Part 19 (2/2)
III. ”INHERITANCE AND POSSESSION.”--”_Ye shall take them as an_ INHERITANCE _for your children after you to inherit them for a possession_.” This refers to the _nations_, and not to the _individual_ servants, procured from these nations. We have already shown, that servants could not be held as a _property_-possession, and inheritance; that they became servants of their _own accord_, and were paid wages; that they were released by law from their regular labor nearly _half the days in each year_, and thoroughly _instructed_; that the servants were _protected_ in all their personal, social, and religious rights, equally with their masters, &c. Now, truly, all remaining, after these ample reservations, would be small temptation, either to the l.u.s.t of power or of lucre. What a profitable ”possession” and ”inheritance!” What if our American slaves were all placed in _just such a condition_! Alas, for that soft, melodious circ.u.mlocution, ”Our PECULIAR species of property!”
Truly, emphasis is cadence, and euphony and irony have met together!
What eager s.n.a.t.c.hes at mere words, and bald technics, irrespective of connection, principles of construction, Bible usages, or limitations of meaning by other pa.s.sages--and all to eke out such a sense as accords with existing usages and sanctifies them, thus making G.o.d pander for their l.u.s.ts. Little matter whether the meaning of the word be primary or secondary, literal or figurative, _provided_ it sustains their practices.
But let us inquire whether the words rendered ”inherit” and ”inheritance,” when used in the Old Testament, necessarily point out the things inherited and possessed as _articles of property_. _Nahal_ and _Nahala_--_inherit_ and _inheritance_. See 2 Chronicles x. 16. ”The people answered the king and said, What portion have we in David, and we have none _inheritance_ in the son of Jesse.” Did they mean gravely to disclaim the holding of their king as an article of _property?_ Psalms cxxvii. 3--”Lo, children are an _heritage_ (inheritance) of the Lord.”
Exodus x.x.xiv. 9--”Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine _inheritance_.” When G.o.d pardons his enemies, and adopts them as his children, does he make them _articles of property?_ Are forgiveness, and chattel-making, synonymes? Psalms cxix. 111--”Thy testimonies have I taken as a _heritage_ (inheritance) forever.” Ezekiel xliv. 27, 28--”And in the day that he goeth into the sanctuary, unto the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin-offering, saith the Lord G.o.d. And it shall be unto them for an _inheritance_; _I_ am their _inheritance_.” Psalms ii. 8--”Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine _inheritance_.” Psalms xciv. 14--”For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his _inheritance_.” See also Deuteronomy iv. 20; Joshua xiii. 33; Chronicles x. 16; Psalms lx.x.xii. 8, and lxxviii. 62, 71; Proverbs xiv. 8.
The question whether the servants were a PROPERTY--”_possession_,” has been already discussed--(See p. 36)--we need add in this place but a word. _Ahusa_ rendered ”_possession_.” Genesis xlii. 11--”And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a _possession_ in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.”
In what sense was the land of Goshen the _possession_ of the Israelites?
Answer, In the sense of, _having it to live in_. In what sense were the Israelites to _possess_ these nations, and _take them_ as an _inheritance for their children?_ We answer, They possessed them as _a permanent source of supply for domestic or household servants. And this relation to these nations was to go down to posterity as a standing regulation--a national usage respecting them, having the certainty and regularity of a descent by inheritance_. The sense of the whole regulation may be given thus: ”Thy permanent domestics, both male and female, which thou shalt have, shall be of the nations that are round about you, of _them_ shall ye get male and female domestics.” ”Moreover of the children of the foreigners that do sojourn among you, of _them_ shall ye get, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land, and _they_ shall be your permanent resource,” (for household servants.) ”And ye shall take them as a _perpetual_ provision for your children after you, to hold as a _constant source of supply_.
ALWAYS _of them_ shall ye serve yourselves.”
OBJECTION IV. ”_If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a_ BOND-SERVANT, _but as an_ HIRED-SERVANT, _and as a sojourner shall he be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee_.” Lev. xxv.
39, 40.
From the fact that only _one_ cla.s.s of the servants is called _hired_, it is sagely inferred that servants of the _other_ cla.s.s were _not paid_ for their labor. That is, that while G.o.d thundered anathemas against those who ”used their neighbor's service _without wages_,” he granted a special indulgence to his chosen people to seize persons, force them to work, and rob them of earnings, provided always, in selecting their victims, they spared ”the gentlemen of property and standing,” and pounced only upon the _strangers_ and the _common_ people. The inference that ”_hired_” is synonimous with _paid_, and that those servants not _called_ ”hired” were _not paid_ for their labor, is a _mere a.s.sumption_.
