Why Were Women & Foreign Slaves Treated Differently ?

Exodus 21:7-11; 20-21

After giving instructions on male slaves Moses transitions to slaves. Women in general did not have the same rights as men whether they were free or not. This was not unique to the Hebrew people. It was a universal truth in the ancient world that women were given less freedom than men. The major distinction we see with the Hebrew people is God goes to extreme measures to protect any group that is vulnerable.

In Scripture we see widows coupled with groups like the poor, the orphans, & aliens (Deut. 10:18). Women are by nature physically weaker than men and therefore easier to subdue, rob, kill, etc. Pregnancy also makes them especially vulnerable. They are slower, need more rest, get sick easier, etc. These are some of the reasons women are more vulnerable than men. As we work through the text, we will do our best to answer questions that those of us with a western mindset may have.

v. 7 It’s clear that female salves even if they were Hebrews were not required to be released after six years of servitude (8). The obvious question is why would a man sell his daughter into servitude? The answer is very simple- to ensure her a better future.

For most of history, it was not an option for women to support themselves independently. The jobs were not there.  

Most jobs were physically difficult.

There was no maternity leave

There were no daycares

Even today a single woman has a difficult time.  The poverty rate of single mothers in our country is 28 %.

Another difficult thing for us to understand is arranged marriages. However, most of the world has practiced arranged marriages for most of history. A quick study will show that this form of marriage was the most common until the 18th century.

It’s important to understand the difference between an arranged marriage and a forced marriage. The difference is obvious. In a forced marriage at least one of the people do not have a choice. That is not what we see in the Bible.

Families were very involved in choosing a spouse for their child. A father would obviously want the best for his daughter. If he came from a very poor background, he might want more for her. To ensure a better and more financially secure future he may “sell his daughter as a slave”.

That sounds terrible to us because of the connotation of the word slave.  As we walk through the text you will see that great lengths are taken to protect a woman when this happens. This was unique to the Hebrew people.

v. 8 This verse addresses a scenario that might arise. Let’s say that the master had planned on marrying the daughter. She becomes part of his household but as time passes, he realizes this is not who he wants to marry. 

He will allow the family to buy her back (Lev. 25:47-49).

He may not sell her to foreign people. These pagan groups treated women shamefully.

He bears the shame of “breaking faith” with her.

v. 9 Anther scenario- He had planned for her to marry his son. If he decides not to allow that marriage to take place he is obligated to treat her as his own daughter. This includes food, shelter, clothing and securing her with a husband.

v. 10-11 This scenario involves the master taking another woman as his wife while she is still in the household. If he does this, he cannot treat her as second class. He is to treat her in the same way as if they were married. She has all the marital rights that an actual wife has.

She will dress as well as his wife

She will eat as well as his wife

She will have all the rights his wife has.

If he does not fulfill these responsibilities, he must release her without any payment at all.

We might wonder why the family does not simply pay the man back and get their daughter. They may not have the money. Normally these situations arose because of poverty.

Laws like these made a person think twice before they took a woman as a servant. There was great responsibility put upon the man. If he did not treat her with the respect required by the law, he was forced to release her or bear great shame and even legal repercussions.

While the woman is called a slave it is clear the definition of slave is different from the one we would likely have.

She has rights.

She is protected by the law.

The servitude relationship is built in such a way to secure a better and safer future for her.

Let’s revisit the idea of women not being released after six years like men were. There is another very simple reason for this other than protection for the vulnerable. Most all women got married. At that point their husband became their master whether they were free or enslaved (1 Peter 3:6).  

v. 20 This scenario shows that corporal punishment was allowed when dealing with rebellious servants. This is another reality that is foreign to us today. In fact, corporal punishment at school is almost nonexistent. Many of us remember very well being introduced to the “board” of education. Presently corporal punishment is only legal in 17 states.

Surprisingly 80% of parents in the USA have spanked their children. There is nothing wrong with spanking children or adults.

