Slave: 5 definitions

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In Christianity
1. General definition
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Introduction:

Slave means something in Christianity. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. On this page you will also find search and cross-referencing tools.

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In Christianity

General definition (in Christianity)

Source: archive.org: Easton's Bible Dictionary

Slave definition and references: Jeremiah 2:14 (A.V.), but not there found in the original. In Revelation 18:13 the word “slaves” is the rendering of a Greek word meaning “bodies.” The Hebrew and Greek words for slave are usually rendered simply “servant,” “bondman,” or “bondservant.” Slavery as it existed under the Mosaic law has no modern parallel. That law did not originate but only regulated the already existing custom of slavery (Exodus 21:20, 21, 26, 27; Leviticus 25:44-46; Joshua 9:6-27). The gospel in its spirit and genius is hostile to slavery in every form, which under its influence is gradually disappearing from among men.

Source: archive.org: Smith's Bible Dictionary

Slave refers to:—The institution of slavery was recognized, though not established, by the Mosaic law with a view to mitigate its hardship and to secure to every man his ordinary rights. I. Hebrew slaves.—

1) The circumstances under which a Hebrew might be reduced to servitude were— (1) poverty; (2) the commission of theft; and (3) the exercise of paternal authority. In the first case, a man who had mortgaged his property, and was unable to support his family, might sell himself to another Hebrew, with a view both to obtain maintenance and perchance a surplus sufficient to redeem his property. (Leviticus 25:25,39) (2) The commission of theft rendered a person liable to servitude whenever restitution could not be made on the scale prescribed by the law. (Exodus 22:1,3) The thief was bound to work out the value of his restitution money in the service of him on whom the theft had been committed. (3) The exercise of paternal authority was limited to the sale of a daughter of tender age to be a maidservant, with the ulterior view of her becoming the concubine of the purchaser. (Exodus 21:7)

2) The servitude of a Hebrew might be terminated in three ways: (1) by the satisfaction or the remission of all claims against him; (2) by the recurrence of the year of jubilee, (Leviticus 25:40) and (3) the expiration of six years from the time that his servitude commenced. (Exodus 21:2; 15:12) (4) To the above modes of obtaining liberty the rabbinists added, as a fourth, the death of the master without leaving a son, there being no power of claiming the salve on the part of any heir except a son. If a servant did not desire to avail himself of the opportunity of leaving his service, he was to signify his intention in a formal manner before the judges (or more exactly at the place of judgment), and then the master was to take him to the door-post, and to bore his ear through with an awl, (Exodus 21:6) driving the awl into or “unto the door,” as stated in (15:17) and thus fixing the servant to it. A servant who had submitted to this operation remained, according to the words of the law, a servant “forever.” (Exodus 21:6) These words are however, interpreted by Josephus and by the rabbinsts as meaning until the year of jubilee.

