{"id":42840,"date":"2018-10-25T15:06:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T12:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=42840"},"modified":"2018-10-25T15:08:30","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T12:08:30","slug":"biblical-support-of-bondage-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/biblical-support-of-bondage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Biblical Support of Bondage?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Proponents of slavery and abolitionists alike have quoted scripture to defend their positions on the institution. A passage in Exodus 21 illuminates a few biblical perspectives on slavery.<\/span><\/p>\n

If a slave-owner gives his temporary slave a wife, and they procreate, the owner keeps the wife and children when the slave leaves. However, the slave may opt to remain permanently under his owner\u2019s authority so as not to lose his family (Exod 21:2-6). In the act that formalizes the slave\u2019s term\u2019s continuance, \u201chis master shall take him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl\u201d (Exod 21:6). Commentaries are split on how to interpret this verse: is the act a punitive sentence or a symbolic ritual?<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbinic literature (see Mekhilta; Qiddushin 22b) looks to the statement that the Israelites are <\/span>God\u2019s <\/span><\/i>slaves (Leviticus 25:55) \u2013 <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> slaves of slaves (other Israelites) \u2013 in viewing this ceremony to constitute punishment for having acquired an owner. Another view contends that slavery is a punishment for theft. (Historical side-note: In the ancient Near East, rebellious slaves could be branded as punishment. Though the slave in Exodus does not rebel against his owner, perhaps the rabbis had a similar practice in mind when casting him as rebelling against God.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Others take an alternate approach that views the ceremony symbolically. Ibn Ezra and Rashbam, both medieval exegetes, interpret the piercing as a marker of slavery; the ancient Babylonian Laws of Eshnunna 51-52 similarly point to markers of slavery \u2013 like fetters, shackles, or a distinctive hairstyle \u2013 which would prevent fleeing. Meir Malul, a modern scholar, sees the door as signifying the border between what belongs inside and outside; setting the ceremony at the door symbolizes that the slave remains within the family\u2019s legal domain.<\/span><\/p>\n

A symbolic understanding of the ear-piercing ceremony is value-neutral about the social institution of slavery. In contrast, a punitive understanding suggests a negative evaluation \u2013 but of what, precisely? Does this view betray judgments of piercing (as mutilating, painful, degrading) or of slavery (that it is wrong in the eyes of God, and therefore punitive in and of itself), or perhaps of both?<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, when weighing all of the evidence \u2013 Exodus 21, other biblical passages, comparative data \u2013 against the history of interpretation, the reader should be sure to remember just how much is <\/span>not <\/span><\/i>in the text.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Biblical Support of Bondage?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Abolitionists and pro-slavery perspectives in the text","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42840"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42842,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42840\/revisions\/42842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}