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Exodus 21 |
 Slavery
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| 21:1
Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
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| 21:2
If thou buy an Hebrew
servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out
free for nothing. |
 (21:2-6)
God's rules for buying slaves and
splitting up their families.
You can buy one, but
you must set him free on the seventh year. If
you have "given" him a wife and she bears children, then you get to
keep the wife and kids. If he refuses to leave his family when his seven years
are up, then bore a hole though his ear and keep him forever. (That sounds
fair!)
 (21:2-6, 7-8, 16, 20-21, 26-27)
Does God approve of slavery?
What the Bible says about slavery
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| 21:3
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married,
then his wife shall go out with him.
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| 21:4
If his master have
given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and
her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
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| 21:5
And if the servant
shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go
out free: |
 "Take an awl and thrust it through his ear."
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| 21:6
Then his master shall
bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the
door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall
serve him for ever.
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| 21:7
And if a man sell his
daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the
menservants do. |
How to sell your daughter -- and what to do if she fails to please her
new master.
What the Bible says about parenting
"Exodus 21:7 says it's OK to sell your daughter into slavery. Not even in Nevada." --
Penn & Teller on the Bible
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| 21:8
If she please not her
master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be
redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing
he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
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| 21:9
And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after
the manner of daughters. |
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| 21:10
If he take him another
wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not
diminish. |
God's rules for "taking another wife".
Is polygamy OK?
What the Bible says about marriage and
polygamy
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| 21:11
And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without
money.
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| 21:12
He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. |
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| 21:13
And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I
will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. |
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| 21:14
But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with
guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. |
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| 21:15
And he that smiteth
his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. |
(21:15, 17)
Kill unruly children
A child who hits or curses his parents must be executed.
Does God approve of capital punishment?
What the Bible says about children, parenting,
and capital punishment
(21:16)
Slavery is approved by God, and those who steal slaves must
be killed.
Does God approve of slavery?
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| 21:16
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his
hand, he shall surely be put to death.
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| 21:17
And he that curseth
his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
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| 21:18
And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with
his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
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| 21:19
If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote
him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him
to be thoroughly healed.
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| 21:20
And if a man smite his
servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be
surely punished. |
Slowly beating your slaves to death
It's okay with God if you slowly beat your slaves to death. After all, they are your money.
Just make sure that they survive at least a day or two after the beating.
What the Bible says about slavery and
torture
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| 21:21
Notwithstanding, if he
continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
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| 21:22
If men strive, and hurt a
woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief
follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will
lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. |
If two men fight and cause a woman to
miscarry, but do not hurt her, then the one who hurt her shall pay her husband
an amount determined by the judges. Only if the woman dies is the punishment to
be death. Apparently, then, with respect to abortion, God is pro-choice since he
considers a woman's life to be more important that that of the fetus.
What the Bible says about abortion
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| 21:23
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
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| 21:24
Eye for eye, tooth for
tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, |
"Eye for eye, tooth for tooth."
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| 21:25
Burning for burning,
wound for wound, stripe for stripe. |
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| 21:26
And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it
perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. |
(21:26-27)
It's okay to beat your slaves; even if they die you won't be punished,
just as long as they survive a day or two after the beating (see verses 21:20-21).
But avoid excessive damage to their eyes or teeth. Otherwise you may have to set them free.
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| 21:27
And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he
shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
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| 21:28
If an ox gore a man or
a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his
flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit. |
Capital punishment for animals
If an ox gores someone, "then the ox shall surely be stoned."
What the Bible says about stoning
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| 21:29
But if the ox were
wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his
owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a
woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. |
(21:29, 32)
"The ox shall be stoned, and his owner shall be put to death."
If an ox gores someone due to the negligence of its owner,
kill its owner and stone to death the ox.".
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| 21:30
If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom
of his life whatsoever is laid upon him. |
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| 21:31
Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this
judgment shall it be done unto him. |
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| 21:32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant;
he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be
stoned. |
"He shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver.
If an ox gores a slave, the owner of the ox must pay the owner of the slave 30 shekels of silver,
and "the ox shall be stoned."
Does God approve of slavery?
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| 21:33
And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover
it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
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| 21:34
The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of
them; and the dead beast shall be his. |
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| 21:35
And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the
live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide. |
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| 21:36
Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his
owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead
shall be his own. |
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"Take an awl and thrust it through his ear."