Slavery in Scripture

In a world in which most people believe slavery, that is, owning another person, is wrong, whereas in the past slavery was considered a normal part of life, we must ask where this current moral judgment came from?  As Wikipedia notes,

In the earliest known records, slavery is treated as an established institution. The Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BC), for example, prescribed death for anyone who helped a slave escape or who sheltered a fugitive. The Bible mentions slavery as an established institution. Slavery was practiced in almost every ancient civilization.[1]

A timeline of the abolition of slavery finds that

…reforms…such as the laws of Solon in Athens, the Lex Poetelia Papiria in Republican Rome, or rules set forth in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Deuteronomy generally regulated the supply of slaves and debt-servants by forbidding or regulating the bondage of certain privileged groups (thus, the Roman reforms protected Roman citizens, the Athenian reforms protected Athenian citizens, and the rules in Deuteronomy guaranteed freedom to a Hebrew after a fixed duration of servitude), but none abolished slavery, and even what protections were instituted did not apply to foreigners or noncitizen subjects.[2]

We will dispute that last statement regarding Jewish law.

The relatively modern history of the abolition of slavery was made up first of partial bans, not universal ones.  With but a few exceptions, all partial bans of slavery were initiated in Christian nations.[3]  Was it Christian beliefs that led to the total abolition of slavery?  In our own country there were pastors and theologians, especially around the time of the Civil War, who argued that the Scriptures endorsed slavery.  And to be certain, there is no out-and-out declaration in the Bible that slavery is wrong.  In our Civil War there were Christians on both sides of the issue.  But the movement to ban slavery definitely came from a Christian base, both here and in Great Britain, as well as other European nations.[4]

The Atheist Alliance, when it seeks to weigh in on this question, however, uses it as an apologetic against religion, saying,

Recently a Muslim asked me, “Why is it bad to own slaves?” It’s a good question and it needs an answer.  Both Christians and Muslims can answer this question from their holy scriptures, and both would find similar answers. The Bible, in the Old and New Testaments, permits slavery. Islam also permits holding slaves, especially those won as “booty” in war.  God outlaws many things from having a tattoo to eating a pork sausage, but he does not outlaw slavery. So, if you are a Christian or a Muslim and you rely on God for your moral values, you should conclude there is nothing wrong with slavery.  But atheists have no god to rely on and must use evidence and reason to arrive at a conclusion. How can atheists decide if there’s anything wrong with slavery?[5]

The atheist answer:

When you have a choice that affects another human, the moral act is one that reduces or prevents suffering or increases well-being. The immoral act is the choice that increases suffering or decreases well-being.[6]

The problem with this answer is there has been a moral choice already made that causing the suffering of another being is wrong.  What is their basis for such a decision?  If there is no God, there is no basis for any objective and authoritative determination of what is wrong or right.  Anyone’s opinion has as much authority as anyone else’s.  Given the rather violent course of evolution, as they understand it, we might expect the more violent choice to be the right one.  And there may be some who argue that slavery increases the well-being of slaveholders, and, in some cases, of those enslaved.  But in essence, atheists are borrowing God’s moral standards and denying His existence at the same time.

But if we look to God for our moral authority, does the fact that the Bible does not prohibit slavery really mean that it approves of it?  I believe an examination of the Biblical data shows that this is a wrong conclusion.

 

Avenues to Becoming a Slave and a Basic Biblical Assumption

Is it right for one person to own another?  What would give one the right to own another person?  How do people become slaves?  Two main ways were loss in battle to another and voluntary slavery to cover a debt.  Here are some imaginary considerations of a potential slave owner.

I conquered you in battle, so you belong to me.  I have power over your life and death, so I choose to use you to serve me, or else you can die, your choice.  No, really my choice.  I have all the power here.  That makes me feel powerful.  Put chains on this family.  They belong to me, the spoils of war.  On second thought, kill the man and the children, I’ll just take the woman and the older girl.

Should this be how it works?

Or maybe you owe me some debt.

“Sir,” you say, “I cannot pay you.  I am destitute.  I cannot feed my own family or care of their needs.  Will you make me and mine your slaves, and take care of us?  I’m desperate.”  “Hmm,” the potential slave owner thinks, “you can use the man’s skills for your own profit.  You’ll have to feed and house him, and his family.  They can do work for you, also.  It might make life a bit easier for your family.  But can you afford it, is there a benefit to you in the long run?  His wife is pretty.  What if you want to have sex with her sometime?  What can he say?  What can she say?  But if my wife wants to have sex with the husband, what can he say?  Can I say anything if I’m wanting to have sex with the guy’s wife?  This is complicated, but, okay, I’ll try it.”

You may cringe at the sexual expectations, but in fact, much of the Biblical legislation focuses exactly on that, on how the master may or may not use female slaves for sexual purposes.  And we also see women masters seeking to use male slaves for sexual purposes (Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, Genesis 39).

Is there any Biblical principle that would help us answer the question of whether slavery is wrong?  We might appeal to God’s Word, which tells us that He created us all in His image:

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

How could an image bearer of God be a slave, be owned by another image bearer?  Based on this truth alone, there should be no slaves, no ownership of one person by another person.  It strips that enslaved person of their dignity as image bearers and of their personal sovereignty and agency as those made like the Sovereign of the universe.

But practical questions arise.  What do we do with the people we conquer in war who threatened us and our existence?  We just defeat them and tell them to go home and leave us alone?  Do we entirely wipe them out to prevent another threat?  But what happens to their territory?  If we don’t somehow occupy it, someone else will.  If we don’t take them as slaves, someone else will.  Will they become a new threat?  Or do we subdue them, enslave them, let them work our farms and so on?  Or will that only anger them and foment rebellion down the road?  Can we make a whole people a slave to our people?  Especially if they started it.

These are some of the practical issues that confronted people in this war-culture, where their survival as a nation was at stake.  This is undoubtedly one of the reasons slavery had become an institution.  Of course, the sin-driven desire to rule over others or use others for personal benefit, was sufficient reason in the mind of many to own others.  No moral issues were raised.

But you see the temptations to indignity that follow from having that much power over someone. It is difficult to preserve the dignity of the image of God in that person as you start to think about how you can use them.  And in their enslavement the indignity they feel cannot help but be internalized or rebelled against.  How do I stand and watch my mother go to the master for something that is improper?  What if he makes her pregnant?  What if he wants me or my sister next?  We can say nothing if we want to survive.  This is not consistent with every human being made in the image of God and the dignity with which that requires all humans be treated.

 

Slavery in the Old Testament

Israel’s law, given by Yahweh, did not prohibit slavery.  Why didn’t Yahweh just forbid it?  He delivered Israel from Egypt, who had made Israel their slaves, a whole people enslaved to another nation.  And Egypt had abused Israel as slaves, making them labor for their own needs as well as their Egyptian masters.  They were even commanded at one point to kill all the males born to them, as a population control measure (Exodus 1), and saw that as a general control measure (it would be easier to dominate women than men).  But when God powerfully brought His people out of Egypt and back to their own land, Canaan, He did not prohibit slavery?  Instead, He regulated it.

For example, in Numbers 31, before they entered Canaan, Yahweh told Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites for their attempt to entice Israel into idolatry through Balaam’s suggestion:

¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³ So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. ⁴ Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” ⁵ So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. ⁶ Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

⁷ They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. ⁸ Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. ¹⁰ They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. ¹¹ They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, ¹² and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.

¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.

¹⁵ “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. ¹⁶ “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, ¹⁸ but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

¹⁹ “Anyone who has killed someone or touched someone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives. ²⁰ Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: ²² Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead ²³ and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. ²⁴ On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. ²⁷ Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. ²⁸ From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. ²⁹ Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. ³⁰ From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.” ³¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys ³⁵ and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.

³⁶ The half share of those who fought in the battle was:

337,500 sheep, ³⁷ of which the tribute for the Lord was 675;

³⁸ 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72;

³⁹ 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was 61;

⁴⁰ 16,000 people, of whom the tribute for the Lord was 32.

