Doesn’t The Bible Support
Slavery?
Paul Taylor and Bodie Hodge
Biblical Authority Ministries, April 22, 2025 (Donate)
Introduction
The
issue of slavery usually conjures up thoughts of the harsh “race”-based slavery
that was common by Europeans toward those of African descent in the latter few
centuries. However, slavery has a much longer history and needs to be addressed
biblically.
Some
“white”
Christians have used the Bible to convince themselves that owning slaves is okay
and the slaves should obey their “earthly masters.” Regrettably and shamefully,
“white” Christians have frequently taken verses of Scripture out of context to
justify the most despicable acts. In some cases, it could be argued
that these people were not really Christians; they were not really born again
but were adhering to a form of Christianity for traditional or national
reasons.
Nevertheless, we
have to concede that there are genuine “white” Christians who have believed the
vilest calumnies about the nature of “black” people and have sought support for
their disgraceful views from the pages of the Bible.
In a broken world, sin abounds and leads to terrible things since Genesis 3. But
what does the Bible really teach when it comes to slavery?
Greek And Hebrew Words For “Slave”
The
Hebrew and Greek words used for “slave” are also the same words used for “servant”
and “bondservant,” as shown by the following table.
|
Hebrew,
(Old Testament)
|
Greek,
(New Testament)
|
Meaning
|
1
|
ebed
|
|
Slave,
servant, bondservant
|
2
|
abad
|
|
Serve,
work, labor
|
3
|
shiphchah
|
|
Maid,
maidservant, slave-girl
|
4
|
amah
|
|
Maid
servant, female slave
|
5
|
|
doulos
|
Servant,
slave, bondservant
|
6
|
|
sundoulos
|
Fellow
servant, slave
|
7
|
|
paidiske
|
Bondwoman,
maid, female slave
|
In
essence, there are two kinds of slavery described in the Bible: a servant or bondservant
who was paid a wage, and the enslavement of an individual without pay. Which
types of “slavery” did the Bible condemn?
Brief History Of Slavery
It is
important to note that neither slavery in New Testament times nor slavery under
the Mosaic covenant have anything to do with the sort of slavery where “black”
people were bought and sold as property by “white” people in the well-known
slave trade of the last few centuries. No “white” Christian should think that
they can use any slightly positive comment about slavery in this chapter to
justify the historic slave trade, which is still a major stain on the histories
of both the U.S. and U.K.
The U.S. and the U.K. were not the only countries in
history to delve into harsh slavery and so be stained.
1. The Code of
Hammurabi discussed slavery soon after 2242 BC (the date assigned by Archbishop
Usser to the Tower
of Babel incident)
2. Ham’s son
Mizraim founded Egypt
(still called Mizraim in
Hebrew). Egypt
was the first well-documented nation in the Bible to have harsh slavery, which was
imposed on Joseph, the son of Israel,
in 1728 BC (according to Archbishop Ussher).
Later, the Egyptians were slave masters to the rest of the Israelites,
and Moses, by the hand of God, freed them.
3. The
Israelites were again enslaved by Assyrian and Babylonian captors about 1,000
years later.
4. “Black” Moors enslaved “whites” during their
conquering of Spain and Portugal on the Iberian
Peninsula in the 8th century AD for over 400 years. The
Moors even took slaves as far north as Scandinavia. The Moorish and Middle Eastern slave market
was quite extensive.
5. Norse raiders of Scandinavia
enslaved other European peoples and took them back as property beginning in the
8th century AD.
6. Even in
modern times, slavery is still alive such as the cases in the Sudan and Darfur.
We
find many other examples of harsh slavery from cultures throughout the world.
At any rate, these few examples indicate that harsh slavery was/is a reality,
and in all cases, is an unacceptable act by biblical standards (as we will see).
The
extreme kindness to be shown to slaves/servants commanded in the Bible among
the Israelites was often prefaced by a reminder that they too were slaves at
the hand of the Egyptians. In other words, they were to treat slaves/servants
in a way that they wanted to be treated.