3) The condition of a Hebrew servant was by no means intolerable. His master was admonished to treat him, not “as a bond-servant, but as an hired servant and as a sojourner,” and, again, “not to rule over him with rigor.” (Leviticus 25:39,40,43) At the termination of his servitude the master was enjoined not to “let him go away empty,” but to remunerate him liberally out of his flock, his floor and his wine-press. (15:13,14) In the event of a Hebrew becoming the servant of a “stranger,” meaning a non-Hebrew, the servitude could be terminated only in two ways, viz. by the arrival of the year of jubilee, or by the repayment to the master of the purchase money paid for the servant, after deducting a sum for the value of his services proportioned to the length of his servitude. (Leviticus 25:47-55) A Hebrew woman might enter into voluntary servitude on the score of poverty, and in this case she was entitled to her freedom after six years service, together with her usual gratuity at leaving, just as in the case of a man. (15:12,13) Thus far we have seen little that is objectionable in the condition of Hebrew servants. In respect to marriage there were some peculiarities which, to our ideas, would be regarded as hardships. A master might, for instance, give a wife to a Hebrew servant for the time of his servitude, the wife being in this case, it must be remarked, not only a slave but a non-Hebrew. Should he leave when his term had expired, his wife and children would remain the absolute property of the master. (Exodus 21:4,5) Again, a father might sell his young daughter to a Hebrew, with a view either of marrying her himself or of giving her to his son. (Exodus 21:7-9) It diminishes the apparent harshness of this proceeding if we look on the purchase money as in the light of a dowry given, as was not unusual, to the parents of the bride; still more, if we accept the rabbinical view that the consent of the maid was required before the marriage could take place. The position of a maiden thus sold by her father was subject to the following regulations: (1) She could not “go out as the men-servants do,” i.e. she could not leave at the termination of six years, or in the year of jubilee, if her master was willing to fulfill the object for which he had purchased her. (2) Should he not wish to marry her, he should call upon her friends to procure her release by the repayment of the purchase money. (3) If he betrothed her to his son, he was bound to make such provision for her as he would for one of his own daughters. (4) If either he or his son, having married her, took a second wife, it should not be to the prejudice of the first. (5) If neither of the three first specified alternatives took place, the maid was entitled to immediate and gratuitous liberty. (Exodus 21:7-11) The custom of reducing Hebrews to servitude appears to have fallen into disuse subsequent to the Babylonish captivity. Vast numbers of Hebrews were reduced to slavery as war-captives at different periods by the Phoenicians, (Joel 3:6) the Philistines, (Joel 3:6; Amos 1:6), the Syrians, 1 Maccabees 3:42; 2 Maccabees 8:11, the Egyptians, Joseph Ant. xii. 2,3, and above all by the Romans. Joseph. B.C. vi. 9,3. II. Non-Hebrew slaves.—

4) The majority of non-Hebrew slaves were war-captives, either of the Canaanites who had survived the general extermination of their race under Joshua or such as were conquered from the other surrounding nations. (Numbers 31:26) ff. Besides these, many were obtained by purchase from foreign slave-dealers, (Leviticus 25:44,45) and others may have been resident foreigners who were reduced to this state by either poverty or crime. The children of slaves remained slaves, being the class described as “born in the house,” (Genesis 14:14; 17:12; Ecclesiastes 2:7) and hence the number was likely to increase as time went on. The average value of a slave appears to have been thirty shekels. (Exodus 21:32)

5) That the slave might be manumitted appears from (Exodus 21:26,27; Leviticus 19:20)

6) The slave is described as the “possession” of his master, apparently with a special reference to the power which the latter had of disposing of him to his heirs, as he would any other article of personal property. (Leviticus 25:45,46) But, on the other hand, provision was made for the protection of his person. (Exodus 21:20; Leviticus 24:17,22) A minor personal injury, such as the loss of an eye or a tooth, was to be recompensed by giving the servant his liberty. (Exodus 21:26,27) The position of the slave in regard to religious privileges was favorable. He was to be circumcised, (Genesis 17:12) and hence was entitled to partake of the paschal sacrifice, (Exodus 12:44) as well as of the other religious festivals. (12:12,18; 16:11,14) The occupations of slaves were of a menial character, as implied in (Leviticus 25:39) consisting partly in the work of the house and partly in personal attendance on the master. It will be seen that the whole tendency of the Bible legislation was to mitigate slavery, making it little than hired service, and to abolish it, as indeed it was practically abolished among the Jews six hundred years before Christ.

Source: archive.org: Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature

Slave refers to:—Slave (Auth. Eng. Version, servant and bondman). It is difficult to trace the origin of slavery. It may have existed before the deluge, when violence filled the earth, and drew upon it the vengeance of God. But the first direct reference to slavery, or rather slave-trading, in the Bible, is found in the history of Joseph, who was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelites. In , we find a reference to the slave-trade carried on with Tyre by Javan, Tubal, and Meshech. And in the Apocalypse we find enumerated in the merchandise of the mystic Babylon, slaves and the souls of men.

The sacred historians refer to various kinds of bondage:—

1. Patriarchal Servitude—The exact nature of this service cannot be defined: there can be no doubt, however, that it was regulated by principles of justice, equity, and kindness. The servants of the patriarchs were of two kinds, those 'born in the house,' and those 'bought with money'. The servants born in the house were perhaps entitled to greater privileges than the others. Eliezer of Damascus, a home-born servant, was Abraham's steward, and, in default of issue, would have been his heir.

