations on how to own or treat “slaves” is referring to either VOLUNTARY servitude or punishment for criminals. So going forward, instead of using the word slaves when referring to these scriptures I’m going to use the word servant, which is how our English Bibles originally translated the word in our earliest translations of the Old Testament. I’ll always be referring to a voluntary situation, unless specifically stated otherwise.
Why did God give regulations on how to treat indentured servants?
God instructed the Israelites on how to properly treat and conduct business with indentured servants as a way to protect and provide for the poor. It provided a way for those who fell on hard times to still have a roof over their head, food in their bellies, and be cared for until their debts were cleared and land restored by the year of Jubilee. God-directed Biblical servanthood was drastically different from forced slavery in many ways, including:
It was voluntary. Unless you were a convicted criminal, you only became an indentured servant by choice. (Exod. 21:16)
Servants had a right to a fair and just trial if accused of wrongdoing (Deut 16:19)
Servants were paid wages in the form of having their debts paid. (Exo. 22:3, II Kings 4:1; Isa. 50:1 )
Servants were provided for in the form of food, clothing, shelter, training, and sometimes even given livestock, wealth, and gifts at the completion of their contract to enable them to survive economically (Deut. 15:14).
All of a servant’s human rights and civil laws were protected as a free man’s rights, both the foreigner and the native-born. Servants couldn’t be abused, murdered, raped, or stolen from. (Exod. 21:26-27, 20:13, 22:2, Deut. 16:1, 22:25, 24:17, 22, Eph. 6:9)
Servants had to be treated fairly and justly (Col. 4:1)
Servants had to be given a day off every week and allowed to take time off to celebrate Holidays (Exod. 20:10, Deut. 15:12-14).
Biblical indentured servitude wasn’t permanent unless you purposefully chose for it to be because you loved your master or your situation (Deut 15:12-14).
A servant could inherit property (Genesis 15:2-3, Prov. 17:2),
A servant could be in control of entire households, and were sometimes trusted advisors (Gen. 24:2, 1 Sam. 9:5-10).

Biblical indentured servitude resembles our modern employer/employee relationship much more closely then it resembles our modern concept of a slave/slave owner relationship. It was long term contract labor. With Hebrew indentured servitude, you agree to do a job in exchange for something that you want. It’s not forced, the servants choose it because it benefits them. It was a completely separate situation from the Civil War era slavery that treated humans as property with no rights.
Why did God allow indentured servitude

To understand why God would allow and provide regulations for indentured servitude, let’s put it in modern day terms with this hypothetical situation: Let’s say you had a friend that just lost their job, and that they are unable to continue paying their rent. They have nowhere to go and so they ask if they can move in with you until they get back on their feet. They offer to do some odd jobs around your house if you’ll help them pay their car payment and phone bill so they don’t lose their car and can continue looking for a job. If they are staying under your roof, eating your food, and you’re paying their bills, would you consider it slavery for them to help out with some chores around the house while they’re there? No, of course not. We would consider that scenario helping out a friend who’s going through a hard time. We can recognize the charity and love of this kind of scenario easily enough when worded this way, but for some reason struggle to see the charity in God’s commands even though this is essentially the same situation that God was regulating and instructing in the Bible.

In the scenario I just described, even if your friend signs a contract to work for you, they would still possess all of their rights and be an equally valued citizen in our society. If you abused the person, raped them, or violated their rights in any way, then you would go to prison. Also, if your friend ever decided they didn’t like the arrangement they could leave. In the same way, God made sure all of the servants in Israel enjoyed the same protections.

The regulations and instructions you see God giving are to ensure that it was a mutually beneficial situation for both master and servant. Or, to put it in today’s language, God wanted to ensure that it was a mutually beneficial situation for both employer and employee. As you know, people can get very greedy, and just like today, it was very easy for wealthy individuals to take advantage of people who were down and out with nothing to bargain with. That’s why God intervened to provide strict rules and regulations to protect people who were going through difficult times from being taken advantage of by unfair “masters” or bosses. This is why you see scripture instructing masters to treat their servants justly and fairly and embrace them like brothers (Col. 4:1, Philem. 1:10-18). Conversely, this is also why we see controversial scriptures like Ephesians 6:5 instructing servants to honor their masters. These commands are simply to ensure that both parties are treated fairly in mutually beneficial and voluntary contractual agreements. God was ensuring it would be a win/win for everyone.
Slavery was condemned in the Bible

None of God’s commands ever endorsed or supported slavery by our modern definition of the word slavery. In fact, the opposite is true. As we’ve already covered, kidnapping was condemned by God. Selling, purchasing, or owning a kidnapped person was condemned by God. Abuse was condemned by God. Rape was condemned by God. Stealing was condemned by God. Just treating someone unjustly or unfairly was condemned by God. God blatantly said in Isaiah 58 that it was His will for Israel to set the oppressed free, break every yoke, and tend to the needs of the oppressed. That is condemning slavery. You can’t get any clearer than that. So anyone that ever tells you God never condemned slavery in the Bible is bold-faced lying to you. They’re probably not intentionally lying to you. They probably just don’t understand, but either way, their claims are false.

The only reason we don’t have a direct scripture in the Old Testament of the direct word “slavery” being condemned is because there was no word for slavery in ancient Hebrew. There was no word that exclusively meant forced labor against one’s will. The closest word they had to that was kidnapping, and God did directly condemn that. Slavery is a modern term that we’ve injected into our English Bibles that didn’t exist in the Old Testament author’s language. How were the Bible authors supposed to reference a term that didn’t even exist? Obviously they couldn’t have, but everything that slavery represents, as our modern minds understand it, God did directly condemn, harshly. Plus, once we get to the Greek language in the New Testament, where a word that meant chattel slavery (forced slave labor) did exist in the language, we’ll see that slavery is directly condemned by name. The Bible does directly condemn slavery in the New Testament.
What about all those controversial scriptures?

You may be asking yourself, “if God never endorsed slavery then what about these scriptures that reference beating slaves, buying lifelong slaves, and other controversial issues?” Well, I’m glad you asked. I’ve made a list of the most commonly referenced scriptures by critics and skeptics to argue that God endorsed slavery and I’m going to break each one down for you to explain what is not obvious in the surface level reading of these scriptures. I already covered Ephesians 6:5 above, so we’re going to start with:

Exodus 21:20-21
“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.”

This scripture is really difficult to properly understand without one very key piece of information. This piece of information would have been obvious to the readers of the day, but in our modern day English translations it is easily overlooked. What I’m referring to is the fact that the word “punished” in this scripture in the original language is used to refer to capital punishment. This scripture is essentially saying that if the master kills his servant, then he is to be put to death as well. However if the servant doesn’t die, then the master isn’t to be put to death. The Hebrew word used here is “naqam” and is used in connection to the death penalty throughout the Old Testament. (Gen. 4:15, Num.31:2, Deu. 32:43, Jos. 10:13, Jdg 15:7, 1Sa 18:25, Isa 1:24, Jer 46:10, Eze 25:12)

This scripture is not saying that a master can abuse his servant as long as the servant doesn’t die. Rather, part of this scripture’s purpose is to point out that a master is not allowed to get away with murder. He wasn’t allowed to get away with abuse either. We know from other scriptures throughout the Old and New Testament that abuse and cruelty to servants was condemned (Lev. 25:43,53, Col. 4:1, Philem. 1:10-18, Eph. 6:9). Actually, if you just keep reading in the same chapter in Exodus, just a few verses later we come to these instructions:

“An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.”
Exodus 21:26-27 NIV

In other words, if a master injures his servant, he has to let the servant go free. So not only was the master on the hook to cover the servants medical bills and costs of living while he recovered (no one else is going to be caring for the servant’s needs, and the master is going to be highly motivated to get the servant the medical care he needs, because if the servant dies, the master dies), but the master was also obviously losing out on the work that the servant would have been doing for him were the servant not injured. Most importantly, the master was to release whatever debt the servant was working to pay off as the servant is released. If the master has to release the servant then there is no longer a way for the servant to pay back the master and thus the servant is no longer responsible for the debt.