Slavery In The Bible
But
was slavery in the Bible the same as harsh slavery? For example, slaves and
masters are referred to in Paul’s epistles. In Ephesians 6:5, a better
translation is to use the word “bondservant.” The Bible is in no way giving
full support the practice of bondservants, who were certainly not being paid
the first century equivalent of the minimum wage. Nevertheless, they were being
paid something (Colossians 4:1) and were therefore in a state more akin to a
lifetime employment contract rather than “racial” slavery. Moreover, Paul gives
clear instructions that Christian “masters” are to treat such people with
respect and as equals. Their employment position did not affect their standing
in the Church.
Other
passages in Leviticus show us the importance of treating “aliens” and
foreigners well, and how, if they believe, they become part of the people of
God (for example, Rahab and Ruth, to name but two). Also, the existence of
slavery in Leviticus 25 underlines the importance of redemption, and enables
the New Testament writers to point out that we are slaves to sin, but are redeemed
by the blood of Jesus. Such slavery is a living allegory, and does not justify
the race-based form of slavery practiced from about the 16th to 19th
centuries.
As we
already know, harsh slavery was common in the Middle East as far back as
ancient Egypt. If God had simply ignored it, then there
would have been no rules for the treatment of slaves/bondservants, and they
could have treated them harshly with no rights.
But the God-given rights and rules for their protection showed that God
cared for them as well.
This
is often misconstrued for an endorsement of harsh slavery, which it is
not. God listed slave traders among the
worst of sinners in 1 Timothy 1:10
(kidnappers/men stealers/slave traders). This is no new teaching as Moses was
not fond of forced slavery either:
Exodus 21:16 "He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
In
fact, take note of the punishment of Egypt, when the Lord freed the
Israelites (Exodus chapters 3–15). God
predicted this punishment well in advance:
Genesis 15:13–14 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Had
God not protected slaves/bondservants by such commands, then many people
surrounding them who did have harsh slavery would have loved to move in where
there were no governing principles as to the treatment of slaves. It would have given a “green light” to slave
owners from neighboring areas to come and settle there. But with the rules in place, it discouraged such
slavery in their realm.
In
fact, the laws and regulations over slavery are a sure sign that slavery isn’t good
in the same way the Law came to expose and limit sin (Romans 5:13). One reverend said it this way:
In giving laws to regulate
slavery, God is not saying it is a good thing.
In fact, by giving laws about it at all, He is plainly stating it is a
bad thing. We don't make laws to limit or regulate good things. After all, you
won't find laws that tell us it is wrong to be too healthy or that if water is
too clean we have to add pollution to it.
Therefore, the fact slavery is included in the regulations of the Old
Testament at all assumes that it is a bad thing which needs regulation to
prevent the damage from being too great.”
Does The Bible Support
Harsh Slavery?
There
are several passages that are commonly used to suggest that the Bible condones harsh
slavery. However, when we read these passages in context, we find that they clearly
oppose harsh slavery.
Exodus 21:2-6 "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. "But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the door-post and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
This
is the first type of bankruptcy law we’ve encountered. With this, a government
doesn’t step in, but a person, who has lost themselves to debt, can sell the
only thing they have left: their ability to perform labor. This is a loan. In
six years the loan is paid off, and they are set free. Bondservants who did
this made a wage, had their debt covered, had a home to stay in, on-the-job
training, and did it for only six years. This almost sounds better than
college, which doesn't cover debt and you have to pay for it!
This
is not a forced agreement either. The bondservants enter into service on their
own accord. In the same respect, a foreigner can also sell themselves into
servitude. Although the rules are slightly different, it would still be by
their own accord in light of Exodus 21:16 above.