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Source: archive.org: Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Slave refers to:—Hired service was little known anciently; slavery was the common form of service. But among the Hebrew the bond service was of a mild and equitable character; so much so that ebed , "servant," is not restricted to the bond servant, but applies to higher relations, as, e.,g., the king's prime minister, a rich man's steward, as Eliezer (Genesis 15:2; Genesis 24:2), God's servant (Daniel 9:17). Bond service was not introduced by Moses, but being found in existence was regulated by laws mitigating its evils and restricting its duration. Man stealing was a capital crime (Deuteronomy 24:7); not only stealing Israelites, but people of other nations (Exodus 21:16). The Mosaic law jealously guarded human life and liberty as sacred. Masters must treat Hebrew servants as hired servants, not with rigour, but with courteous considerateness as brethren, and liberally remunerate them at the close of their service (Deuteronomy 15:12-18; Leviticus 25:39-41). Exodus 21:2 provided that no Israelite bound to service could be forced to continue in it more than six years.

Leviticus supplements this by giving every Hebrew the right to claim freedom for himself and family in the Jubilee year, without respect to period of service, and to recover his land. This was a cheek on the oppression of the rich (Jeremiah 34:8-17). Property in foreign slaves might be handed down from father to son, so too the children born in the house (Genesis 14:14; Genesis 17:12). Some were war captives (Numbers 31:6-7; Numbers 31:9; Deuteronomy 20:14); but Israelites must not reduce to bondage Israelites taken in war (2 Chronicles 28:8-15). The monuments give many illustrations of the state of the Israelites themselves reduced to bondage by foreign kings to whom they were delivered for their rebellion. Others were enslaved for crime (Exodus 22:3, like our penal servitude), or bought from foreign slave dealers (Leviticus 25:44), so they were his property (Exodus 21:21). The price was about 30 or 40 shekels (Exodus 21:32; Leviticus 27:3-4; Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 26:15).

The slave was encouraged to become a "proselyte" (doulos ) (Exodus 12:44).

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Source: archive.org: Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Slave refers to:—The Heb. ‘ebhedh , usually tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘servant,’ has a variety of meanings, between which it is not always easy to distinguish. E.g. in 2 Samuel 9:2 ‘servant’ = retainer, in 2 Samuel 9:10 b = bondman, in 2 Samuel 9:11 = a polite expression of self-depreciation (cf. 2 Kings 4:1 and 1 Kings 9:22 ). In a discussion of Hebrew slavery only those passages will be dealt with in which the word probably has the sense of bondage.

1. Legally the slave was a chattel . In the earliest code (Book of the Covenant [= BC]) he is called his master’s money ( Exodus 21:21 ). In the Decalogue he is grouped with the cattle ( Exodus 20:17 ), and so regularly in the patriarchal narratives ( Genesis 12:16 etc.). Even those laws which sought to protect the slave witness to his degraded position. In the BC the master is not punished for inflicting even a fatal flogging upon his slave, unless death follows immediately. If the slave lingers a day or two before dying, the master is given the benefit of the doubt as to the cause of his death, and the loss of the slave is regarded as a sufficient punishment ( Exodus 21:21 ). The jus talionis was not applicable to the slave as it was to the freeman (cf. Exodus 21:26 ff. with Exodus 21:22 ff.); and it is the master of the slave, not the slave himself, who is recompensed if the slave is gored by an ox ( Exodus 21:32 ). In these last two instances BC follows the Code of Hammurabi [= CH] (Â§Â§ 196 199, 252).

In practice the slave as a chattel was often subject to ill usage.

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Relevant text

Search found 323 books and stories containing Slave, The slave, Slaves; (plurals include: Slaves, The slaves, Slaveses). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:

Chapter 3.6c - Slavery in India < [Chapter 3 - The Social Aspect Depicted in the Vyavahārādhyāya]

Chapter 5.12 - Laws Relating to Breach of Contract of Service < [Chapter 5 - Modern Indian Laws reflected from the Vyavahārādhyāya]

Chapter 5.11 - Laws Relating to Rescission of Purchase (krītānuśaya) < [Chapter 5 - Modern Indian Laws reflected from the Vyavahārādhyāya]

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Rig Veda 4.30.14 < [Sukta 30]

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