Do you remember how Exodus 21:21 ends by saying that the slave is his “property”? The actual literal translation is “silver”, not “property”. The servant owed the master a debt he couldn’t repay and is now working off the debt he owed, thus the servant represents the silver the master is owed in their arrangement. The reference also serves as a great reminder that the master will now be losing his silver for abusing the servant by releasing the servant and his debt.

Scripture not only commands that masters set abused servants free, but it also commands masters not to threaten or be severe with their servants (Lev. 25:43,53, Eph. 6:9), to be just and fair with their servants (Col. 4:1), and to treat their servants like brothers (Philem. 1:10-18). I believe this shows God’s heart to create a protective environment for those experiencing financial duress who were turning to indentured servitude to survive.
Servanthood was always a choice

Another verse that highlights God’s heart behind the servanthood laws and regulations is found in Deut. 23:15–16. This scripture reveals the regulations are a means to protect others and were never intended to be used to oppress others. This scriptures explains that If a servant ran away from a master, no one in Israel was to return the servant to the master or allow him to be taken back by the previous master. On the contrary, the Hebrews were told to welcome the runaway servant to live in their town and to not mistreat or oppress the servant. This was yet another way that God protected servants from cruel and abusive masters, and intentionally made servant ownership difficult. If you didn’t foster an environment that made your servant want to stay, then servant ownership was basically impossible. This was not an accident.

Deuteronomy 23:15-16
Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him.

In Israel, servanthood was meant to help the poor, but if the servant thought they could do better elsewhere they could leave. This was the standard that was taught by ancient Jewish Rabbi’s. All a servant had to do was run away and seek refuge in another city, and this action was specifically protected by God’s given law. This law applied to Hebrew servants and foreign servants.

All of these protections of servant’s rights stand in stark contrast to Israel’s neighboring nation’s harsh and cruel treatment towards slaves. God was definitely teaching the Israelites to swim upstream against the oppressive immoral current of their time by only using indentured servanthood as a way to help others, not oppress others.
Equal Treatment For Foreigners?
We do see the Israelites given different instructions for how they were to treat foreign servants as opposed to their fellow Hebrew brethren. This is not because God viewed the people in other nations as being intrinsically less valuable. Galatians 3:28 makes it clear that all people are equal in God’s eyes. God also makes it clear in Scripture that He desires for all those that are oppressed to be freed and for every yoke to be broken (Isaiah 58). God is simply trying to set up a system that makes sure even the poor have their needs met. He’s not setting up a system that creates oppression. The difference in treatment towards foreign servants is simply connected to the fact that foreigners could not own land in Israel. To really understand how this scripture is protecting foreigners and not oppressing them, let’s dig a little deeper into the historical setting and way of life for those living in ancient Israel.
Life In Ancient Israel
At this time in Israel, the only way to survive there indefinitely was by owning land, marrying into a family that owned land, or becoming an indentured servant for a family that owned land. 96% of the economy was agricultural, so unless you happened to make it into that 4% as a merchant in the city then the only option was to own land. There were also day laborers and migrant workers in Israel, but both of those options were only temporary situations.

Foreign migrant workers would move into the land seasonally and live there temporarily to help with the harvest, but they didn’t live there indefinitely. Once their seasonal work was complete they moved on to the next job somewhere else. The work for day laborers dried up after the harvest as well. So if you were living as a day laborer or a migrant worker, you knew that once the season was over you would have to either leave Israel, live off the hand outs of the generous, or indenture yourself to a wealthy family who would provide for you.

In the early days of Israel’s history, God had divided the land among the clans in proportion to their population (Num. 26:52-56), so that every household received a plot of land sufficient to support itself. Since, In their culture, owning land was the chief means to make a living and to eat, these permanent land allotments ensured God’s people were always taken care of and provided for. Even if one generation lost their land due to debts and became poor, the next generation would again have the land returned to them so that they could get a fresh start and once again provide for themselves and their family. They were also required to give the land a year to rest every seven years so that the land could replenish itself and continue to be fruitful indefinitely (Lev. 25:1-7).

