Anat

But this is addressed at the would-be slaves, not the would-be slave owners. Similar to the view expressed several times in the Tanakh that a slave that does not want to be freed has to be marked and remain enslaved for life, or the Mishnaic view that attempted to discourage people from selling themselves into servitude - in a master and slave relationship, the slave is the one viewed as being wrong or immoral.

Berggy

You can call it "misinterpretation" if you wish, but you havent shown that I have mis-interpreted anything. You have your opinion on what you "think" the BIble says concerning what I corrected you on, but I have the facts to prove it, based on Biblical context and the original text.

Slavery as you seem to make it out, is not the kind that you see in the movies, where people are being dragged around in chains. In fact, how conveniant that you do not mention Exodus 21:26-27. If the people who had the servants beat them and they would lose a part of their body, they would have to let the servant go free and therefore, no one would likely do so, because they would want to keep their servants. Even more so, you dont take into account Dueteronomy 15:12-18 to where after six years, only six years, the servant was to be set free, period, unless they wished to stay with their masters. Not only that, they were "required" to give their servants plenty of live-stock, food; basically everything they needed to survive until they could do somehting on their own.

You call God negligable, but I say that you just dont want to see how on things are not as you say they are.

Johnny Skeptic

Why should we discuss slavery when we can discuss why God kills people with hurricanes, including babies, and always refuses to give amputees new limbs, as least as far as we know?

You said that God punishes people for sins that their anscestors committed because they committed sins too, but what about babies? Babies do not have any concept of sin, but God killed babies at Sodom and Gomorrah, and he still kills babies today. Who do you think created the bacteria (Bubonic Plague) that killed one fourth of the people in Europe?

blkgayatheist

so then the answer is no the bible doesnt clearly oppose slavery

WishboneDawn

Pretty much, yes.

Berggy

No, I think we should stick, at least right now, to the topic of slavery, because I have found some interesting passages that I think maybe even you can appreciate.

Deuteronomy 24:7: If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that theif shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.

You wished to know if the Bible opposed slavery? Here is your answer. According to Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, the Hebrew word for "merchandise" is "amar" and it means to be bound, to subdue or to make a servant. The word for "selleth" is "makar" and it means to sell and the word for "theif" is "gannab" and it means a stealer.

This passage explicetly describes what we would consider slavery. Its the kidnapping and the forcible submission of other people to be made servants, involuntary servants and guess what? The penalty for such a thing is death. The one doing this would have been executed for it and the Bible calls it evil - God calls it evil.

Thos passages that I brought to your attention earlier have nothing to do with what is being mentioned here - those passages were speaking specifically of endentured servitude. The primary piece of evidence for this was that they were to only work six years and on the seventh year, they would be releases as the law required every seventh year, which was the releasing of debts as stated by Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 12. They were "not" slaves, as you would like to believe. You are mis-informed. They were working off a debt. Even more so, slaves, as what people normally think of them, if they were kidnapped and forced to be that way, would never have cause to say that they loved their masters as stated of what they could do in Deuteronomy 15:16-18

Even more so, slaves are not accorded the curtesy and the luxury of having their masters give them of their live-stock and winepress and floor as commanded to them in Deuteronomy 15:14.

Bottom-line; The Bible completely and utterly condemns slavery, just like murdering, which requires the death penalty if you violate those laws. However, the Bible completely supports endentured servitude to work off a debt, but then at the seventh year of when you started working, you are released.

I hope this satisfies your curiosity

arricchio

Was it something I said? Or are you just naturally an asshole?

Anat

Breggy, the Deuteronomy law only covers kidnapping other Israelites into servitude. It does not cover foreigners at all. Also - fathers could sell their daughters into servitude, and such a female Hebrew slave, if given in marriage to a male Hebrew slave, is not to be released, and neither are her children of either sex who are born into servitude. So although Torah law placed some limits on servitude, especially of Israelite males, it does not object to slavery as a matter of principle.

Berggy

Im sorry, but it doesnt only speak about Israelites. It does indeed speak about those who were foreigners, strangers, as spoken of in Exodus 12:49 as well as Leviticus 24:22, even Numbers 15:29. Consider as well Deuteronomy 31:12.

I would think even the major kicker would be this scriptures;

Exodus 21:16: And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death

This verse gives no distinction as to the previous one that I showed you. This one is generalized and non-specific. Therefore, the law of punishing slavers and kidnappers is death and it doesnt matter if your stealing non-Israelite people and selling them as slaves or not.

I assume your speaking of Exodus 21:7, where it speaks of a man selling his daughter to be a maidservant. However, your not taking into account the context of what is being spoken about here. The context is verses 1-11, which explicetly speak about nothing else but servants and even more so, its speaking about those who are endentured servants, as such as I have shown previously by the seventh year being the year of release, which is spoken about in verse 2.

This was nothing short than the practice of people working off their debts while serving either you or someone else. True slaves, like people think of, where they are being dragged around in chains and have no freedom whatsoever, would never have the luxury or privileges given to these people as stated by all the other scriptures that I pointed out. Slaves have no rights, but these people do. They were not slaves, they were servants.

Therefore, as I have stated. The Bible completely condemns slavery. All slavers, according to God's Law, are to be executed, put to death and there are no exceptions.

hatsoff

I have to agree. I think this is another example of Johnny Skeptic running amok for no good reason.