Untitled - African American History

SLAVERY AMONG THE JEWS. XXXIX
belonged to the master, and remained with him, while
the man-servant went out by himself. 1 He was not sent
forth penniless, but was furnished " liberally out of the
flock, and out of the floor, and out of the wine-press." 2
This limitation upon the servitude of Hebrews did not,
at least under the first law, apply to Hebrew women that
had been purchased
as concubines for the master or his
son. If she ceased to please him, " then shall he let her
be redeemed." If not, food, raiment, and marriage
duty were not to be diminished ; on failure of either, she
was enfranchised. 3
The Hebrew servants consisted of those that, from
poverty, either sold themselves or their children, or were
sold for debt or crime. 4
If the Hebrew sold himself to
a stranger, he was subject to be redeemed, either at his
own instance or that of his near relatives, by paying the
of Jubilee. 5
wages of a hired servant up to the year If
his master was a Hebrew, the right of redemption does
not seem to have applied.
A marked difference was made in the law as to the
status of a Hebrew servant and one bought from the
heathen. He was not to serve as a bond-servant, but as
6
a hired servant and a sojourner. He was not to be
7
treated with rigor, but as a brother "waxen poor." He
lost, in his bondage, only his liberty, none of his civil
rights. He was still a citizen, and might acquire pro-
of his
8 own.
perty
Tiba, one of Saul's servants, pos-
sessed twenty slaves of his own. 9 In case of war, the
1 Exodus 21 : 3, 4.
2 Deut. 15 : 14.
3 Exod. 21 : 7-11.
4 Lev. 25 : 39 j 2 Kings 3 : 16-28, 4 : 1 ; Ex. 22 : 2 ; 2 Chron. 12:8;
Nek 5 : 4, 5 ; Is. 50 : 1 j Matt. 18 : 25 j Michaelis's Comm. vol. ii, 160,
et seq.
5 Lev. 25 : 42, 47-51 j 1 Kings 9 : 22 ; Neb. 5 : 5.
6 Lev. 25 : 39, 40.
8 Lev. 10 : 49 ; Priest's Bible Defence of Slavery, 139.
9 2 Sam. 9 : 10.
7 Lev. 25 : 39, 43.