The Hebrew Scriptures prescribed corporal punishment for crimes (Deut. 25:1-3). The answer in our society is to lock a person up in prison for years. I fail to see how that is not more barbaric than physical punishment.

While corporal punishment could be used the slave could not be abused. If any serious physical harm was done the slave was to be immediately released (26-27).

If the slave is killed by the master, then the master is put to death. The text says “avenged” but look back at 21:12. It’s clear from Scripture that the Jews were commanded to view everyone as valuable creations of God. The book of Job takes place before the Law was even written. Listen to what Job said about his own slaves:

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not One fashion us in the womb?” Job 31:15

v. 21  A provision is made to protect the master.

“if the slave survives a day or two” If it’s clear the master did not intentionally kill the slave the crime is not to be treated as a murder.

“for the slave is his money”  

Couple of points from this:

1) It’s unlikely a master would intentionally kill a slave because a dead slave was of no value to him.

2) He could legally discipline a slave using corporal punishment because the slave was a part of the master’s household.

If a slave were injured from discipline, it is most likely he would be released as well. See verses 26-27.

A question we might have is why the master would be allowed to discipline an adult in this way to begin with. The master invested in this with his own money. If a servant decided that he was not going to work, then the master was in a difficult situation. There needed to be some sort of repercussions for disobedient slaves because it cost the master money. While he was allowed to use corporal punishment, it was greatly regulated by the Word of God.

Let’s discuss the idea of foreign slaves. There are some differences in how they were treated. Turn to Leviticus 25:39-46.

Essentially Hebrew male salves could not serve more than six years as a slave. Non-Hebrew slaves could be placed in a position of servitude for life.

How were these slaves acquired?

1) Through war. Deut. 21:10-14.

War is ugly. Often those conquered and not killed were taken as slaves. Foreign women could be taken as wives. If they were, they were to be treated with great respect. If you divorced her, she had to be set free with no charge at all.

Again, we see that marriage was a way of escaping from slavery in the ancient world. Once married she was given full protection by the Law as any Israelite woman would have.

2) Through purchase.  

Lev. 25:44-45.

Slavery was everywhere. Israel was no alone in owning slaves. It was a reality in the ancient world. Whether God allowed Israel to own foreign slaves or not did not change that. What it did create was a people who were obligated to treat their slaves with dignity. The safest place for a slave was Israel.  

Of course, all the other benefits already mentioned were afforded to these slaves. The only benefit not given them was the required release after six years.

Females that were married became full citizens in Israel.

Slaves that were injured were immediately released.

Slaves were given the day off work on the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10).

Look at Deut.

3) Through inheritance

Lev. 25:46

Foreign slaves could be passed on to the next generation.

I know that some are going to say this is an example of preferring one race above another. It’s not and verse 27-28 shows that. Not only could an Israelite have a foreigner as a slave, but a foreigner could have a Hebrew as a slave as well!  

Here is another amazing point. A foreign slave could at times inherit his master’s household (Gen. 15:3 & Proverbs 17:2).  

It is true that foreigners could be kept as lifelong salves. But they were still given the full protection of the Law. Consider some commands given to Israel concerning foreigners:

You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of the sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt (Ex. 23:9).

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt…” (Lev. 19:34)

The fact is many of the groups subdued by Israel were evil. They engaged in atrocities such as child sacrifice (Lev. 18:21, Deut. 12:31). They could not be trusted in Israel. For this reason, I believe, God allowed Israel to keep certain groups of people under subjection.

Regardless of the reason that God allowed it Israel was still required to treat all people with dignity. Even foreign slaves could be quickly and totally freed from slavery. If a Hebrew took upon the stewardship of slaves, he was held to a high standard of accountability.  

In summary women and foreign slaves were treated differently than Hebrew slaves:

1) To protect them from a world that was already difficult for women.

2) To protect Israel from the influence of ungodly nations and pagan practices.