The meaning of the English verb _to hire_, is, as every one knows, to procure for a temporary use at a curtain price--to engage a person to _temporary_ service for wages. That is also the meaning of the Hebrew word ”_Saukar_.” _Temporary_ service, and generally for a _specific_ object, is inseparable from its meaning. It is never used when the procurement of _permanent_ service, for a long period, is spoken of.
Now, we ask, would _permanent_ servants, those who const.i.tuted an integral and stationary part of the family, have been designated by the same term that marks _temporary_ servants? The every-day distinctions made on this subject, are as familiar as table-talk. In many families, the domestics perform only such labor, as every day brings along with it--the _regular_ work. Whatever is _occasional_ merely, as the was.h.i.+ng of a family, is done by persons _hired expressly for the purpose_. In such families, the familiar distinction between the two cla.s.ses, is ”servants,” or ”domestics,” and ”hired help,” (not _paid_ help.) _Both_ cla.s.ses are _paid_. One is permanent, the other occasional and temporary, and therefore in this case called ”_hired_.” To suppose a servant robbed of his earnings, because when spoken of, he is not called a _hired_ servant, is profound induction! If I employ a man at twelve dollars a month to work my farm, he is my _”hired”_ man, but if, instead of giving him so much a month, I _give him such a portion of the crop_, or in other words, if he works my farm _”on shares,”_ he is no longer my _hired_ man. Every farmer knows that _that_ designation is not applied to him. Yet he works the same farm, in the same way, at the same times, and with the same teams and tools; and does the same amount of work in the year, and perhaps clears twenty dollars a month, instead of the twelve, paid him while he was my _hired_ laborer. Now, as the technic _”hired”_ is no longer used to designate him, and as he still labors on my farm, suppose my neighbors gather in conclave, and from such ample premises sagely infer, that since he is no longer my _”hired”_ laborer, I _rob_ him of his earnings, and with all the gravity of owls, they record their decision, and adjourn to hoot it abroad. My neighbors are deep divers!--like some theological professors, they not only go to the bottom, but come up covered with the tokens.
A variety of particulars are recorded in the Bible, distinguis.h.i.+ng _hired_ from _bought_ servants. (1.) Hired servants were paid daily at the close of their work. Lev. xix 13; Deut. xxiv. 14, 15; Job. vii. 2; Matt. xx. 8. _”Bought”_ servants were paid in advance, (a reason for their being called, _bought_,) and those that went out at the seventh year received a _gratuity_ at the close of their period of service.
Deut. xv. 12-13. (2.) The hired servant was paid _in money_, the bought servant received his _gratuity_, at least, in grain, cattle, and the product of the vintage. Deut. xiv. 17. (3.) The _hired_ servant _lived by himself_, in his own family. The _bought_ servant was a part of his master's family. (4.) The _hired_ servant supported his family out of his wages; the _bought_ servant and his family, were supported by the master _besides_ his wages.
A careful investigation of the condition of ”_hired_” and of ”_bought_”
servants, shows that the latter were, _as a cla.s.s, superior to the former_--were more trust-worthy, had greater privileges, and occupied in every respect (_other_ things being equal) a higher station in society.
(1.) _They were intimately incorporated with the family of the master_.
They were guests at family festivals, and social solemnities, from which hired servants were excluded. Lev. xxii. 10; Exod. xii. 43, 45. (2) _Their interests were far more identified with the general interests of their masters' family._ Bought servants were often actually, or prospectively, heirs of their master's estate. Witness the case of Eliezer, of Ziba, of the sons of Bilhah, and Zilpah, and others. When there were no sons to inherit the estate, or when, by unworthiness, they had forfeited their t.i.tle, bought servants were made heirs. Proverbs xvii. 2. We find traces of this usage in the New Testament. ”But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, this is the _heir_, come let us kill him, _that the inheritance may be ours_.”
Luke xx. 14; also Mark xii. 7. In no instance on Bible record, does a _hired_ servant inherit his master's estate. (3.) _Marriages took place between servants and their master's daughters_. ”Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters: and Sheshan had a _servant_, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife.” 1 Chron. ii. 34, 35. There is no instance of a _hired_ servant forming such an alliance.
