Question: How did the Biblical (Hebrew Bible) notions of slavery affect society?
( Back )
Answer #1:
Pagans even knew that the Jews were God's people.Answer #2:
Find the answer to that and you will understand why Jewish people suffer most from extreme soul wrenching guilt. Something about a hammer, or a spear, who knows already! Just let it go for christsake. Ask an old black fella - they remember their grandparents feelings about slavery, if they mighta metum. What? Oh don't gimme that look. I offend or enlighten or amuse equally. Wow Papa types fast. Or maybe he's just a plagiarizing hack.Answer #3:
Laws governing slave-master relationships. Among the Israelites the status of the Hebrew slave differed from that of a slave who was a foreigner, alien resident, or settler. Whereas the non-Hebrew remained the property of the owner and could be passed on from father to son (Le 25:44-46), the Hebrew slave was to be released in the seventh year of his servitude or in the Jubilee year, depending upon which came first. During the time of his servitude the Hebrew slave was to be treated as a hired laborer. (Ex 21:2; Le 25:10; De 15:12) A Hebrew who sold himself into slavery to an alien resident, to a member of an alien resident’s family, or to a settler could be repurchased at any time, either by himself or by one having the right of repurchase. The redemption price was based on the number of years remaining until the Jubilee year or until the seventh year of servitude. (Le 25:47-52; De 15:12) When granting a Hebrew slave his freedom, the master was to give him a gift to assist him in getting a good start as a freedman. (De 15:13-15) If a slave had come in with a wife, the wife went out with him. However, if the master had given him a wife (evidently a foreign woman who would not be entitled to freedom in the seventh year of servitude), she and any children by her remained the property of the master. In such a case the Hebrew slave could choose to remain with his master. His ear would then be pierced with an awl to indicate that he would continue in servitude to time indefinite.—Ex 21:2-6; De 15:16, 17.Jehovah is the God of freedom. He freed the nation of Israel from bondage in Egypt. He told them that as long as they obeyed his commandments they would have freedom from want. (De 15:4, 5) David spoke of “freedom from care” within the dwelling towers of Jerusalem. (Ps 122:6, 7) However, the Law provided that in case a man became poor he could sell himself into slavery so as to provide the necessities for himself and his family. But freedom was granted by the Law to this Hebrew in the seventh year of his servitude. (Ex 21:2) In the Jubilee (occurring every 50th year), liberty was proclaimed in the land to all its inhabitants. Every Hebrew slave was freed, and each man was returned to his land inheritance.—Le 25:10-19.
It was on the tenth day of the seventh month (in the month of Tishri), on the Day of Atonement, that the horn (shoh‧phar′, or sho‧phar′, a curved, animal horn) was sounded, proclaiming liberty throughout the land. This meant freedom for the Hebrew slaves, many of whom had sold themselves because of debt. Such release normally would not come until the seventh year of servitude (Ex 21:2), but the Jubilee provided liberty even for those who had not yet served for six years. All hereditary land possessions that had been sold (usually because of financial reverses) were returned, and each man returned to his family and his ancestral possession. No family was to sink into the depths of perpetual poverty. Every family was to have its honor and respect. Even a person who squandered his substance could not forever lose his inheritance for his posterity. After all, the land was really Jehovah’s, and the Israelites themselves were alien residents and settlers from Jehovah’s standpoint. (Le 25:23, 24) If the nation kept God’s laws, then, as he said, “No one should come to be poor among you.”—Le 25:8-10, 13; De 15:4, 5.
** Powered by Yahoo Answers