⁴¹ Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴² The half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men— ⁴³ the community’s half—was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys ⁴⁶ and 16,000 people. ⁴⁷ From the Israelites’ half, Moses selected one out of every fifty people and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.

⁴⁸ Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—went to Moses ⁴⁹ and said to him, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. ⁵⁰ So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired—armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.”

⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted from them the gold—all the crafted articles. ⁵² All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eleazar presented as a gift to the Lord weighed 16,750 shekels. ⁵³ Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. ⁵⁴ Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord. [NIV]

Yahweh does not tell the soldiers to take captives, or spoils of any kind for that matter, but this is culturally accepted practice.  Why not enrich oneself with the cattle and gold, etc., and the people who are left?  What else would I do with them?  Just leave them there to die or to go find some shelter somewhere?  The men of the towns have died in battle.

Moses points out that it was these women who were used to entice the Israelite men to idolatry.  So he tells the army to kill all the boys and all the women who are not virgins.  Then Yahweh tells Moses how to distribute spoils equitably among all the people, not just the soldiers, and the proper amount to give to the priests and to the Levites, among the people.  We’re not given further explanation as to how then these animals and females were divvied out to separate families.  Did anyone not get something?  The intent was to make sure everyone got something.  No doubt certain leaders among the families took some responsibility in this.  Every family got enriched.  But the most interesting for us is how the girls were used.  We’re not told exactly, but we may assume from the general rules concerning slaves that it is what is described in Deuteronomy 20 and 21.

In Deuteronomy 20 we are told a more specific approach to enslaving in situations of war other than this one with the Midianites (which was a special case):

¹⁰ When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. ¹¹ If they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forced labor and shall work for you. ¹² If they refuse to make peace and they engage you in battle, lay siege to that city. ¹³ When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. ¹⁴ As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves. And you may use the plunder Yahweh your God gives you from your enemies. ¹⁵ This is how you are to treat all the cities that are at a distance from you and do not belong to the nations nearby.

¹⁶ However, in the cities of the nations Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. ¹⁷ Completely destroy them. [NIV]

Women who are not virgins are allowed to be slaves in this case (forced labor is a form of slavery), as are the children.  We’re not told about how these slaves are distributed among the people.  Were families kept intact?  Was it only those who were wealthier among the Israelites could afford to take on the slaves and feed and house them?  You can begin to see the complications of owning people.

Deuteronomy 21 does give some direction for the treatment of captive women:

¹⁰ When you go to war against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, ¹¹ if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. ¹² Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails ¹³ and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴ If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. [NIV]

This, of course, is a humane, not rapacious, taking of an unwilling, we suppose, wife, a possible second or more wife (perhaps on the level of a concubine or wife who does not get inheritance rights).  It is presumed that if the man already had a wife, the Hebrew wife had no legal say about his acquisition of another wife, though she may certainly have had persuasive say.  The slave wife is now not a slave but a wife, and if divorced, cannot be sold, or treated any longer as a slave, because she has been sexually connected to the man.  She is to be freed.  This legislation is for non-Israelite slaves, contradicting what Wikipedia had said about the protections instituted not applying to foreigners or non-citizens.  For the Hebrews, they certainly did.

Most of the legislation regarding slavery is in Exodus 20-23.  Exodus 20 contains the 10 commandments, and chapters 21-23 contain the application of the 10 commandments to actual practice in the community.  It is interesting that the first issue is treatment of slaves.  Here are the pertinent passages:

20:¹ And God spoke all these words:

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

21:¹ “These are the laws you are to set before them:

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. ³ 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. ⁴ 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.

⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ ⁶ 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.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. ⁸ 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. ⁹ If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. ¹¹ If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

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

²⁶ “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. ²⁷ 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.