(4.) _Bought servants and their descendants seem to have been regarded with the same affection and respect as the other members of the family[A]._ The treatment of Eliezer, and the other servants in the family of Abraham, Gen. chap. 25--the intercourse between Gideon and his servant Phurah, Judges vii. 10, 11. and Saul and his servant, in their interview with Samuel, 1 Sam. ix. 5, 22; and Jonathan and his servant, 1 Sam. xiv. 1-14, and Elisha and his servant Gehazi, are ill.u.s.trations. No such tie seems to have existed between _hired_ servants and their masters. Their untrustworthiness seems to have been proverbial. See John ix. 12, 13.
None but the _lowest cla.s.s_ seem to have engaged as hired servants. No instance occurs in which they are a.s.signed to business demanding much knowledge or skill. Various pa.s.sages show the low repute and trifling character of the cla.s.s from which they were hired. Judges ix. 4; 1 Sam.
ii. 5.
The superior condition and privileges of bought servants, are manifested in the high trusts confided to them, and in the dignity and authority with which they were clothed in their master's household. But in no instance is a _hired_ servant thus distinguished. In some cases, the _bought_ servant is manifestly the master's representative in the family--with plenipotentiary powers over adult children, even negotiating marriage for them. Abraham besought Eliezer his servant, to take a solemn oath, that HE would not take a wife for Isaac of the daughters of the Canaanites, but from Abraham's kindred. The servant went accordingly, and _himself_ selected the individual. Servants also exercised discretionary power in the management of their master's estate, ”And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his master, _for all the goods of his master were under his hand_.” Gen. xxiv. 10.
The reason a.s.signed for taking them, is not that such was Abraham's direction, but that the servant had discretionary control. Servants had also discretionary power in the _disposal of property_. See Gen. xxiv.
22, 23, 53. The condition of Ziba in the house of Mephiboseth, is a case in point. So is Prov. xvii. 2. Distinct traces of this estimation are to be found in the New Testament, Math. xxiv. 45; Luke xii. 42, 44. So in the parable of the talents; the master seems to have set up each of his servants in trade with considerable capital. One of them could not have had less than eight thousand dollars. The parable of the unjust steward is another ill.u.s.tration. Luke xvi. 4, 8. He evidently was entrusted with large _discretionary_ power, was ”accused of wasting his master's goods.” and manifestly regulated with his master's debtors, the _terms_ of settlement. Such trusts were never reposed in _hired_ servants.
The inferior condition of _hired_ servants, is ill.u.s.trated in the parable of the prodigal son. When the prodigal, peris.h.i.+ng with hunger among the swine and husks, came to himself, his proud heart broke; ”I will arise,” he cried, ”and go to my father.” And then to a.s.sure his father of the depth of his humility, resolved to add imploringly, ”Make me as one of thy _hired_ servants.” It need not be remarked, that if _hired_ servants were the _superior_ cla.s.s; to apply for the situation, and press the suit, savored little of that sense of unworthiness that seeks the dust with hidden face, and cries ”unclean.” Unhumbled nature _climbs_; or if it falls, clings fast, where first it may. Humility sinks of its own weight, and in the lowest deep, digs lower. The design of the parable was to ill.u.s.trate on the one hand, the joy of G.o.d, as he beholds afar off, the returning sinner ”seeking an injured father's face” who runs to clasp and bless him with an unchiding welcome; and on the other, the contrition of the penitent, turning homeward with tears, from his wanderings, his stricken spirit breaking with its ill-desert, he sobs aloud, ”The lowest place, _the lowest place_, I can abide no other.” Or in those inimitable words, ”_Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight, and no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy_ HIRED _servants_.” The supposition that _hired_ servants were the _highest_ cla.s.s, takes from the parable an element of winning beauty and pathos. It is manifest to every careful student of the Bible, that _one_ cla.s.s of servants, was on terms of equality with the children and other members of the family. (Hence the force of Paul's declaration, Gal. iv. 1, _”Now I say unto you, that the heir, so long as he is a child,_ DIFFERETH NOTHING FROM A SERVANT, _though he be lord of all.”_) If this were the _hired_ cla.s.s, the prodigal was a sorry specimen of humility. Would our Lord have put such language, into the lips of one held up by himself, as a model of gospel humility, to ill.u.s.trate its lowliness, its conscious dest.i.tution of all merit, and deep sense of all ill desert? If this is _humility_, put it on stilts, and set it a strutting, while pride takes lessons, and blunders in apeing it.
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