Every fifty years everything returned back to the way God originally intended it with every family having exactly what they needed to provide for themselves with no one lacking or going without (Lev 25:8-28). The problems arose when an Israelite would borrow money or take out a loan that they were then unable to pay back. If you borrowed money that you were unable to pay back, you could trade your labor through indentured servitude to pay off your debt. You can think of this much like doing dishes in the kitchen if you can’t pay your bill at the diner. In this way, you were being paid through paying off your debts. God regulated this arrangement to have a max time period of six years. Thus, most Israelites would be unwilling to loan more than could be paid back with six years of labor.

Exodus 21:2 (NRSV)
“When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt.”

If you borrowed money from multiple people and couldn’t pay any of them back, then you were in trouble, because you couldn’t go work for all of them at the same time to pay off your debts. So what could you do? You could try to find a wealthy family that would pay off your debts for you in exchange for your labor, but many times, the only option was to sell your land and use the money from the sale to pay off your debts. Some people also used their land as collateral for commercial loans, and when they defaulted would lose their land as a result.

The good news is that since all land returned to the original owner every jubilee year no one actually ever permanently lost their land. It was more like a lease (Lev. 25:13-16). Still, what was someone in this predicament supposed to do until they got their land back? Without their land they had no way to provide for themselves or their family. People in this situation would also turn to indentured servitude to a wealthy family for provision. We see God’s regulation for this situation here, where he highlights that they are to be treated as employees, not as slaves:

Leviticus 25:39-43 NIV
“‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors.Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

Since the man in the later situation had no land, he did not have to be released in six years. If he was released, he would find himself in the exact same destitute situation because he would still have no way to provide for himself, and would thus have to sell himself right back into servitude. For this reason, he could remain a servant all the way until the year of Jubilee when he would receive his land back.

Of course, he could always choose to run away before then, which was a right always protected by Mosaic law, but this would not be a wise financial decision. If he did run away, he would still be without his land and would have no options for provision other than temporary day labor. Again, day labor was seasonal and was not enough to sustain someone indefinitely in Israel. Plus, they would be marked as someone who doesn’t pay their debts and would find it difficult to ever convince someone to loan to them again.
Foreign Slaves
Foreigners faced the same struggles as an Israelite who had lost their land. Since Israelites weren’t allowed to sell their land, a foreigner wasn’t allowed to own any land. Without land, they too only had the option to become an indentured servant, or, if they were a female, to marry into an Israelite family. Without land, being released from servanthood would mean being homeless without any provision and with no way to make a living.

However, foreign slaves were not at all upset about this arrangement. In the neighboring nations outside of Israel, the poor were often kidnapped and forced into chattel slavery, which was drastically different from the protected indentured servants within Israel. Outside of Israel, slaves were abused, raped, murdered, or at the very least worked literally to death. Inside of Israel, the Hebrews were commanded to love the foreigner, treat them with kindness, and foreigners were given all of the legal civil rights as a free man.

Outside of Israel, you could let a slave starve or neglect them completely. Inside of Israel, you were required to provide for your servant’s needs. Jewish rabbinical teachings taught masters to put their servants’ needs above their own, even feeding the servants first before themselves if there was a shortage of food. Plus, a servant could always choose to be free in Israel as servanthood was always a choice, thus giving them the freedom to choose their own path and leave Israel altogether if they chose.

Israel was very much the promised land that the poor sought desperately to reach. Once a foreign servant made it to Israel, although they always had the freedom to leave, they didn’t want to. When compared to the neighboring nations, Israel provided a cushy life for those that chose servanthood, and the provision, kindness, and dignity offered to indentured servants was unparalleled by any other place in the world at that time.

With all of this in mind, let’s now look at what is considered one of the most challenging verses in scripture pertaining to slavery.

Leviticus 25:44-46
“‘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.

This scripture is a great example of how people have a tendency to read a scripture as though it is a stand alone verse, apart from all the other scriptures in the Bible. When people read this scripture, they picture in their minds a scenario where God is permitting the Israelites to purchase kidnapped slaves and force them into lifelong slavery against their will, but you can’t read this scripture independent of all the other commands God gave Israel concerning slavery.

