. . . the debt slave
regulations in Leviticus 25:39-43 tell us that if an Israelite became so poor
and destitute that he even lost his family landed estate, then he and his
family could enter into “debt slavery” until the Year of Jubilee, when his
landed estate would revert back to him. Moreover, they must not make him and
his family “serve as slaves.” They were to be treated “as hired or bound
laborers.” Furthermore, if an Israelite family lost its family estate to a
non-Israelite who lived in the land, “As a laborer hired by the year they shall
be under the alien’s authority, who shall not, however, rule with harshness
over them in your sight” (Lev. 25:53). These regulations demonstrate that the
Israelites differentiated between debt slaves (fellow Israelites and chattel
slaves (foreigners). The last clause of Leviticus 25:53 shows us that, in
contrast to debt slavery, chattel slavery could become harsh.
In the meantime,
Leviticus 25:44-46 turns directly to the issue of chattel slaves. There must be
no Israelite chattel slaves in ancient Israel, but ownership of foreign chattel
slaves was allowed. Even non-Israelite chattel slaves, however, had certain protections,
as we can discern from the injury regulations in Exodus 21:20-21, 26-27, 32 . .
. chattel slaves sometimes were refugees from war (cf. regarding Egypt, Allam, S,
2001. “Slaves.” Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt 3:294-95). Deuteronomy
21:10-14 deals with the female war refugee whose parents were killed in war. If
an Israelite man found her attractive and wanted to take her as a wife, he may
bring her into his house, provide for her recovery from the ear, and allow to
mourn her parents for a month. After that he may take her for a wife. The law
concludes, “But if you are not satisfied with her, you shall let her go free
and not sell her for money. You must not treat her as a slave, since you have
dishonored her” (v. 14). Furthermore, according to Deuteronomy 23:15-16, “Slaves
who have escaped to you from their owners shall not be given back to them. They
shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose in any one of
your towns, wherever they please; you shall not oppress them.” The assumption
was that if they ran away, it was because they were being maltreated, and they
must not be sent back for more of the same. (Richard E. Averbeck, “Slavery in
the World of the Bible,” in Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilbert, and John H.
Walton, eds., Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and
Historical Contexts [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2018], 429)