²⁸ “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. ²⁹ If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. ³⁰ However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. ³¹ This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. ³² If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

23: ¹² “Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. [NIV]

Here are the key details:

(1) God identifies Himself as the One who manumitted the Israelites from slavery in Egypt;

(2) purchase of a Hebrew servant can only last 6 years (with one exception);

(3) the Hebrew servant’s wife and children continue to belong to him, if they came into servitude with him, they do not belong to the master;

(4) a wife given to the Hebrew slave, and subsequent children born to them, belong to the master, not the slave, and only he goes free after 6 years;

(5) the Hebrew slave can choose to permanently become the master’s slave with a rite of ear piercing, thus extending his servitude indefinitely;

(6) a Hebrew has a right to sell his daughter as a slave to become a wife of the one who buys her, and as a wife she cannot be released, unless divorced;

(7) if the woman is married either to the master or his son, but they end up not wanting her, they must either continue to give her married rights or release her as a free woman;

(8) slaves cannot be beaten to death without the master being punished, but if they recover there is no punishment, since the slave is their property (literally, is their silver or money);

(9) if, during the beating of a slave, a crucial organ (eye and tooth are mentioned) is damaged, the slave must be set free (a version of the lex talionis, an eye for an eye, principle);

(10) though a known goring bull that kills someone subjects the master to the death penalty or severe financial penalty, a slave being gored only requires of the owner 30 shekels of silver paid to the slave’s master (assuming he or she is not a slave of the bull owner);

(11) slaves must not work on the Sabbath.

It is clear that the life of a slave did not share the same value as that of a free person in the Hebrew system of slavery.  How does this square with the fact that this slave is also very much made in the image of God?  And do these laws only speak regarding Hebrew slaves?  Of course, even non-Hebrews are made in God’s image, so the Law requires generally good treatment of non-Hebrew slaves and there are several ways slaves are able to get their freedom.  Nevertheless, the perspective is that slaves are property, despite being divine image-bearers.

Is the Israelite nation so steeped in this slave culture, or would it be so out of sync with the nations around it, that Yahweh chooses to manage the issue rather than ban it?  Does something else need to be added to Israel’s growth to move them to abandon slavery?  After another enslavement of their nation to the nation of Assyria, and after that, to Babylon, the Israelites returned to the land under Persian rule and continue enslaving their own and selling their children as slaves to fellow Israelites because of financial distress.  But Nehemiah rebukes their behavior:

Nehemiah 5:¹ Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.”

³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”

⁴ Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”

⁶ When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. ⁷ I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them ⁸ and said: “As far as possible, we have bought back our fellow Jews who were sold to the Gentiles. Now you are selling your own people, only for them to be sold back to us!” They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to say.

⁹ So I continued, “What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? ¹⁰ I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging interest! ¹¹ Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the interest you are charging them—one percent of the money, grain, new wine and olive oil.”

¹² “We will give it back,” they said. “And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.” [NIV]

This does not seem a global rebuke of slavery, but it perhaps sets the stage for one.  And notice the shame of those who must enslave themselves to their fellow Israelites, saying, “Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others.”  Though they do not describe this in terms of being image bearers of Yahweh, that is the implication.  They suffer the disrespect and indignity of enslavement.  Genesis 21:10; 39:17 and Leviticus 19:20 highlight the powerlessness of slavery.  Exodus 6:9 speaks of the discouragement slavery can cause.

Deuteronomy 23:15,16 has caused some controversy.  It reads,

¹⁵ If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. ¹⁶ Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them. [NIV]

It sounds like a carte blanche prohibition against remanding a slave to his master, but this would create great disorder, with any slave running away in order to get his freedom.  Hence, most commentators believe that it is speaking about non-Israelite slaves leaving their country and coming to Israel to live.[7]  Many Jewish commentators believe their motivation is to escape idolatry and embrace Judaism.[8]

Then there is the case during Jeremiah’s ministry, recorded in Jeremiah 34:8-17, in which God pronounces judgment on Judah, the southern kingdom, for their failure to release Hebrew slaves after their six-year indenture.

⁸ The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom for the slaves. ⁹ Everyone was to free their Hebrew slaves, both male and female; no one was to hold a fellow Hebrew in bondage. ¹⁰ So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again.

¹² Then the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I said, ¹⁴ ‘Every seventh year each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you six years, you must let them go free.’ Your ancestors, however, did not listen to me or pay attention to me. ¹⁵ Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. ¹⁶ But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again.

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what Yahweh says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares Yahweh—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.

Much like Israel’s failure to let the land lie fallow every seven years (2 Chronicles 36:21), her failure to remit Hebrew slaves every six years is cause for Israel’s exile from the land to live under foreign powers.

 

Slavery in the New Testament

It is interesting that in the New Testament, slavery is also taken as a fact and “regulated” by the apostles Paul and Peter:

Ephesians 6: ⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶ Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Colossians 3: ²² Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ²⁵ Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism. [NIV]

Titus 2:⁹ Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them [NIV]

1 Pet 2:18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

Jesus assumes the imagery of slavery in many of his teachings, and speaks of humans as God’s slaves, at least those who believe in Him, as do Paul and the other apostles, calling themselves Jesus’ servants.  But there is one amazing interaction that Paul has with his friend Philemon about a runaway slave of Philemon’s who has made his way to Paul in prison and become a believer.

⁸ Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, ⁹ yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. ¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

¹² I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. ¹³ I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. ¹⁴ But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. ¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— ¹⁶ no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸ If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. ²⁰ I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. ²¹ Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. [NIV]

The key words seem to be, “that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.”  Is Paul signaling there should be no slavery among believers?  This is the true application of the principle of equal image-bearers, fellow men, the abandonment of one person owning another.

Paul’s words in Galatians 3 would seem to confirm this:

²⁶ 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. [NIV]

This affirms the equality before God and the eligibility of every person for salvation in Christ.  But in 1 Corinthians 7, Paul has this to say about slaves and free people:

¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. ¹⁸ Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. ¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. ²⁰ Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

²¹ Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. ²² For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. ²³ You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. ²⁴ Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. [NIV]

Paul is not ready to announce an end of slavery in Christ.  He cannot change the culture, and to preach the end of slavery for believers, even to other believers only, could foment rebellion against slave owners.  We know that the most important thing for Paul was that the gospel suffer no reproach:

Titus 2:¹ You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. ² Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. [NIV]

Slavery was a touchy subject.  There were often fears of slave uprisings around the Roman empire.  Christian preaching that encouraged something like that would receive an automatic rejection, no matter how it was explained.

Nevertheless, the principle is there in Scripture.  In Christ we are not slaves, we are brothers.

There is, nevertheless, one radical statement by Paul that would eliminate much of the commercial slavery that occurred in that day.  In 1 Timothy 1:9-11 Paul explains about the law,

9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

If slave trading is wrong in and of itself, then a major form of perpetuating slavery, slave trading, would and should be eliminated.

 

Can We Say the Bible Condemns Slavery?

Given what the Bible says about slavery, there are only three possibilities that can be true, and two may be true together:

• The Bible condones slavery – it is not inherently evil, so God doesn’t ban it
• Slavery is wrong, but banning of it would have been too great a cultural shift for Israel and for the church, as well as creating a hindrance for the church to gain credibility, maybe even making the church a pariah and her message a revolutionary one rather than a spiritual one.
• Slavery is wrong but was the lesser of two evils, providing for a way, in a war faring culture, to provide for women and children of defeated enemies as well as bring foreigners into the pale of the faith and integrating them into the people of God. And there might be a need, still, to provide for those who could not pay their debts or provide for their own needs.

Does the Bible Condone Slavery?

This does not seem a tenable position for two reasons.

ONE, the Bible is very clear that human beings, all of them, are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  This gives all humans a dignity and worth that puts them on a par with everyone else.  It means they operate as God does, with creativity, relational ability, and certainly with will or volition.  They do not lose this image of God if they become enslaved, the property of another image bearer, but they are robbed of their dignity and, in the eyes of others, their worth.  They also lose much of their choice and agency, as it is subject to another’s will and volition.  And they often lose their brotherhood with free people.

