| RETURN
TO HOME PAGE
TOP TEN - SLAVERY |
INFORMATION | |||||
|
________________________________________________________________________________
|
||||||
|
Slavery was accepted as a normal part of life in the ancient world. People often lived at close quarters with their slaves, and saw them as lower-status, expendable family members. How did people end up as slaves? In Hebrew society, people often fell into debt. If they could not pay, they might have to sell themselves as a slave, though usually for a limited period. Even then, they would be released on payment of the debt. Children could be sold by their parents, in payment for a debt. If debt was the reason for a man becoming a slave, he had a special status, and had to be treated as a hired servant. When, every seven years, the Year of Jubilee came, all such slaves had to be given their freedom. But for a girl it was different: she had to stay with her owner. There were no prisons as there are in the modern world, and a thief was often punished by being made the slave of the person from whom he had stolen. This meant he had to work for them until he had paid for the damage he had caused or the goods he had stolen. There were other types of slaves as well: foreigners who had been captured in war or a raid, and were bought in the open market or allocated to soldiers of the victorious army. The Law of Moses allowed Hebrews to own slaves provided they were taken as captives from the surrounding countries, and were not Hebrews. There were also 'houseborn' slaves, children who were born to a woman already a slave - her child automatically belonged to her master. Slaves did many types
of work. If they had ability and luck they might be physicians or
accountants or business managers. Many slaves achieved wealth and high
status; others were forced to work at less pleasant tasks, for example in
mines or quarries. __________________________________ 'No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.' (Matthew 6:24) 'A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.' (Matthew 10:24) 'You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all'. (Mark 10:42-44) _________________________________ OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES Exodus 2:23, 13:3, 13:14, 20:2,
Deuteronomy 5:6, 6:12, 7:8, 8:14, 13:5, 13:10, Joshua 24:17,
Judges 6:8, Nehemiah 5:5, 9:17, Jeremiah 34:13, Micah 6:4 NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES Luke 21:24, John 8:33, Acts 7:6, 7:9, Romans 6:19, 8:15, 8:21, 1 Corinthians 9:27, 2 Corinthians 10:5, Galatians 4:24, 25, 5:1, 1 Timothy 6:1, Hebrews 2:15, 2 Peter 2:19
|
Michelangelo's
unfinished 'Bearded Slave' captures
JOSEPH However, the
story also shows how vulnerable a slave was. Potiphar's wife mades
sexual advances to him, expecting that she, as his owner, could expect him
to respond in the same way as a slave girl might submit to her master.
When Joseph rejected her, she was humiliated and outraged, since his
refusal contradicted what she saw as normal practice. She accused him of
attempted rape. Now the slave's vulnerability became clear: despite his
ability and faithful service to Potiphar, Joseph was immediately cast
into prison, without trial, where he languished for some years. _________________________________________________ ONESIMUS Paul seems to look on Onesimus almost as his own child, and wants the slave to continue in his service. Nevertheless, Paul knows the legal implications of this, and that he is obliged to send him back to his master, Philemon. He wonders whether Onesimus has wronged his former master? Or perhaps stolen something from him? If this is so, Paul has to tread carefully. He speaks in a deferential way to Philemon, diplomatically asking for the slave to be released. At the end of the letter,
we get another clue to the situation - Paul is about to visit Philemon,
probably bringing Onesimus with him. When Paul arrives, can he hope that
Philemon will give him Onesimus as a gift? ________________________________________ HAGAR Hagar is the Egyptian slave of Sarah, wife of Abraham. She was probably acquired when Abraham and Sarah were in Egypt. When Sarah cannot conceive a child, she gives Hagar to Abraham as a concubine, so that the girl may conceive a child that will legally belong to Sarah, and may be named as Abraham's successor. A great deal of guff is written about the injustice of this, but the truth is that Hagar would have leapt at the chance to improve her social status from slave to concubine and possibly mother of the next leader of the tribe.
Hagar becomes
pregnant, but it is made clear in the story that Sarah is still the
Queen Bee of the tribe. Hagar still belongs to her, even though she is
the mother of Abraham's child. It seems then that female slaves were
under the legal jurisdiction of the Alpha Female of the tribe, and were
not considered the property of the male tribal leader. |
|
||||
|
________________________________________________________________________________________
Slaves and the Law
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
||||||