Exodus 21:18–21 "If men contend with each other, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but is confined to his bed, "if he rises again and walks about outside with his staff, then he who struck him shall be acquitted. He shall only pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for him to be thoroughly healed. "And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. "Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
This passage follows closely after Moses'
decree against slave traders in Exodus 21:16. We include verses 18 and 19 to
show the parallel to servants among the Israelites. The rules still apply for
their protection if they already have servants or if someone sells themselves
into service.
Some have
also complained that this passage shows that God is sexist in his treatment of
servants (though sexism is outside the realm of this chapter, we will still
address this claim).
Exodus 21:7-8 "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
There is a
stark delineation between male servants and the female servants in Exodus 21:7.
A Hebrew male could sell himself into servitude for his labor (to cover his
debts, etc.) and be released after six years. A Hebrew female could be sold
into servitude, with permission of her father, not for labor purposes but for
marriage. Verse 8 discusses breaking
faith with her, which means that they have entered into a marriage covenant (see
Malachi 2:14). If God
approved of the female leaving in six years, then marriage is no longer a life-long
covenant. So God is honoring the
sanctity of marriage here.
Imagine what would happen if this rule wasn’t in place. It would mean that men would have the free
reign to marry a woman for six years and then “trade” her in for another
woman. This is not approved of in the
Bible. Of course, when a man buys a male
servant, they are not married and so the male servants were to be set free.
Leviticus 25:38–46 ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave. ‘As a hired servant and a sojourner he shall be with you, and shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. ‘And then he shall depart from you––he and his children with him––and shall return to his own family. He shall return to the possession of his fathers. ‘For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. ‘You shall not rule over him with rigor, but you shall fear your God. ‘And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have––from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. ‘Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property. ‘And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves. But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
God prefaces this passage specifically with a
reminder that the Lord saved them from their bondage of slavery in Egypt.
Again, if one becomes poor, they can sell themselves into slavery/servitude and
be released as was already discussed.
Verse 44 discusses slaves that they may already
have from nations around them. They can be bought and sold. It doesn’t say to
seek them out or have forced slavery. Hence it is not giving an endorsement of
seeking new slaves or encouraging the slave trade. At this point, the
Israelites had just come out of slavery and were about to enter the Holy Land. They shouldn’t have had many servants. Also,
this doesn’t restrict other people in cultures around them from selling
themselves as bondservants. But as discussed already there are passages for the
proper and godly treatment of servants/slaves.
Sadly
some Israelites kings later tried to institute forced slavery, for example
Solomon (1 Kings 9:15) and
Rehoboam with Adoniram (1 Kings 12:18). Both fell from favor in God’s sight and were
found to follow after evil (1 Kings 11:6; 2 Chronicles 12:14).
Luke 12:43-48 "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. "But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. "And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
As for Jesus’ supposed support for beating
slaves, this is in the context of a parable. Parables are stories Jesus told to
help us understand spiritual truths. For example, in one parable, Jesus likens
God to a judge (Luke 18:1–5). The judge is unjust, but eventually gives justice
to the widow when she persists.
The point of that story was not to tell us that
God is like an unjust judge—on the contrary, He is completely just. The point
of the parable is to tell us to be persistent in prayer. Similarly, Luke
12:47–48 does not justify beating slaves. It is not a parable telling us how
masters are to behave. It is a parable telling us that we must be ready for
when Jesus Himself returns. One will be rewarded with eternal life through
Christ, or with eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46).
Ephesians 6:5–9 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men–pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Again, Paul in Ephesians is not giving an endorsement to
slavery/bondservants and masters but gives them both the same commands, showing
that God views them as equals in Christ. Again, bondservants were to be paid
fair wages:
Colossians 4:1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Christians Led The Fight To
Abolish Slavery
The
slavery of “black” people by “white” people in the 16th to 19th
centuries (and probably longer) was harshly unjust like many cultures before. This
harsh slavery is not discussed in Moses’ writings because such slavery was forbidden
in Hebrew culture. This is not surprising. Paul tells us in Romans 1:30 that
people are capable of inventing new ways of doing evil. Peter even reveals that
some slave owners were already being disobedient and treating
slaves/bondservants harshly (1 Peter 2:18).
