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it was to be expected that it would be abused by some, but laws were formulated which
protected the lot of the individual, and behind it all was the reminder:
"And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt . . . . ."
(Deut. 15: 15).
Bishop Lightfoot's remarks are here much to the point:
"Considering the conditions of ancient society, and more especially of ancient
warfare, slavery as practiced among the Hebrews was probably an escape from
alternatives which would have involved a far greater amount of human misery."
(Epistle to Philemon).
The writer has of course in mind here the bondage of foreigners to the Hebrews, but
the system of servitude covered also the Hebrews themselves and was in many cases a
blessing in disguise as will be seen.
Slavery, of the sort practiced by ships' crews who carried off savages to be sold in
some distant land, men-stealing in fact, was condemned outright under the Mosaic law:
"He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely
be put to death" (Exod. 21: 16).
Paul was well aware of this aspect of O.T. law:
". . . . . . . the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly . . . . . for men-stealers" (I Tim. 1: 9, 10).
Theft of property must be atoned for by restitution. Sometimes this would mean
paying double (Exod. 22: 9), quadruple or even quintuple restitution (Exod. 22: 1), but
a man-stealer must forfeit his life. Such was the sanctity of human life under the Mosaic
law.
A person could be sold into servitude if, having stolen and been caught, he was unable
to make restitution:
"If a man steal . . . . . he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall
be sold for this theft" (Exod. 22: 1-3).
This is surely a much better system than one in which the thief is kept at the expense
of the State in prison, when there is very often no thought of restitution being made to
the one stolen from. Perhaps the idea of restitution being demanded two, four or even
five-fold, would provide a more effective deterrent to would-be thieves, than a short
prison sentence, at the end of which the prisoner is freed to enjoy, after a suitable period
of waiting, the fruits of his robbery, which had been carefully hidden before his capture.
There is surely nothing inhumane in the above law, except to those modernists who
refuse to accept that a man may be responsible for his actions.
A further reason for servitude under the Mosaic law is stated in Lev. 25: 39: