Today, we continue working through the laws on violence, in Exodus 21. Last week, we read about a few sins that were punishable by death, and a few that weren't. Let's start by simply rereading verses 12-19:
(12) A striker of a man-- and he dies-- shall surely be put to death,
(13) while if he doesn't hunt/stalk, while God allows it to happen to his hand, I will appoint for you a place
where he shall flee to there.
(14) and when a man seethes/schemes concerning his neighbor to murder him with cunning/cleverness, from my altar you shall take him to die,
(15) while the one striking his father or his mother shall surely be put to death,
(16) while the one kidnapping a man/person,
and he sells him,
and/or he is found in his hand/possession, he shall surely be put to death,
(17) while the one declaring contemptible his brother or his mother shall surely be put to death,
(18) and if men quarrel (Gen. 26:20),
and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist,
and he doesn't die,
but he falls to bed [=he's bed-ridden]--
(19) if he stands and he walks around outside on his staff--
(then) the one striking shall go unpunished.
Only, his loss of time he shall pay,
and he surely/fully/actually heals,
In these verses, God assumes that his people will do the wrong thing. They will murder, and kidnap, and curse their parents. On a lesser scale, they will find themselves quarreling with one another. Sometimes, those quarrels will turn into fist fights, which will turn into trips to the hospital. God assumes, seemingly, that even if you put me in a hospital, and I can't work, you won't find yourself regretting what you did. You won't offer make it up to me, by paying my hospital bills, or compensating me for my lost paycheck. So God put laws in place that force people to act compassionately, and be a good Samaritan, even if that's the last thing they want.
God continues today by giving more laws concerning people "striking" others. Where they differ from last week's verses, is that cover two different groups, or classes, of people. In many societies, these groups are viewed as having no rights, or less rights. Sometimes, they are viewed as being not fully human. These two groups are "servants," and the unborn. And so the question is, do the laws on violence work differently for them, than they do for the rest of us? Are slaves like property, to be treated like a donkey or an ox? Are the unborn fully human?
Verse 20:
(20) and if a man strikes his male servant or female servant with the rod,
and he/she dies under his hand, he/she shall surely be avenged.
Let's start by talking about the "rod." The OT assumes that people, at times, need to be physically disciplined when they do something incredibly foolish (Proverbs 26:3), or if they're rebellious. Proverbs encourages parents to not be afraid to take a rod to their kids when necessary (Proverbs 29:15). Doing so will drive folly out them (Proverbs 22:15).
Proverbs 23:13-14:
(13) You shouldn't withhold from a youth, discipline. ["from a youth" is focused, maybe. Or possibly "discipline," being delayed until the end]
If you strike (same verb we've been seeing in Ex. 21) him with the rod, he won't die.
You, with the rod, strike him, [with the rod is focused]
while his inner being/soul, from Sheol you will deliver (it). ["from Sheol" is focused]
Now, let's turn to 2 Samuel 7:12-17 (ESV no reason). Here, God makes a promise to David, for how he will treat David's offspring:
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him WITH THE ROD of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
In verse 14, God promises to be a Father to David's son, and to treat David's son, as his own son. And God then unpacks what this means in two ways (the subordinate clause and relationship is clearer in the Hebrew). The first, in verse 14, is that God will discipline his son with the "rod of men." And second, in verse 15, is that God promises that his loyalty won't leave him. God will treat David's descendants better than he treated Saul.
So when we look at how God parents, and how Proverbs encourages moms and dads to parent, we see that there is a time and a place to physically discipline your children. You don't need to be afraid you'll kill them. And doing so, will save them from a much worse fate-- it will keep them from growing up to be lazy, and foolish, and unproductive. It will keep them from Sheol.
Now, the advice I was given once, along these lines, had two parts. First, when you spank, spank with a wooden spoon. Second, spank only twice. Two is enough to get the point across, and to make it hurt. But if you keep going, you're probably doing so out of anger, and not out of the desire to correct. At a certain point, and pretty quickly, physical discipline itself becomes folly. What I was told-- and you can make of this what you will-- it's not like I'm quoting a verse to you-- is you make the two spanks count. And then you stop.
At this point, let's get back on track, and reread Exodus 21:20:
(20) and if a man strikes his male servant or female servant with the rod,
and he/she dies under his hand, he/she shall surely be avenged.
