Part 31 (2/2)

[Footnote A: Those who insist that the servants which the Israelites were commanded to buy of ”the heathen which were round about” them, were to be bought of _third persons_, virtually charge G.o.d with the inconsistency of recognizing and affirming the right of those very persons to freedom, upon whom, say they, he p.r.o.nounced the doom of slavery. For they tell us, that the sentence of death uttered against those heathen was commuted into slavery, which punishment G.o.d denounced against them. Now if ”the heathen round about” were doomed to slavery, the _sellers_ were doomed as well as the _sold_. Where, we ask, did the sellers get their right to sell? G.o.d by commanding the Israelites to BUY, affirmed the right of _somebody_ to _sell_, and that the _owners.h.i.+p_ of what was sold existed _somewhere_; which _right_ and owners.h.i.+p he commanded them to _recognize_ and _respect_. We repeat the question, where did the heathen _sellers_ get their right to sell, since _they_ were dispossessed of their right to _themselves_ and doomed to slavery equally with those whom they sold. Did G.o.d's decree vest in them a right to _others_ while it annulled their right to _themselves_? If, as the objector's argument a.s.sumes, one part of ”the heathen round about” were _already_ held as slaves by the other part, _such_ of course were not _doomed_ to slavery, for they were already slaves. So also, if those heathen who held them as slaves had a _right_ to hold them, which right G.o.d commanded the Israelites to _buy out_, thus requiring them to recognize _it_ as a _right_, and on no account to procure its transfer to themselves without paying to the holders an equivalent, surely, these _slaveholders_ were not doomed by G.o.d to be slaves, for according to the objector, G.o.d had himself affirmed their right _to hold others as slaves_, and commanded his people to respect it.]

We now proceed to inquire into the _condition_ of servants under the patriarchal and Mosaic systems.

I. THE RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF SERVANTS.

The leading design of the laws defining the relations of master and servant, was the good of both parties--more especially the good of the _servants_. While the master's interests were guarded from injury, those of the servants were _promoted_. These laws made a merciful provision for the poorer cla.s.ses, both of the Israelites and Strangers, not laying on burdens, but lightening them--they were a grant of _privileges_ and _favors_.

I. BUYING SERVANTS WAS REGARDED AS A KINDNESS TO THE PERSONS BOUGHT, and as establis.h.i.+ng between them and their purchasers a bond of affection and confidence. This is plain from the frequent use of it to ill.u.s.trate the love and care of G.o.d for his chosen people. Deut. x.x.xii. 6; Ex. xv.

16; Ps. lxxiv. 2; Prov. viii. 22.

II. NO STRANGER COULD JOIN THE FAMILY OF AN ISRAELITE WITHOUT BECOMING A PROSELYTE. Compliance with this condition was the _price of the privilege_. Gen. xvii. 9-14, 23, 27. In other words, to become a servant was virtually to become an Israelite.[A] In the light of this fact, look at the relation sustained by a proselyted servant to his master. Was it a sentence consigning to _punishment_, or a ticket of admission to _privileges_?

[Footnote A: The rites by which a stranger became a proselyte transformed him into a Jew. Compare 1 Chron. ii. 17, with 2 Sam. xvii.

25. In Esther viii. 17, it is said ”Many of the people of the land _became Jews_.” In the Septuagint, the pa.s.sage is thus rendered, ”Many of the heathen were circ.u.mcised and became Jews.” The intimate union and incorporation of the proselytes with the Hebrews is shown by such pa.s.sages as Isa. lvi. 6, 7, 8; Eph. ii. 11, 22; Num. x. 29-32. Calmet, Art. Proselyte, says ”They were admitted to all the prerogatives of the people of the Lord.” Mahommed doubtless borrowed from the laws and usages of the Jews, his well known regulation for admitting to all civil and religious privileges, all proselytes of whatever nation or religion.]