We’ve already read how kidnapping or owning a kidnapped person was condemned by God. The God ordained punishment for such was the death penalty. So this scripture is not advocating for forced slavery or purchasing kidnapped slaves from neighboring nations. If an Israelite was buying a servant, it’s because the servant had willingly chosen to sell themselves into servitude because they desired the provision it would bring.

However, this scripture does point out a major difference between foreign servants and Israelite servants, and that is simply that foreigners do not own any land in Israel and thus are without a way to provide for themselves while they live there.

So, with no homeland in Israel to return to, the contracts for labor did not have to be framed around a release on the year of Jubilee. This does not mean, however, that Israelites were allowed to kidnap foreign slaves and force them to stay forever against their will. Remember when read in conjunction with the rest of Mosaic law, as I’ve repeated multiple times already, that Deuteronomy 23:5-16 says these foreign slaves always had the freedom to flee to another city or nation if they thought they could do better somewhere else.

The difference being highlighted in Leviticus 25:39-43 is simply that, without land, a foreign servant would need to be protected and provided for indefinitely for as long as they chose to live in Israel. This was in stark contrast to the Hebrew slaves, in which God gave strict guidelines on when they must be released. Unlike the Hebrews, If the foreigner wanted to remain in their situation indefinitely because they didn’t want to leave Israel or go to another city, then the servant’s contract could be passed down to the master’s children. God was letting the Israelites know that this was allowed for the mutual benefit of everyone involved. However, according to Mosaic law, the servant always maintains their right to leave at any time of their choosing and be welcomed and treated kindly in a new city.

If a servant did choose to leave their master, God actually mandated generosity towards the foreigner to make their life as easy as possible should they try to start a new life. The Israelites were commanded to leave behind food for the poor and foreigners during harvest, So if a servant chose to escape to another city to work as a day laborer, they might survive for a season living off the gleaning laws and daily wages while they decide what they want to do next. The gleaning laws are explained in the following verse:

Deuteronomy 24:19-22 (NIV)
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

God’s heart to protect and defend the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow are so beautifully illustrated by His commitment to bless those that are generous with the needy in Israel.
Israelite Female Servants
There are a couple different situations that are addressed in the Old Testament concerning female servants. In Deuteronomy and Leviticus we see that female servants are to be treated just like male servants when voluntarily selling themselves into servitude to provide for their needs, or for female criminals being forced into servitude by the courts as punishment for the theft that they can’t repay. This encompasses everything that we’ve covered previously concerning a servant’s rights. Such as they had to be released upon completion of their contract, they could not be abused, their human rights had to be respected, and they were to be treated fairly and justly, plus everything else we’ve previously covered..

However, there was one situation that only applied to female servants that didn’t apply to male servants, and that was when a father chose to sell his daughter to a man seeking a wife for himself or for his son. This is another controversial point for critics of Christianity. What you must understand with this scenario is that the woman was not just a piece of property that a master could have his way with and abuse in any way he wanted. This was not rape, as rape was strictly forbidden. For all intents and purposes, this was an arranged marriage, and it was usually done to save the daughter’s life.

For example, If the father was no longer able to provide food or other basic necessities for his daughter, then he would sell his daughter into a rich family to become a wife of the master or the master’s son when she became of age, as her father knew it would give his daughter a better life and provide for her needs. Again, these guidelines were put into place by God to protect the unfortunate from suffering, not to justify oppression. The woman received all the rights of a wife and was treated as a wife, not as a slave. Or, if the woman was to be the wife of the master’s son, then she was to be treated as a daughter, not as a slave.

The bride’s purchase price was basically a dowry, a gift to the family of the woman he desired to be his wife, similar to when Abraham’s servant gave costly gifts to Rebekah’s family when she agreed to marry Isaac. Once a woman was sold to become a wife there was obviously no release date. It was permanent, as marriage is intended to be a permanent union.

Exodus 21:7-11 (NIV)
“If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

All girls in that culture faced an arranged marriage, servant or not. If she was sold as a servant, she just moved into her husband’s house earlier than usual and was provided for long before her wedding. So the girl would have had an arranged marriage anyways. If you’re from the West, there are lots of strong opinions about arranged marriages, but it is not, and should not, be equated with slavery.