So Proverbs had reassured its readers, that you won't kill a child by striking him with the rod. Perhaps the rod you use on a child, looks more like a wooden spoon. But now, we read that if you strike your servant with the rod, and the servant dies, you'll be "avenged."
Some English Bibles (NRSV) soften this here, to say that you'll be "punished," but the word means "avenged." And what that means, is that you'll be killed. [Christopher Wright notes that this law is unique to Israel, within its Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context.]
And so what does the law teach? I think there's actually a lot of things to be unpacked from this. I'll save some for the end. But above all else, this law means that servants are people. Striking a servant, and killing him, has the same consequences as killing a free man or woman.
Verse 21:
(21) However, if a day or two days he stands, he/she shall not be avenged, ["a day or two" is focused]
because his money/wealth/property (literally: his silver), he/she is, ["money" is focused]
So, verse 20 had said that if you kill your servant, you die. Verse 21 then qualifies this, but in a way that some (?) English Bibles again don't get quite right. English Bibles say that if you "survive" for a day or day, you won't be "punished."
These translations encourage us to picture a servant, grimly hanging on to life in an ICU unit for three days before dying. When he finally dies, the master breathes a huge sigh of relief, because his servant held on to life just long enough.
But the actual idea is that if your servant is able to "stand." The idea, is that your servant is able to get up, and move around, and isn't stuck in bed. Your servant might look a little bad, but he can function.
So picture that, and then imagine that three days later, your servant dies.
What was the cause? Well, probably back then, no one did an autopsy. Instead, they simply relied on common sense. If your servant doesn't dies until three days after being physically disciplined, and he'd been able to move around and work and function, probably it wasn't the discipline that killed him. Maybe he simply had a heart attack, or stroke. He just died. And since it didn't happen until three days later, you get to live.
So this is a law that protects the master. The master gets the benefit of the doubt. If your servant dies a week or month after receiving a beating, the servant's family can't demand compensation from you (h/t Christopher Wright, Exodus).
At the same time, if you're a master, this law should make you pause and think. Imagine that your servant did something stupid, and you physically discipline him with the rod. If he dies within a day or two, you'll be killed. So every time you use the rod, you're running a risk. You're taking a chance.
Again, Proverbs had said you won't kill your child by using the rod. But Exodus says, if your servant dies within two days, you'll be killed. Maybe, you shouldn't use the rod on your servant? Maybe, there's a different approach you could take?
At this point, let's reread verse 21, and then tackle the second half of it:
(21) However, if a day or two days he stands, he/she shall not be avenged,
because his money/purchase/wealth/property (literally: his silver), he/she is,
I'll be honest. From the very first moment I read this, I struggled with the "because" part of this verse.
And a major part of why I struggled, is because of how English versions translate a key word here.
What, exactly, is a servant? Is a servant his master's "property" (NRSV; NIV)? Or is a servant his master's "money" (KJV/RSV/ESV)? How we translate this makes a huge difference in how we understand this law.
The Hebrew word here, kesef, is the ordinary word for "silver." Sometimes, it has the sense of "money," because
silver has been used as a store of wealth and money for thousands of years (Genesis 31:15; 42:25, 27). Often, in fact, it has the sense of "wealth" (BDB #3).
What it doesn't mean, ever, is "property." Hebrew uses a different word for that (akuzzah; Genesis 23:4).
So what it does mean to say that a servant is his master's wealth, or silver?
And why does it matter?
If a master strikes a servant, and he doesn't die until a week later, the master isn't punished, "because his servant is his wealth."
Probably the most memorable way to explain this, is by telling a story from my childhood. [The easiest way, would be to compare saying, "My children are my property," with "my children are my wealth." But I want to tell the story :) ]
When my brother and I were kids, one time we had the great idea that we should try flushing money down the toilet. Just to see what happened, basically. And it turns out, toilets can usually successfully flush pennies, and nickels, and dimes. Quarters sometimes take a second flush. Now, I remember while doing this, thinking that this was hilarious. We were both enjoying ourselves tremendously. But then my brother put a dollar bill in the toilet. At my urging, of course. It's good to be the big brother. And the dollar went down, first flush, beautifully. And we stood there, looking at the empty toilet, and realized we were stupid. Greg, in particular, maybe realized you shouldn't always listen to older brothers.
When you are the owner of wealth, you are free to use that wealth however you want. But probably, you'll use your wealth wisely. You don't throw away your wealth, or mistreat it. You don't flush it down the toilet.
