Indentured Servants

Indentured Servants

Indentured servitude has its roots in the Law of God.

Exodus 21:2-6

“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

Deuteronomy 15:12-18

“‘If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. But if he says to you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired servant he has served you six years. So the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do.’”

Let’s notice a few things about slavery in ancient Israel which are hinted at in this text. First, one could sell himself into slavery, if he were a member of the nation of Israel and had fallen on hard times. But that term of slavery was limited, much like the institution of indentured servitude by which many people made their way to the New World during the colonial period of American history.

Second, conditions in such an arrangement could be so favorable that a man might choose to remain in this condition once his term was up. He could marry and have a family. He could accumulate property. He might even grow to love his master. If he wished to remain, and his master allowed him to do so, he was given a mark to indicate to all concerned that his situation had changed and that he willingly was continuing in servitude to his master.

If he did choose to go out as a free man after the six years of service, however, he was to be furnished amply by his master, so that he could make a good start in life.

Again, the motivation for this institution of mutual service and love was the memory of what it was like to be a slave in Egypt. Israelites must not foist such conditions upon one another, or anyone else.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.