It is this brotherhood that the Apostle Paul refers to when dealing with his new convert, Onesimus, the runaway slave of Philemon.  Paul appeals to Philemon:

¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— ¹⁶ no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. (Philemon 1, ESV)

There are two levels of brotherhood mentioned by Paul.  The brotherhood of man, each man descending from one father, Adam, and each man being made in God’s image, is one level of brotherhood.  The second is the new brotherhood in Christ, a brotherhood of the redeemed, of those who have found in Christ their Messiah and Savior.  For Paul, this brotherhood supersedes slavery.  How can one brother in Christ own another brother in Christ and dishonor this brotherhood.  Paul emphasizes this by going one step further:

¹⁷ So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.  (Philemon 1, ESV)

Would Philemon treat Paul as a slave?  Of course not.  No brotherhood should tolerate that.

TWO, the very fact that the Law of Moses that comes from Yahweh does not tolerate abusive forms of slavery, and makes provision for Jewish slaves to be set free after six years enslavement, indicates that ethnic brotherhood does not sit well with slavery, and even Gentile slavery deserves regulation toward more merciful treatment.  Slavery is not God’s design.  Regulation of slavery toward a more dignified treatment and toward more worth for the slave is not a banning of slavery, to be sure, but a nod in the direction of applying the truth of all people being created equal (in God’s image, that is).

It is not unlike the Bible’s treatment of polygamy.  Having more than one wife is first introduced by a wicked and boastful man, a descendant of Cain, in Genesis 4:19-24.  And even though good men after him also practice polygamy (Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Elkanah, David, Solomon) the Bible exposes the relational and social, and sometimes spiritual, ills it brings on the family.  It never has the happy results monogamy can have.  And in the New Testament, its undesirability is shown in requiring elders and deacons, who are to be the models of all Christian behavior, to only have one wife.  Polygamy is not banned, but it is shown to be an undesirable evil.

So it is safe to say the Bible does not condone slavery.

Does the Bible Yield to Social and Cultural Pressure to Allow Slavery?

Does the God of Israel seem like a God who yields to pressure on moral issues?  Hardly.  Idolatry and the belief in many gods was all the rage culturally.  Yet God demanded the rejection of all other gods as false gods.  Israel found herself constantly drawn toward this cultural majority, often mixing worship of Yahweh with that of Baal and other gods of the peoples surrounding them.

And though not a moral issue, Yahweh gave Israel particular laws that made them stand out from the culture, like the law of circumcision, laws of clean and unclean food, and even their laws concerning slavery.  It seems unlikely, therefore, that God could not usher His people into a ban on slavery.  But He doesn’t.

Perhaps Israel was too immature as a nation to handle such a ban.  But Israel handled other bans, such as a ban on premarital sex, a ban on worshiping idols, a ban on bringing offerings to God except in one chosen place, and a ban on intermarriage with idolaters.  This is not to say they didn’t struggle with these bans, but God did not consider them too immature to have them.  It doesn’t seem likely that He would have considered them too immature for a ban on slavery.

However, it does seem that for the church to hold to a ban on slavery would have made her mission more difficult.  The culture around Christians would have taken exception to her stance on slavery and perhaps distracted the church from its main mission, proclaiming the gospel.  It would be just the opposite in our current culture.  If the church defended slavery this would make it hard for the world to embrace the gospel.  As it is, in the New Testament, though the church found slavery contrary to brotherhood as humans and brotherhood as believers, and was something to get free from if you could, freedom was not a social issue that Christianity fought for.  It was a secondary issue to the gospel.

It was much like the authors’ of the New Testament stance on family.  Part of Paul’s teaching in Titus 2 will suffice to show us their attitude:

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. [NIV]

The gospel was not primarily a social change message, but an individual salvation message that wrought massive social change as believers found themselves transformed in their behaviors.  They demonstrated these changes, however, not only as changes Jesus required, but as testimonies to the culture around them.  They didn’t malign the word of God by living culturally out of line with even pagan standards of family life, one of which included slaves:

⁹ Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, ¹⁰ and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. [Titus 2, NIV]

Had the church led a quest to ban slavery, this would have made them fomenters of massive social change that would have entirely engulfed the message of the gospel in an issue most found objectionable and abhorrent.  So it may be that God did not ban slavery as a concession to the immaturity of the culture around Israel and the Church, not because of the immaturity of God’s people.