III. EXPULSION FROM THE FAMILY WAS THE DEPRIVATION OF A PRIVILEGE IF NOT A PUNISHMENT. When Sarah took umbrage at the conduct of Hagar and Ishmael, her servants, ”She said unto Abraham _cast out_ this bond-woman and her son.” * * And Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it unto Hagar and the child, and _sent her away_. Gen. xxi. 10, 14; in Luke xvi. 1-8, our Lord tells us of the steward or head-servant of a rich man who defrauded his master, and was, in consequence, excluded from his household. The servant antic.i.p.ating such a punishment, says, ”I am resolved what to do, that when I am _put out_ of the stewards.h.i.+p, they may receive me into their houses.” The case of Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, appears to be a similar one. He was guilty of fraud in procuring a large sum of money from Naaman, and of deliberate lying to his master, on account of which Elisha seems to have discarded him. 2 Kings v. 20-27. In this connection we may add that if a servant neglected the observance of any ceremonial rite, and was on that account excommunicated from the congregation of Israel, such excommunication excluded him also from the _family_ of an Israelite. In other words he could be a _servant_ no longer than he was an _Israelite_. To forfeit the latter _distinction_ involved the forfeiture of the former _privilege_--which proves that it _was_ a privilege.

IV. THE HEBREW SERVANT COULD COMPEL HIS MASTER TO KEEP HIM.

When the six years' contract had expired, if the servant _demanded_ it, the law _obliged_ the master to retain him permanently, however little he might need his services. Deut. xv. 12-17; Ex. xxi. 2-6. This shows that the system was framed to advance the interest and gratify the wishes of the servant quite as much as those of the master.

V. SERVANTS WERE ADMITTED INTO COVENANT WITH G.o.d. Deut. xxix. 10-13.

VI. THEY WERE GUESTS AT ALL NATIONAL AND FAMILY FESTIVALS Ex. xii.

43-44; Deut xii. 12, 18, xvi. 10-16.

VII. THEY WERE STATEDLY INSTRUCTED IN MORALITY AND RELIGION. Deut. x.x.xi.

10-13; Josh. viii. 33-35; 2 Chron. xvii. 8-9, x.x.xv. 3, and x.x.xiv. 30.

Neh. viii. 7, 8.

VIII. THEY WERE RELEASED FROM THEIR REGULAR LABOR NEARLY ONE HALF OF THE WHOLE TIME. During which they had their entire support, and the same instruction that was provided for the other members of the Hebrew community. The Law secured to them,

1. _Every seventh year;_ Lev. xxv. 3-6; thus giving to those who were servants during the entire period between the jubilees, _eight whole years_, (including the jubilee year,) of unbroken rest.

2. _Every seventh day._ This in forty-two years, the eight being subtracted from the fifty, would amount to just _six years_.

3. _The three annual festivals._ Ex. xxiii. 17, x.x.xiv. 23. The _Pa.s.sover_, which commenced on the 15th of the 1st month, and lasted seven days, Deut. xvi. 3, 8. The Pentecost, or Feast of Weeks, which began on the 6th day of the 3d month, and lasted seven days. Deut. xvi.

10, 11. The Feast of Tabernacles, which commenced on the 15th of the 7th month, and lasted eight days. Deut. xvi. 13, 15; Lev. xxiii. 34-39. As all met in one place, much time would be spent on the journey. c.u.mbered caravans move slowly. After their arrival, a day or two would be requisite for divers preparations before the celebration, besides some time at the close of it, in preparations for return. If we a.s.sign three weeks to each festival--including the time spent on the journeys, and the delays before and after the celebration, together with the _festival week_, it will be a small allowance for the cessation of their regular labor. As there were three festivals in the year, the main body of the servants would be absent from their stated employments at least _nine weeks annually_, which would amount in forty-two years, subtracting the sabbaths, to six years and eighty-four days.

4. _The new moons_. The Jewish year had twelve; Josephus says that the Jews always kept _two_ days for the new moon. See Calmet on the Jewish Calendar, and Horne's Introduction; also 1 Sam. xx, 18, 19, 27. This, in forty-two years, would be two years 280 days.

5. _The feast of trumpets_. On the first day of the seventh month, and of the civil year. Lev. xxiii. 24, 25.

6. _The atonement day_. On the tenth of the seventh month Lev. xxiii.

27.

These two feasts would consume not less than sixty-five days not reckoned above.

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