Exodus 21:1-6

RIGHTS OF MALE SLAVES

"Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself. if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever."

Slavery was widespread in the ancient world, and, while God did not order the abolition of it, he did in this passage initiate rules that greatly abetted the horrors of slavery. First of all, no Hebrew slave could be compelled to serve more than six years, the only exception being given in Exodus 21:6, where a slave could voluntarily accept perpetual slavery. The time was not then ripe for the abolition of slavery, and it should be remembered that neither Christ nor any of his apostles ever called for the abolition of it as an institution. However, the marvelous teachings of Christianity set in motion forces that in time brought down the whole conception of slavery. The regulations here "insured that Hebrew slaves would be treated as brethren."[8] God's concern here was primarily the conduct of his own people, and the problem of foreign slaves was dealt with later (Leviticus 25:44-46).

"I love my master ..." This provision stressed the likelihood that due to the benign conditions of the Hebrew slave (contrasting with that which was current in that age), there would indeed be instances in which individuals would prefer slavery to the responsibilities of freedom.

The question of how a member of the community of Israel became a slave is answered in the Bible:

1. He could sell himself to get out of debt (2 Kings 4:1).
2. He could be sold by his parents in need of money (Nehemiah 5:2).

"In the seventh year, he shall go out free for nothing ..." "This meant he could leave in the seventh, or sabbatical year of his servitude",[9] but on every fiftieth year, when the year of Jubilee came, if it happened to come before the full six years was concluded, "he went free then."[10] Summarizing these marvelous rights which were guaranteed to a male slave, we have:

1. He was guaranteed the right of just and honorable treatment.

2. He could occupy positions of great trust and responsibility as did Eliezar of Damascus for Abraham.

3. He could not be bound for more than six years without his consent.

4. He could hold property, with the possibility that he might, in time, redeem himself.

5. He was protected from the sadistic violence of a brutal master (Exodus 21:20).

6. He could claim compensation for bodily injury (Exodus 21:26-27).

7. He had full rights of rest on the sabbath (Exodus 20:10).

"He shall go out free for nothing ..." One more word about this. Orlinsky stated that, "As far as the Hebrew text is concerned, the Hebrew slave simply walked out as a free man at the end of his six years."[11] There were no required formalities; nobody had to pass judgment on it, or give permission, for here God Himself granted permission! Also, Deuteronomy 15:13f, enjoined the master to bestow handsome presents upon his slaves when they departed. It was in keeping with this that Abraham had given great gifts to his concubines before sending them away (Genesis 25:6).

Bible scholars classify the two kinds of laws, or rules, given in this "Book of the Covenant," as: (1) those like the one given in Exodus 21:2, here, which being with "If," outlining a theoretical situation. These are called Causistic or "Case Laws." This form is followed in nearly all of the ancient codes such as that of Hammurabi. (2) Then, there is Apodeictic Law, laws which merely laid down the Divine Law, such as "Thou shalt not kill." "The presence of many apodeictic laws in Exodus suggests the intrinsic, Divine authority of these laws"[12]

"His master shall bring him unto God ..." The Hebrew text here is literally, "unto the gods," that is, the magistrates.[13] Our Lord Jesus Christ himself made appropriate use of this in his defense of his actions before the Pharisees, saying, "If he called them gods, unto whom the Word of God came, (and the Scriptures cannot be broken), say ye of him whom the Father sanctified ... `Thou blasphemest, because I said I am the Son of God'?" (John 10:35,36). The expression "gods" was here used accommodatively, of course, since the magistrates in view were the representatives of God.

Some scholars affirm that "the door-post" here was located in the master's private dwelling,[14] and others are equally sure that the ceremony of the awl and the ear was to take place only at the sanctuary, the tabernacle, or later, the temple.[15] It appears to us that the latter is most likely correct.