So what does it mean, to say that a servant is his master's wealth? [For what follows, William Propp's Exodus commentary was really helpful here.] Servants are a valuable resource-- far more valuable than every other asset, except for maybe an ox. Most masters understand this, and treat their servants with care, and respect. They handle them, like they'd handle silver. And what the law is teaching, I think, is that masters don't treat their servants as disposable. Servants are expensive to acquire. I imagine it takes time to get them up to speed, and bring them to a place where they are truly useful. And above all that, "servanthood" was temporary-- 6 years. A wise master will use those six years as best as he can.
So how does this relate to discipline?
Most masters will only discipline their servants, when they absolutely have to. And they will discipline, only as much as they have to. And so, what the law does is give the master the benefit of the doubt. Probably, a master isn't going to mistreat his wealth, and flush it down the toilet. So unless the servant dies within a day or two, where it's obviously the result of some type of excessive discipline, the master isn't held responsible.
With this, we come to verses 22-27:
(22) and if men are fighting,
and they hit a pregnant woman,
and her children come out,
and there isn't bodily injury,
he shall surely be fined,
according to what the husband of the woman sets/imposes for him,
and he shall give in accordance with the judges/judgments,
(23) and if bodily injury, there is, you shall give life in place of life, eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth, hand in place of hand, foot in place of foot, burn/scar in place of burn/scar, wound in place of wound, bruise in place of bruise,
(26) and if a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant, and he destroys it, as a free person he shall release him/her in place of his eye,
(27) and if the tooth of his male servant or the tooth if his slave woman he causes to fall out, as the free he shall release him in place of his tooth,
I don't want to say too much about pregnant women here. I think I'll come back to that next week. But what we see in verse 23, is the famous statement about an eye for an eye. It's often called "lex talionis," which is a Latin phrase that means something like, "The law of retaliation." An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and so on.
But what's interesting, is that immediately after talking about how it should be an eye for an eye for injured babies, or injured moms, Moses says that it's NOT literally an eye for an eye for with servants.
If, when you discipline your servant, you end up doing any permanent damage to him-- an eye, a tooth, I assume anything else-- your servant goes free. It's not an eye for an eye. It's freedom, for an eye. It's freedom, for a tooth.
Now, even more interesting, if we go back to verse 19, we see that lex talionis isn't literally used there, either. If you beat someone up, and make them bed-ridden, what happens to you? The elders of the community don't beat you up, bruise for bruise, broken bone for broken bone. If you beat someone up, you compensate that person, financially. And how much you give, is proportionate. That's the key idea here. Proportionate.
It's partly for this reason that many OT scholars argue that lex talionis was never meant to be carried out literally, except in the case of murder (they also note that OT narratives never see the law literally being carried out).
Instead, what an eye for an eye does, is two things (put in outline):
(1) It places limits on how much retribution you can seek. You can't kill someone, for injuring you (Genesis 4:23).
(2) It makes sure there is adequate compensation, when you injure someone. If you harm someone, you have a financial responsibility to compensate them for what you've done. You can't beat someone up, and walk away, without it costing you. And the more badly you harm them, the more you have to compensate them. Compensation is proportionate.
I rabbit trailed again. So let's reread verses 26-27:
(26) and if a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant, and he destroys it, as a free person he shall release him/her in place of his eye,
(27) and if the tooth of his male servant or the tooth if his slave woman he causes to fall out, as the free he shall release him in place of his tooth,
What do these verses teach us about the relationship between masters and servants?
Again, I think a lot of things. But one of them, is that there is a sense in which a servant is not his master's property. Right? What happens if you strike your servant in the mouth, calling it "discipline," and you break his tooth with your fist?
He goes free. Your servant, is no longer your servant.
Exodus assumes that masters will discipline their servants. It leaves space- it "allows" (Matthew 19:8?)-- masters to do so through physical force, including using the rod.
But if/when a master does this, he needs to be careful to do no permanent damage to them. If you permanently harm in any way, you lose your right to your servant. Yours servants, presumably, can go to the town elders, show them their missing tooth, and walk away as free men and woman (see Job 31:13-14).
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For our application today, I'd like to focus on "servitude" in the OT. Next week, probably, I'll talk about pregnant women, and unborn babies.
When we are in the OT, and talking about servitude, it's important that we start by reminding ourselves about how "servitude" worked. We have to make sure we understand it as contract labor, and not as North American slavery and oppression of black Africans.
In ancient Israel, servitude was something you voluntarily entered into. It's something you did temporarily, for six years, to pay off debts, or to provide for yourself and your family. And when you sell yourself to your new master, you do so understanding that this involves submission for six years. If you become a servant, you are committing to "working as directed."
The thing that complicates this relationship, above all else, is sin. Servants sometimes sin. And masters sometimes sin.
(1) Servants are going to be tempted, at times, to be lazy, or rebellious. And sometimes, they will be careless. Everyone does stupid things sometimes because they aren't paying attention, or they're forgetful, or they stayed up too late the night before, and just aren't functioning at a high level. Sometimes, people do stupid things because they just haven't been trained, and it's not entirely their fault.
When servants do stupid things, or they are a little lazy, or openly rebellious, it will often lead masters to discipline their servants (1 Peter 3:20).
Now, masters, for their part, are going to tempted at times to discipline their servants in really harsh ways. Sometimes, what a master calls "discipline," is actually just violence. It's not designed to teach, or to correct behavior. It's just done to vent frustration and anger. Do something incredibly stupid, that costs your boss a lot of money, or gets him in trouble with his boss, and your boss might want to beat the tar out of you. I've done more than my fair share of stupid things at work. But one time at work, 12 years ago, I made a series of bad decisions, deliberately, willfully not following the "methods" at work. I combined this with forgetfulness, and absentmindedness, and I ended up upsetting our second most important customer. It was bad. When my boss got the call from our customer, he couldn't believe what I had done. I can still see his red face, and the vein bulging out on his forehead.
All of this is just how life works. Servants sin. Masters sin.
If we view the laws on servitude as a whole, we see that they are designed to curb sinful behaviors by both servants, and masters.
As a Israelite servant, you work for your master knowing that the law "allows" your master to discipline you physically. My guess is that most masters will rarely use this right. A good boss will find better ways to correct behavior, and motivate employees. But in the OT, this option is something the master keeps in his back pocket. It's always there. Kind of like how today, employees always know that their boss has the right to fire them. And so, if you're smart, you treat your boss with respect, and a little fear, and you work as directed (Ephesians 6:5).
If you're a master, you understand that there is a sense in which your servant is your property. You have the right to a return on your investment. You have the right to expect your servant to work as directed. You have the right to discipline them, when they don't.
But all of that said, there's a sense in which your servant is not your property. He is your wealth, not your property.
So if you're the kind of boss who rules through fear, and intimidation, and threats, you should be careful. If your servant dies shortly after you beat him, you'll get killed. And if you discipline harshly, with violence, a little carelessly, your servant will go free, and you will be hurt financially.
So a wise master, keeping these laws in mind, will be careful about how he disciplines. When your servant does something incredibly stupid, or lazy-- or something that costs you thousands of dollars-- you should keep your temper in check. You should think, before you act. You should carefully decide how you respond. Your servant is your "wealth," and you need to act in a way that protects your wealth. You need to decide if you really need to pick up the rod, or if maybe there's a better approach.
Now, if we add in the NT, does anything change? Let's turn to Ephesians 6:5-8:
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
In Christ, through the power of the Spirit, slaves can live toward their masters, in a way that conquers Sin. You can be a great worker, obeying your master like you obey Jesus. You might have a rotten earthly master, but you can work hard anyway, knowing that God will reward you for any good you do. God sees when you have a rotten boss-- a tough boss-- and He will reward you for living the right way.
In Christ, it's possible to be a great employee.
Now, let's read verse 9:
9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
What does it mean, to treat your slaves "in the same way"? Or, more literally, "the same things do to them?" ["same things" is focused in the Greek]
Paul's words are radically counter-cultural. They don't conform at all to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:1; this is partly from Michael J. Gorman's Romans commentary on Rom. 12, which I'm trying to wrap my brain around). Paul says slaves should serve their masters by doing good to them, right? Paul then says, masters should treat their slaves in the same way. They should serve their slaves by doing good to them.
And Paul says, verse 8, that any good a master does to his servants, the "Lord/Master" (kurios is the same word for "masters" of slaves) Jesus will reward him for. Our master, Jesus, rewards all people for the good they do, whether they are free or slave.
The company I work for is well-known for its high expectations. You work hard. You work long hours. You get it done. And if you can't hack it, especially in your first 30 days, they will tell you that this job isn't working out for you, and let you go.
I very recently had a coworker die tragically at work. And as long as I work at [my place of employment], there will always be a hole there. Ross will always missed. In the week this happened, my (many) bosses showed us great kindness, and understanding. Every day, the work has to get done. Nothing can just be dropped. But they made it possible for all of us to go to his funeral, bringing in employees from across ND to fill in for us. They've brought in grief counselors. They've encouraged us, that if we fall apart a little bit and just need to grieve, to take an extra break. They've catered meals, morning and night.
I'm sure our productivity numbers have absolutely tanked over the past week. For many of us, it's been just one foot in front of the other, one stop at a time, for over a week. You get it done, and fight through the grief. And during this time, our bosses have shown us nothing but compassion, and kindness, even though they are grieving as well. In Paul's words, they've "done good" to us, and the Lord Jesus will reward them for how they've treated us.
In Christ, it's possible to be a great boss.
Now, the interesting thing about Paul's words, is the way that he calls bosses to a higher standard than the OT does. The OT laws answer the question, "How bad of a boss can you be?" They put limits on how violently you can treat servants, and still keep "possession" of them.
In the OT, it's assumed that sometimes you will strike your servant with a rod. The OT doesn't COMMAND you to strike your servants. It assumes, that sometimes you will (again, maybe Matthew 19:8?).
But when we read Ephesians, we can see that Paul is answering the question, "How can you be a great boss?" Paul says that if you're a master, don't threaten your slaves. There's a better way to manage your employees, and do good to them. There's a way to be a great boss, and motivate people to work hard, and correct bad behavior, without using the rod. Without even threatening them.
In Christ, there's a better way to run a company.
I've had masters who enjoy disciplining their employees. If they catch you doing something wrong, or working a little less hard than you should for a single minute, it makes their day.
Those are the kinds of bosses who get quick, immediate improvements in productivity. They assume you are lazy, and dishonest, and trying to work the system. They view their job, basically, as trying to catch you leaning on your shovel.
But over time, this type of managing causes resentment, and bitterness. We see this with sports franchises all the time. Hard-nosed, no-nonsense coaches can improve a team's record for a year or two. But they rarely last more than five years, and they quickly wear out their welcome. Everyone starts to dread coming to work. They work in fear of making a mistake, and getting disciplined. And inevitably, your actual work suffers in that environment. A football team that was 11-5 the first year of a new coach, is 7-9 in year five. Players play tight. They fear making mistakes. And they start to play poorly.
The better coaches, and bosses, manage their employees in a way that creates trust, and loyalty. They will model hard work. They won't ask employees to do something, they won't themselves do. They will treat their employees with dignity, and respect. They show grace to their employees when they have sick kids, or a flooding basement. They find a way to make it work, when an employee wants to go to someone's funeral.
When management "does good" to its employees in their time of need, and treats them with respect, and dignity, employees will respond by being loyal, and by working hard. At least, that's what Paul seems to think.
In Christ, it's possible to be a great boss.
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And the interesting thing about this, is that the OT is completely open to all of this. The OT places limits on how poorly masters can treat servants. Paul doesn't contradict the OT. Paul points us to a path that "fulfills" the law, by explaining what masters should do.
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A thought I'm not going to share, but thinking about:
Now, we could maybe ask ourselves, if there is a better way to boss in Christ, without the rod or threat, is there also a better way to parent? I'm not sure. What I want to say, at a minimum, is that my children are my wealth, and I discipline no more than necessary, and no harder than necessary. The goal is correction, not punishment.
Translation:
(20) and if a man strikes his male servant or female servant with the rod,
and he/she dies under his hand, he/she shall surely be avenged.
(21) However, if a day or two days he stands, he/she shall not be avenged,
because his money/purchase (literally: his silver), he/she is,
(22) and if men are fighting,
and they hit a pregnant woman,
and her children come out,
and there isn't bodily injury,
he shall surely be fined,
according to what the husband of the woman sets/imposes for him,
and he shall give in accordance with the judges/judgments,
(23) and if bodily injury, there is, you shall give life in place of life, eye in place of eye, tooth in place of tooth, hand in place of hand, foot in place of foot, burn/scar in place of burn/scar, wound in place of wound, bruise in place of bruise,
(26) and if a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant, and he destroys it, as a free person he shall release him/her in place of his eye,
(27) and if the tooth of his male servant or the tooth if his slave woman he causes to fall out, as the free he shall release him in place of his tooth,