Keep in mind, a man couldn’t choose any woman he wanted and forcefully take her to be his wife. The girl had to be given to him by her father, who is going to have her best interest at heart and be seeking out the best possible situation for her. Not to mention all of God’s commands to the man she is marrying that protect her.
Foreign Female Servants
There is one other category of female servants with a specific set of guidelines given in the Hebraic law, and that would be for foreign female servants purchased as a wife for another servant. Just as a man could purchase a servant to be his own wife or his son’s wife, Exodus 21 suggests that he could also purchase a servant to be the wife of another servant.

Exodus 21:2-6 (NIV) [emphasis mine]
“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. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

This is a hard to understand scripture on the surface, so let’s dig a little deeper to find out why this law exists. This appears to be describing a situation where two contracted servants desire to get married, and the master, who still has a contract with both servants, allows them to marry.

The reason it says the wife still belongs to the master even after the husband goes free is to emphasize that her contract isn’t annulled with the husbands. If the woman still had time left on her contract, she was expected to honor her contract and fulfill her time even though her husband was now free. The kids remained with the mom so she could care for them. Although Mosaic law did allow her to run away to another city without punishment, as all servants could, keeping your word was the right and honorable thing to do.

The husband could purchase her freedom for whatever the rest of her contract was worth, the woman could purchase her own freedom with wages she made from her master or from wages she made in her off hours, or she could just fulfill her time commitment that she had contracted herself for. Lastly, the husband could choose to remain a slave if he liked his situation in his master’s household. This obviously would not be the ideal option, but he had the freedom to make that choice.

It’s also worth noting that the woman in this scenario would be a foreigner, as an Israelite woman who was sold for marriage could only marry the master who bought her or the master’s son. She was to be given the full rights of a wife or daughter. She could not be given as a bride to the master’s slave. (Exodus 21:7-11) Thus, we can conclude the woman given as a wife in Exodus 21:3 must be a foreigner.

As previously discussed, in Israel, all marriages were arranged marriages where a bride price was paid to the woman’s father or family. This money was used as a protection that would provide for the woman should the man ever decide to divorce her. However, in this situation, the bride had never been purchased, but freely given. So now, it was up to the husband to go make the money to buy her freedom for the price of her contract, almost like a bride price. If the man remained financially unstable and unable to purchase his wife, then the woman and the children remained under the protection and provision of the master, almost as if he were a father. The husband offering a bride price for her honored her and showcased his ability to care for her and his family.

The two occasions was forced labor was allowed
There are two occasions where forced labor was allowed. One, for criminal punishment, and two, for prisoners of war. Let’s take a closer look at both situations.

Exodus 22:3 (NIV)
“…Anyone who steals must certainly make restitution, but if they have nothing, they must be sold to pay for their theft.”

In the case of theft, the criminal would become a servant until the price of the crime was paid off. I think everyone would agree that this seems fair and just and needs no further comment.

What about prisoners of war? Many times in the Bible Israel was invaded by immoral armies who wanted to wipe their nation from existence. If murderers showed up on your doorstep shouting threats and expressing a desire to kill your family and take your belongings, would you welcome them into your neighborhood? Or would you call the cops and get them thrown into prison? You’d of course have them thrown into prison, which is just an accepted form of slavery in our modern times. Since Israel didn’t have prisons, they opted to have the defeated invading criminals become their servants. Again, I think we all agree that this seems fair and just.

There are also times when God used Israel as an arm of justice to rescue abused and suffering innocents from exceedingly wicked and violent nations. When the wickedness and violence of these murderous nations reached a certain point, God would use Israel to bring justice and stop the proliferation of violence against the vulnerable and weak. On these occasions, God was not engaged in genocide or interested in the removal of a particular ethnic group due to racism, but was simply stopping the continued and excessive shedding of innocent blood by the hands of barbaric monsters.

Much like when the United States sought out and destroyed ISIS, God was simply ridding the planet of evil terrorists who were perpetrating monstrous evil on the people of the world at that time. How could a truly loving God not intervene to protect those who were suffering under the rule of these evil tyrants?

