How Do We Behave?

[fr0d0]

Wait what? Fair?

Yes.

Take a look at this excerpt from a lecture given by Gordon Wenham

Another area where the Old Testament law is going beyond the principles accepted in the ancient world relates to slavery. It is noticeable how the slave laws take pride of place in the book of the covenant, ie Exodus 21-23. It is as though Israel’s experience of Egyptian slavery has made her specially concerned about the plight of slaves. The laws express a concern that
slaves be treated as people not things. Provision is made for them to be released from slavery if their owner maltreats them (Exod 21:26-27). Furthermore the law insists that any Hebrew slave must be released after six years (Exod 21:2). Deuteronomy goes even further in encouraging slaves to be treated humanely. On releasing a slave after the maximum six years’ service the owner was told to ‘furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press’ (Deut 15:14). In other words the slave must be given a golden handshake when he leaves. Thus although the law accepts the age-old institution of slavery, the Bible tries to humanize it and encourages their release.
If we still feel uncomfortable with the way the Bible condones slavery, it may be pointed out that it has recently been introduced in Britain and hailed as a great humanitarian innovation.
In ancient Israel, and even to this day in poorer countries of the world, slavery is usually the consequence of debt, debt that had been incurred as a result of personal misfortune or as the result of legal damages awarded after committing an offence. Today we usually send offenders who cannot pay their fines to prison; then they become slaves. Recently, though, in
Britain it has started to dawn on us how degrading and corrupting a punishment imprisonment is, so we have community service orders. People are sentenced to do x days labour for the community instead of going to prison. This is nothing but biblical slavery under a new name.
Perhaps we may look forward to the day when the wisdom of other features of biblical penal policy will also be recognized in modern Britain.

source: http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/vo...wenham.pdf