Many people, believers included, are troubled that slavery was practiced in both the Old and New testaments. Much of this uneasiness results from failure to note that not all slavery is created equal. While slavery is “the state of one bound in servitude,” details of the practice have varied from time to time and culture to culture. This discussion will be limited mainly to slavery in the Old Testament, since the guidelines for slavery in the New Testament were determined not by the Mosaic law but by the Roman empire.

From the early days of the colonial period through the Civil War, slavery in America was a race-based practice in which the slave had little or no rights. Most of them became slaves either by being kidnapped from Africa, or they were prisoners of war sold by Africans to European slave traders. This practice, at times, but certainly not always, led to slaves being abused in a variety of ways, with no legal protection. In many instances, slaves being sold as property led to husbands and wives, and parents and children, being separated. Slaves were at the mercy of their owners, who possessed them as they did other property such as horses and wagons. Brutality was all too common. One must be careful to distinguish this type of slavery from that which was allowed in the Old Testament. One must further distinguish between what the Old Testament law allowed and what actually was practiced by Old Testament people. Not everything practiced was approved by the law.

In Old Testament times, one could become a slave in various ways. People who were unable to pay their debts could sell themselves temporarily as slaves voluntarily, becoming indentured servants (Leviticus 25:39). Slavery was not the ideal. God gave Mosaic legislation in an attempt to prevent the poor from entering, even temporarily, into voluntary indentured service. The poor could glean the edges of fields or pick lingering fruit on trees after their fellow Israelites’ harvest (Leviticus 19:9-10; Deuteronomy 24:20-21). Also, God commanded fellow Israelites to lend freely to the poor (Deuteronomy 15:7-8) and to not charge them interest (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36-37).

When these measures failed to relieve poverty, this form of slavery allowed the poor to pay off debts and financially reestablish themselves. Such a practice was not viewed as punishment but as a constructive way of dealing with an unfortunate situation. In fact, some such servants chose to remain slaves because it offered them security (Deuteronomy 15:16-17). This type of slavery has been practiced throughout history. For example, many early settlers came to America as indentured servants to pay their expensive transatlantic fare.

The Old Testament allowed a thief who could not repay what he had stolen to be sold as a slave until he made restitution (Exodus 22:3). This slavery was not permanent, lasting only until restitution was made. This method of dealing with criminals often is more effective than imprisonment, in that the victim is being compensated for losses incurred. The late Chuck Colson was a modern advocate of requiring restitution over imprisonment whenever feasible.

People captured in war frequently became slaves (Genesis 14:21; Numbers 31:9). There were no P.O.W. camps and no government programs to support captives, so enslavement was perceived as compassionate by all parties involved. Kidnapping as a means of obtaining slaves was strictly forbidden by Israelite law (Exodus 21:16). Kidnapping was stealing a man’s freedom and was punishable by death (Deuteronomy 24:7).

While the Old Testament acknowledges the slave’s status as the property of the master to a degree (Leviticus 25:46), the master’s power over the slave was restricted. Old Testament law governed the treatment of domestic slaves. If a master was guilty of excessive use of authorized force, the law provided that the slave could go free (Exodus 21:26-27). Killing of a slave called for a very severe penalty: “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished (literally, suffer vengeance)” (Exodus 21:20; see also Leviticus 24:17, 22). Old Testament scholars generally agree that “suffering vengeance” implies capital punishment. Any slave that ran away from his master, expressing a desire for freedom, was not to be returned (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).

Old Testament law regularly demanded that Israelites not rule over a fellow Israelite harshly (Leviticus 25:39). On the contrary, the slave was part of the master’s household (Leviticus 22:11) and was required to rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14) and to participate in religious observances (Deuteronomy 12:12, 18; 16:11, 14). Slaves could be circumcised (brought into the covenant) and then eat of the Passover meal (Exodus 12:43-44). Even prior to the Mosaic law, a childless master could make a slave his heir, as Abraham planned for Eliezer prior to Isaac’s birth.

A Hebrew slave’s subjugation was limited to a maximum of six years (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12). In the Year of Jubilee, no matter how long a slave had served, he was to be released (Leviticus 25:39-43). Upon being freed, slaves were to receive gifts from the flocks, threshing floor, and wine vat (Deuteronomy 15:12-15) to enable them to maintain their new freedom.

The intent of Israel’s laws was to prevent abuses, not to institutionalize slavery. With these conditions placed on slavery, Old Testament slavery might best be described not as one man being the property of another, but one man’s labor being the property of another.

In the days of the New Testament, slavery laws were made and enforced by the Roman Empire, reflecting its values. When Paul wrote how slaves and masters were to act (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 4:1; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Colossians 3:22-25; Titus 2:9-10), he was not endorsing involuntary slavery. He was offering spiritual counsel to Christian slaves and slave owners.

Since slave practices varied widely in biblical times, the Bible contains no direct call to abolish slavery. But Scripture in its totality is intended to promote and establish conditions that eliminate human oppression — including slavery. Meanwhile, the Mosaic slave laws and the writings of Paul benefited and protected the slaves as best as possible. Significantly, in 19th-century England and America, the application of biblical principles, in part, led to the abolition of the slave trade.

— Walter Johnson is dean of the College of Christian Studies at North Greenville University.