Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SLAVE

A person held in servitude by violence, natal alienation, and personal dishonor as the chattel of another. Unlike modern slavery, ancient slavery was not based on race. The authors of the Bible assume slave ownership to be an unquestioned part of daily life, as normal as possessing oxen, donkeys, and farm equipment. This assumption reflects the perspective of the biblical writers themselves, many of whom most likely came from slaveholding orders of their respective societies.

Most OT material on slaves (Heb. ʿeḇeḏ) is legal, proverbial, anecdotal, and mentioned only in passing (e.g., Prov. 12:9; 22:7; 29:19, 21; Sir. 7:20). While a few slaves are key figures of ancient Israelite history (e.g., Joseph, Gen. 39–41; Moses, Exod. 2–15), the vast majority are indistinct background figures often lacking a name. “Male and female slaves,” acquired as gifts or purchases (e.g., Gen. 12:16; 17:23), included miscellaneous workers (26:25) and domestics (Exod. 11:5; Judg. 3:24; Job 31:13). Solomon forced foreigners into slave labor to rebuild Israelite cities and to erect the Jerusalem temple (1 Kgs. 9:20-22 = 2 Chr. 8:7-10). Such foreign slaves apparently were numerous, serving in a variety of royal and priestly functions for the Israelite monarchy (1 Sam. 8:10-18; 1 Kgs. 10:2-5 = 2 Chr. 9:3-4).

Slaves appear most prominently in the OT laws concerning debt-bondage and manumission (Exod. 21; Lev. 25; Deut. 15), important evidence for Israelite enslavement of both foreigners and fellow Hebrews. Although designed to curtail and perhaps even to end debt-slavery, these Deuteronomistic laws apparently went unheeded, as debt-slavery of fellow Hebrews continued to be common throughout the biblical period (2 Kgs. 4:1; Amos 2:6; 8:6; Mic. 2:9). King Zedekiah of Judah tried to end the practice with his own large-scale manumission legislation (Jer. 34:8-22).

A recurring theme in the OT is the people’s history as slaves in Egypt, forced into manual labor, refused basic supplies such as straw for brickmaking, and beaten by rod-wielding taskmasters (Exod. 5:1-23). Admonishments to serve Yahweh by remembering Moses and the Exodus recur throughout (Exod. 13:3; 20:2; Lev. 25:42; Deut. 6:21; Josh. 24:17). This Exodus theme echoes in accounts of the Babylonian Captivity (Ezra 9:8-9; cf. 2 Chr. 36:20).

Slaves (Gk. doúlos) mentioned in the NT include Onesimus (Phlm. 10-21), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:27-39), the maid Rhoda (12:13-15), the clairvoyant slave girl of Philippi (16:16-24), the Roman centurion’s slave (Luke 7:1-10 = Matt. 8:5-13), and slaves of the high priest Caiaphas (Mark 14:47, 66-69 par.). Slaves also appear as stock characters in the parables of Jesus (e.g., Luke 16:1-13). Dealing ostensibly with the problem of debt among domestic slave stewards, the parable of the unforgiving slave (Matt. 18:23-25) is not about slaves as a social order, but early Christians in Matthew’s church (who may or may not be actual slaves). Synoptic admonitions to watchfulness aim to inform not about the ancient treatment of slaves but about the eschatological judgment of God (Luke 12:35-48; Matt. 24:45-51). This allegorical use of slavery reveals that slavery was taken for granted in that period; no extant saying of Jesus condemns the institution as intrinsically evil.

Paul, self-identified as “slave of Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:1) and even “slave to all” (1 Cor. 9:19), employs metaphorical use of slavery. Among baptized Christians “there is no longer slave or free” (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11). In 1 Cor. 7:21-24 Paul advises believers who were baptized while slaves to “not be concerned” about being a slave unless they have manumission opportunities. Early Christian adaptations of Greco-Roman domestic codes of household management command slaves to “obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ” (Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22; cf. 1 Tim. 6:2; 1 Pet. 2:18-21). This evidence shows that early Christians such as Paul and his followers held attitudes about chattel slavery that resembled those in the wider Greco-Roman world.

Bibliography. G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East. JSOTSup 141 (Sheffield, 1993); J. A. Harrill, The Manumission of Slaves in Early Christianity. Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie 32 (Tübingen, 1995).

J. Albert Harrill

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SLAVE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)