Could the Allowance of Slavery Be the Lesser of Two Evils?

We have already raised the question of how Israel, in a war faring culture, had to deal with the problem of what to do with the women and children of nations that waged war against them.  As far as the Canaanites were concerned, God put all of them under the ban, meaning they were to be totally annihilated.  There were to be no slaves taken from among the Canaanites.  But other nations would and did indeed attack Israel, and as we have seen, there were regulations about taking the women and children as slaves.

In such taking of these women and children as slaves Israel was choosing not to let the defenseless survivors of war be enslaved by other nations or forced to fend for themselves without any men to help.  And beyond this, by taking these women and children as slaves, they were bringing these pagans into the pale of the Israelite nation, giving them exposure to the worship of Yahweh and a chance to become believers in Yahweh.  A ban on slavery would not have been practical in this situation.  Slavery was the lesser of two evils in the warrior culture.

 

Conclusion

The Christian community today and nations that have been formed with large Christian populations have rejected slavery as an immoral institution.  This revolution against slavery has not occurred, however, without much fighting and laboring for legislation that outlaws slavery.  Until a little over 150 years ago, slavery was culturally accepted in America.  America fought a civil war over it and because the north defeated the south, emancipation was proclaimed as the law of the land.  Great Britain’s abolitionists fought a long battle legislatively to get slavery abolished.  They believed that God’s Word taught that all men are created equal, made in the image of the invisible God, and never worthy of belonging to someone else.  Only God owns a person.  No person should own another person.

We have taken the principles of Scripture and are free to apply them on a national level, something Paul could not do as a social campaign.  We have warred over these principles, unfortunately, but there seems to be near unanimous consent among Christians today that slavery is wrong.  “The new Catechism of the Catholic Church published in 1994 sets out the official position: The Seventh Commandment forbids acts or enterprises that….lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity.”[9] There is no such unified expression against slavery in the Orthodox Church.  But it is interesting that during the American civil war, the archbishop of Constantinople wrote: “But if we cast a careful eye upon the wonderful events of this age, we shall be inclined to believe that those who contend so nobly for the most unquestionable and humane rights, will, God helping them, reach the object of their desires.”[10]

Though the Bible doesn’t come out and condemn slavery, it is the principles of Scripture that have led to such a condemnation in the modern era.  And this advance, if you will, on the Biblical position, is actually seeded in Scripture and is its logical conclusion.  No one made in the image of God should be owned by another.

This raises the question of whether there might be other similar moral issues that find their moral seeds in Scripture and that must be taken to their logical conclusion in ways that could not freely be done in the ancient cultures.  The two issues most commonly put forward are the implications of equality for women and hence their freedom to serve in positions of leadership with men, and the moral freedom for homosexuals to live in monogamous marriages.[11]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_abolition_of_slavery_and_serfdom

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] https://www.atheistalliance.org/thinking-out-loud/is-slavery-wrong/

[6] Ibid.

[7] https://biblehub.com/commentaries/deuteronomy/23-15.htm

[8] Ibid.

[9]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_and_slavery#:~:text=The%20new%20Catechism%20of%20the,disregard%20for%20their%20personal%20dignity.]

[10][https://orthodoxhistory.org/ 2020/06/05/greek-orthodox-opposition-to-slavery-in-1862/]

[11] See https://www.amazon.com/Slaves-Women-Homosexuals-Exploring-Hermeneutics/dp/0830815619/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2PNAWEKZHJ2Z4&keywords=slaves%2C+women%2C+and+homosexuals+by+william+webb&qid=1645237074&sprefix=slaves%2C+women%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1 [Web answers yes to women in leadership and no to moral permission for homosexuals to live in monogamous marriages, based on his cultural analysis of Scripture]