Texts in Conversation
Exodus and Deuteronomy both require freeing a Hebrew servant after six years. Deuteronomy adds that the owner must not send the servant away empty-handed, and gives a reason Exodus does not, that Israel was once enslaved in Egypt.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 21:2
Hebrew Bible
1 “These are the ordinances that you will set before them: 2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. 3 If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.
Deuteronomy 15:12
Hebrew Bible
11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land. 12 If your fellow Hebrew—whether male or female—is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant go free. 13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 14 You must supply them generously from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress—as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today.
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Notes and References
"... It is readily apparent that Exodus 21:2–11 is taken up and reinterpreted in Deuteronomy 15:12–18. Both texts deal with the release of slaves after six years, which is the statute in both (Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12). But the ordinance in the Covenant Code is transformed from various perspectives in Deuteronomy. To begin with, it is conspicuous that the freed slave in Exodus 21 goes out empty-handed, while Deuteronomy 15 stipulates that he must be furnished with certain provisions. Why? Evidently in order that the freed slave did not immediately fall back into debt slavery, he needed an amount of seed money from which to build up his own livelihood. This aspect also determines the different formulation of the way one becomes a slave in Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12. While in Exodus 21:2–11 the “purchase” of a slave appears to take place following a typical process, the form of expression in Deuteronomy 15:12–18 (“When your brother . . . sells himself to you”) clearly indicates that the situation of debt slavery describes a state of emergency. Slavery is not a permanent institution. It is rather a necessary, but limited and temporary evil. According to Deuteronomy 15:12–18, slaves are viewed as potentially free people, while for Exodus 21:2–11 they are members of one class of people among others. ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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