First, how is the word olam
used in the Hebrew Bible? Let’s look at some examples. In Genesis 9:16, we see
that God refers to the covenant that he makes with all living creatures after
the flood as “eternal” (brit olam). From the context we see that God
vowed to never again bring a flood upon the earth, and this “eternal covenant”
was established. Thus, the use of olam here signifies the future without
end; God simply vows to never bring a flood again in the future.
In Exodus 2:15, when God reveals
himself to Moses, he states that “Yahweh” is his name “forever” (le’olam)
and “from generation to generation”. In the future, generation after
generation, they would know him as Yahweh. In Exodus 12:17, Israel is commanded
to celebrate a particular feast “for the generations to come” as an “eternal
ordinance” (chuqqat olam). Year after year, generation after generation,
they were to keep this feast. Finally, in Daniel 12:2 we read, “And many who
are sleeping in the dust of the earth will wake up, these to eternal life (chayyei
olam), and these to shame and eternal contempt (dir’on olam)”.
Thus, when we return to passages like
Leviticus 25:46 and Exodus 21:6, the slave is to serve the master le’olam
“from that point forward”, “into the future (with no end in sight”, or “for all
time in the future”. We should not infer, for example, that the slave would
serve the master for all eternity (i.e., in the afterlife). This usage should
come as no surprise to us, as we today even use the word “forever” in a variety
of ways: “These pets need a ‘forever home’”; “He is forever
playing with his hair”; “I will love you forever”.
Furthermore, if we examine the Greek
words and phrases that are used to translate olam in these passages, we
can gain an even clearer understanding of the meaning of the word. As we noted
above, in Leviticus 25:46 and Exodus 21:6, the Septuagint (an ancient Greek
translation of the Hebrew Bible) translates le’olam with the idiomatic
phrase eis ton aiona “to the ages”. This phrase is used in the
Septuagint and in the New Testament 350 times, including in passages like
Exodus 32:13b: “I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and
all this land of which I have spoken, I will give to your descendants, and they
will inherit it forever”. This phrase carries the same meaning in the
New Testament and appears in places like John 6:51a: “I am the living bread,
who came down from heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever”.
It also appears in John 4:14: “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give
him, he will never thirst, but the water that I give him will become in
him a well of water, welling up to eternal life”. The Greek phrase is negated
here, meaning “never (in the future)”.
In short, both the Hebrew olam
and its Greek translation eis ton aiona means “the future (with no end
in sight)”. When we return to Leviticus 25:46 and Exodus 21:6, the period of
service of the slave is what is in view. In Leviticus 25, the foreign slave is
to serve the master “forever”, evinced by the master’s right to bequeath him to
his children as inheritance, just as landed property would be handed down. In
Exodus 21:6, the debt slave, to remain with his family, would voluntarily
become a permanent slave, rather than opting for release after the required
six-day period. (Joshua Bowen, Did the Old Testament Endorse Slavery? [2d
ed.; Mechanicsville, Md.: Digital Hammurabi Press, 2023], 325-27)
Further
Reading:
