Slaves & Personal Injury (Exodus 21)

How do modern laws regarding debt, prisons, prisoners of war and personal injury compare with those that God gave to ancient Israel? Rather than being locked up for years, is the opportunity to work off a sentence a much more humane solution? Are there legitimate forms of slavery like paying back a debt, a form of welfare for the poor, punishment for crimes, and prisoners of war? Let’s look at Exodus 21.

Was there a time limit involved in the number of years that one would serve as a slave?

Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall leave as a free man without a payment to you. If he comes alone, he shall leave alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall leave with him. (Exodus 21:1-3 NASB)

Could a man choose to remain a slave, perhaps for love of a good master or for welfare purposes?

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. (Exodus 21:4-6 NIV)

If a daughter voluntarily contracts as a slave, perhaps to help pay off family debts, was the owner obligated to treat her well? What if she married a member of the family?

When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not satisfy her owner, he must allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. But if the slave’s owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave but as a daughter. (Exodus 21:7-9 NLT)

What if the son marries another wife, was he to treat her fairly?

If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money. (Exodus 21:10-11 WEB)

How was murder to be handled under the old covenant? Was capital punishment involved? What about violence towards parents?

Anyone who hits and kills someone should be put to death. If the killing wasn’t on purpose but an accident allowed by God, then I will designate a place to which the killer can run away. But if someone plots and kills another person on purpose, you should remove the killer from my altar and put him to death. Anyone who violently hits their father or mother should be put to death. (Exodus 21:12-15 CEB)

Did kidnapping people to make them slaves incur the death penalty?

Death is the punishment for kidnapping. If you sell the person you kidnapped, or if you are caught with that person, the penalty is death. (Exodus 21:16 CEV)

What was the penalty for simply cursing a parent?

Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. (Exodus 21:17 ESV)

Is there a law regarding just compensation for injury?

When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or his fist, and the injured man does not die but is confined to bed, if he can later get up and walk around outside leaning on his staff, then the one who struck him will be exempt from punishment. Nevertheless, he must pay for his lost work time and provide for his complete recovery. (Exodus 21:18-19 HCSB)

If a man mistreated his slaves, was there justice?

If a man strikes his male or female servant with a stick and he or she dies as a direct result, the master must be punished. But if the servant survives a day or two, the master is not to be punished because the servant is his property. (Exodus 21:20-21 ISV)

Is the law of eye for an eye also about just compensation?

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:22-25 KJV)