A.W. Tozer, American Pastor and author made a very insightful statement about Bible critics: “The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.” He brings out a very important point: that many students of the Bible have no intention to learn anything from scripture, only to dismantle it. And as we would also expect from the devil, when attacking the word of God, passages are taken out of context, select scriptures are cherry picked and the historical background is distorted or ignored.

And there are few examples that are a better illustration than the subject of slavery. Critics of the Bible love to quote Exodus 21:20:

And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
Exo 21:20-21 NKJV.

Many of us immediately envision a Master relentlessly beating his slaves in a field forcing them to work endless hours with little to no relief. Or the slave trade of the 18 and 19th century where warring tribes in Africa would constantly be organizing slave raids to sell the kidnapped to eager European merchants.

Although many today want to focus on the United States’ participation in this system, many fail to acknowledge that slave trade was widespread with almost all nations throughout  time participating. Slavery was at its zenith in Europe during the Roman Empire, where historians estimate that between 25 and 40% of the population were enslaved! The Ancient near east was no different with many nations and empires heavily using forced labor.

Archaeology has shown that although slavery was wide spread and commonly used by all of their neighbors, ancient Israel had one of the lowest use of slaves of any nation during its time. Many of it’s neighbors, Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon have all the tale-tell signs of slave usage: large building projects with the remains of their workers buried in the debris.

Remains of Egyptian slaves commonly found in trash ditches

Archaeological dig sites through out the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Lachish and Samaria are absent of the signs of slave usage such as large slave quarters, mass slave burials or separate administrative systems based on slave labor. Rather Israel’s economy was tribal, agrarian and decentralized with little to no evidence of slave usage. The reason for this is simple: Slavery in the Bible was highly regulated.

The first and most significant regulation of slavery is given in Exodus 21:16.

He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:16 NKJV.

This law alone put significant restrictions on the slave industry. And it didn’t just apply to the kidnapper but also to anyone to tried to sell someone who was kidnapped. They both could loose their life if they were involved in this type of human trafficking.

In The Torah, God’s law, a Hebrew himself had to be responsible for his own enslavement. Whether it was because of unpaid debt, fines, restitution, poverty, or criminal activity, there were multiple situations where someone could be sold into slavery but “man-stealing” was not one of them. Someone could be enslaved in the Bible if they fell into one of these categories:

  • Poverty
    And if your brother who lives beside you has become poor and is sold to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant. Lev 25:39 AFV.
  • Restitution for Crimes
    He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. Ex 22:3
  • Purchased from other Nations
    you may acquire male and female slaves from the pagan nations that are around you… they may become your property. Lev 25:44

Now, although you could purchase female slaves, there were strict regulations to prevent this from turning into sex traficing.  

And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no power to sell her to a strange nation, And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her as with daughters. If he takes himself another wife, her food, her clothing, and her duty of marriage shall not be lessened.  And if he does not do these three things for her, then she shall go out free without money.  Exo 21:7-11 AFV

These scriptures provide very little opportunity for slaves to be treated as prostitutes.  Whether you or your son or another servant sleeps with her, she becomes a wife and no longer a slave.  If she isn’t treated as such, she is freed.  Considering slaves in Bible times cost upwards to $90,000 – this would be very expensive for a one night stand.

Another very restrictive regulation to forced labor is given in Deuteronomy 23:

You shall not deliver to his master the servant who has escaped from his master to you. He shall live with you, among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of your gates, where it seems good to him. You shall not oppress him.  Deut 21:15-16 AFV

Although the owner/employer of the servant has the right to track down his runaway worker, the Torah prohibits anyone from assisting him in the process.  In addition, the worker was given sanctuary for an indefinite period of time within the walls of any city.  This option that any indentured worker had of escaping would provide a significant deturant against abuse.

The final nail in the coffin to abuse by slave owners is given in Ex 21:

And if a man strikes the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, so that it perishes, he shall let him go free on account of his eye. And if he strikes out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth. Exo 21:26-27 AFV

Any permanent injury inflicted by a slave by his owner resulted in him being immedately freed. Once again, considering that a slave could cost as high as $90,000- possibly loosing that investment in a moment of rage would be a significant deturant against abuse.  

So if the Law of God provided indentured servants with so many rights and protections why did the Torah in Exodus 21:20 seemingly allow masters to beat their slaves within an inch of their lives, with no punishment as long as they didn’t die?

“if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.“

One thing to keep in mind is that throughout history, most all civilizations had an allowance for mutual combat-  where it was perfectly legal for two consenting adults to square off and punch each other in the face.  Some countries even allowed for dueling where fighting to the death was even legal.   Today the State of Texas is a “mutual combat state” where it is still legal for consenting adults to duke it out if they are so inclined. There are quite a few entertaining videos online where cops act as referees as two dunk Texans fight each other in a parking lot. As long as there is no weapons used and it is fists only, the two warriors typically go home fine, both claiming victory.

The Torah has has very similar laws as the state of Texas with a few variations. It was legal to fight with fists or even throw rocks but nothing else(Num 35:23). However if one of the combatants died, free or slave, the survivor was in jeopardy of a capital crime. He had to prove he “did not lie in wait”(Ex 21:13). If he struck him with an iron or wood weapon, premeditated waited for him or he held the rock in his hand as he struck him, free or slave, he was a murder and was to be executed.

The rules for mutual combat in God’s law was very narrow and there were civil damages if someone was permanently disabled.

If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed. “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
Exodus 21:18-21

The rules for beating up your slave were almost identical to that of fighting with your next door neighbor. The only difference was you didn’t have to pay for his lost time because you had already paid for his time! And if he died in the beat down the same laws for murder applied. Unlike all of the surrounding countries, Israel had no exemptions for slave owners when it came to murder.

It is very common for most people, especially in wealthy countries, to assume there are government programs for every social problem. Whether a community is dealing with crime, poverty, homelessness, orphans, drug abuse, or crime, typically we have tax payer funded program to handle these problems. We have homeless shelters, soup kitchens, drug programs, welfare, foster homes and prisons. In the United States, excluding programs for the elderly, 23% of State and Local funds go to these programs. In poorer countries and through out antiquity this was completely impractical and the money to found such programs simply did not exist. Because of practicality, a highly regulated system of indentured servitude was the answer.

Although foreign slaves had less rights than Hebrew slaves, there was a very easy remedy if they wanted the same rights:

And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger [who is circumcised] who dwells among you.
Exo 12:48 NKJV.

 The Passover and circumcision was the sign of the Old Covenant. And when any stranger, free or slave, wanted to abandon his pagan gods of idolatry and embrace all of the blessings of the Torah, accept YHWH Elohim as his creator and enter in to a covenant agreement with him, he became as a native of the Land.

Although atheist and bible critics want to cherry pick scriptures about slavery, pull them out of context while ignoring the historical background, the laws governing slavery in the Old Testament were by far the most humane considering the economic reality of the past. And most important, it gave a clear path for citizenship for anyone, slave or free, to be grafted in to the congregation of God.