Their governments and torturous way of life had to be stopped, but even when delivering justice God commanded Israel to act with compassion by first offering peace to the besieged cities. If the besieged city accepted peace, then their lives would be spared and they would become Israel’s servants. This stopped the proliferation of evil and violence by the guilty city while also affording them an opportunity to repent.

Deuteronomy 20:10-11 (ERV)
“When you go to attack a city, you must first offer peace to the people there. If they accept your offer and open their gates, all the people in that city will become your slaves and be forced to work for you.”

However, war is and always has been a complex issue. There were times when innocent bystanders were negatively affected in the wake of war. What is to become of the children and women once the armies have been defeated? How would they provide for themselves? This scripture gives a glimpse into God’s heart concerning those suffering after the effects of war:

Deuteronomy 21:10-14 (ESV)
“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

These now widowed women and orphaned children faced the same struggles as all foreigners living in Israel and would need someone to provide for them and care for them. They received the same civil treatment as all other servants that we’ve previously covered, and we see in this scripture that the women were even welcomed into Israelite families as wives with all of the rights and protections that are due a wife, and were not to be treated as a slave.

God’s compassionate commands to give a woman time to grieve their families before marrying Israelite men protected the newly captured women from suffering rape (in a time when rape in war was commonly practiced). In Israel, sex was only allowed in marriage. No exceptions. God was endeavoring to protect women’s dignity, even within an inherently degrading situation.
God’s condemnation of slavery
During the time that the Mosaic law was written, all of the pagan nations surrounding Israel practiced chattel slavery and were cruel and harsh to their slaves. Yet, we see God commanding Israel to set the example for a new way of life where everyone was treated equally regardless of race or status. The Old Testament and the Mosaic law is where we find some of the most ancient appeals for human rights in all literature. Here are some scriptures that highlight that.

Leviticus 19:34
The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Deut 10:17-19
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Deut 24:17-22
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

In Isaiah we see God speaking through His prophet and God’s disdain for oppression and slavery is blatant.

Isaiah 58:6-11 (NIV)
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

We see this same appeal for equality and freedom from oppression trumpeted by Paul throughout the New Testament as well, even though during the New Testament time period chattel slavery was still widely practiced and protected by the powers that be. Paul introduced the concept of universal equality to a world that had never seen it.

Ephesians 6:8-9 (TLB)
Remember, the Lord will pay you for each good thing you do, whether you are slave or free. And you slave owners must treat your slaves right, just as I have told them to treat you. Don’t keep threatening them; remember, you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same Master they do, and he has no favorites.

1 Corinthians 12:13
Each of us is a part of the one body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But the Holy Spirit has fitted us all together into one body. We have been baptized into Christ’s body by the one Spirit, and have all been given that same Holy Spirit.

Galatians 3:26-29 (
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In the Roman Empire, one of the locations where Paul shared the gospel, nearly 40% of the citizens were slaves and if anyone encouraged slaves to rise up against their masters it would be considered sedition which was punishable by death. Yet, even with life threatening persecution on the line, Paul still condemned slavery as a sin. If anyone ever tries to tell you that slavery isn’t condemned in the Bible, take them to this verse.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 (AMP)
8 Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately, 9 understanding the fact that law is not enacted for the righteous person [the one in right standing with God], but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinful, for the irreverent and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for sexually immoral persons, for homosexuals, for [a]kidnappers and slave traders, for liars, for perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

Here, kidnappers and slave traders are explicitly listed as not being righteous people, but instead are listed among the lawless, rebellious, ungodly, and sinful along with murderers and the sexually immoral. This is a clear and specific condemnation of slavery.

God’s heart for the oppressed

Coming to a conclusion, we see that God’s heart throughout both the Old and New Testaments was to protect the vulnerable, provide for the poor, destroy oppression, and promote equality. We see this from God’s mouth directly through his prophets, we see it in the law that he gave the Israelites, and we see it in the teachings of the church fathers. God has always condemned the practice of slavery and the oppression of the vulnerable. Be encouraged that God has always been a God of true justice and goodness, and you can trust him to be just to you and all those you love.