Why ‘Servants’ Instead of ‘Slaves’?
In modern English, the word ‘slave’ evokes images of chattel slavery from recent history, such as the estimated 12 million African slaves transported to plantations, the 6-8 million Europeans, Arabs, and North Africans kidnapped by the Ottomans, and the one million Europeans kidnapped by Barbary pirates.
However, the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words for ‘slave’ are actually far broader terms; they describe a much, much wider range of different situations, sometimes even meaning privileged positions.
They can refer to:
- Slaves in very harsh conditions with few rights
- Indentured servants with a limited term and good legal protections
- Household servants
- Very high-ranking officials serving a king
The words can even be figurative, referring to:
- An entirely free person who has dedicated his life to some cause
- A person addicted to some substance or behavior
- Someone who chooses to worship a deity
For this reason, in most places we say ‘servant’ instead of ‘slave’. We only use ‘slave’ when the context suggests something similar to the chattel slavery we know from recent history.
Did the Bible allow the anicent Israelites to have slaves?
Slaves? Yes. The type of slavery we saw on sugar plantations? No.
The type of ‘slavery’ permitted by the Mosaic Law was vastly different from the slavery practiced in recent history. Today, we would call it heavily regulated with human rights protections.
The Mosaic Law includes specific rules for the treatment of Hebrew ‘slaves’:
- Limited Term: Service was limited to six years, after which they were to be set free (Deuteronomy 15:12; Exodus 21:2).
- Gifts upon Release: Upon release, masters were required to provide a leaving gift of cattle, threshed grain, and wine (Deuteronomy 15:13-14).
- Voluntary Permanence: A servant could choose to remain with their master permanently out of affection, signified by a ceremony involving piercing the ear (Deuteronomy 15:16-17; Exodus 21:5-6).
- Redemption: A Hebrew servant or one of their relatives could buy them out of servitude at any point (Leviticus 25:48-49).
- Jubilee Release: Regardless of their term or choice to stay, all Hebrew servants had to be released during the Jubilee year, which occurred every 50 years. Further, if their family’s ancestral land had been sold off, it was to be returned to them so they would have a home and means of support (Leviticus 25:39-41, 54).
- Humane Treatment: Masters were explicitly commanded not to rule ruthlessly over fellow Hebrews (Leviticus 25:43, 46). If a master injured a servant, even just knocking out a tooth or damaging an eye, the servant had to be set free immediately (Exodus 21:26-27).
This legal framework resembles indentured servitude more closely than the slavery we know from recent history. However, many dishonest people will lie about this, and falsely claim that the Bible permitted the kind of horrors we saw in recent centuries on sugar plantations or from the barbary pirates.
Indeed, the Mosaic Law’s ‘slavery’ may seem quite attractive to modern ears. A person in poverty could be gain access to food, lodging, and a job at any time (a job which may even teach them a trade). Further, they could not be mistreated (and if they were, would have to be released), would never serve more than six years, and would even recive a gift of cattle, grain, and wine at the end of their term. Even many people today would be happy with that deal!
However, the Israelites did not always obey God’s Law, so we assume that these rules were ignored at times to varying degrees.
What about non-Hebrew slaves?
For non-Hebrews, perhaps foreign captives, they could be held in servitude indefinitely (Leviticus 25:44-46), although it may be that they could also purchase their freedom. The Mosaic Law does not provide many details for non-Hebrew servants, so we cannot say for certain.
However, the Law does state that they must treat the foreigners living within their land with kindness and fairness, so it would follow that some provisions for Hebrew servants would also be extended to non-Hebrews too.
Our translation of ‘servant’
For the above reasons, we translate the Greek word as ‘servant’ or ‘indentured servant’ when the context suggests the more enlightened kind of servitude present in the Mosaic Law. Sometimes the grammar best suggests ‘service’.
Only if the context suggests something similar to the chattel slavery we’re familiar with from recent history do we use the word ‘slave’.
This avoids misunderstandings and is more historically accurate.