Of course, the Bible gives no endorsement of such treatment.
“White” on “black” slavery was opposed by Christians such as William
Wilberforce, but not by examining passages on slavery because the slaveries
were of different types. “Racial” slavery was opposed
because it was seen to be contrary to the value that God places on every human
being, and the fact that God “has made from one blood every nation of men to
dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). The last letter that the
revival evangelist John Wesley ever wrote was to William Wilberforce,
encouraging Wilberforce in his endeavors to see slavery abolished. In the
letter, Wesley describes slavery as “execrable villainy.”
Reading this morning a tract wrote by a poor African,
I was particularly struck by that circumstance that a man who has a black skin,
being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress; it being a
"law" in our colonies that the oath of a black against a white goes
for nothing. What villainy is this?
Wesley
concentrated on the value of a man, irrespective of the color of his skin. It
is this principle of the value God places on human beings—a biblical
principle—which was Wesley’s motivation in opposing slavery.
The
famous hymn writer, John Newton, at one time actually captained slave ships. He
did so, even after his conversion to Christianity, because he was influenced by
the prevailing attitudes of his society; it took time for him to realize his
errors. But realize them he did—and he spent the latter part of his life
campaigning against slavery. He wrote movingly and disturbingly of the
suffering of slaves in the ships’ galleys in his pamphlet, “Thoughts upon the
African Slave Trade.”
If the slaves and their rooms can be constantly aired, and they are not
detained too long on board, perhaps there are not many who die; but the
contrary is often their lot. They are kept down, by the weather, to breathe a
hot and corrupted air, sometimes for a week: this added to the galling of their
irons, and the despondency which seizes their spirits when thus confined, soon
becomes fatal….I believe, upon an average between the more healthy, and the
more sickly voyages, and including all contingencies, one fourth of the whole
purchase may be allotted to the article of mortality: that is, if the English
ships purchase sixty thousand slaves annually, upon the whole extent of
the coast, the annual loss of lives cannot be much less than fifteen
thousand.
Like
Wesley, it was the biblical value of human life which was the deciding factor
in Newton’s
opposition to slavery in his latter years.
The
use of the term “one blood” in Acts 17:26 is so significant. If “races” were
really of different “bloods”, then we could not all be saved by the shedding of
the blood of one Savior. It is because the entire human race can be seen to be
descended from one man—Adam—that we know we can trust in one Savior, Jesus
Christ (the “Last Adam”).
Many other
Christians could be named in the fight to abolish slavery, which seemed to
culminate with Abraham Lincoln in the mid 1800s (slavery was one of the reasons
for the Civil War in the United
States).
Is The Bible Racist?
Some
“white” Christians have assumed that the so-called “curse of Ham” (Genesis 9:25) was to cause Ham’s descendants
to be black and to be cursed. While it is likely that African peoples are
descended from Ham (Cush, Phut, and Mizraim), it is not likely that they are
descended from Canaan—the curse was actually declared on Canaan,
not Ham.
However,
there is no evidence from Genesis that the curse was anything to do with skin
color. Others have suggested that the “mark of Cain” in Genesis 4 was that he
was turned dark-skinned. Again, there is no evidence of this in Scripture, and
in any case, Cain’s descendants more or less wiped out in the Flood.
Incidentally,
the use of such passages to attempt to justify some sort of evil associated
with dark skin is based on an assumption that the other characters in the
accounts were light-skinned, like “White” Anglo-Saxons today. That assumption
can also not be found in Scripture, and is very unlikely to be true. Very light
skin and very dark skin are actually the extremes
of skin color, caused by the minimum and maximum of melanin production, and are
more likely, therefore, to be the genetically selected results of populations
moving away from each other, after the Tower of Babel incident recorded in
Genesis 11.
The
issue of racism is just one of many reasons why the ministry opposes evolution. Darwinian evolution can easily
be used to suggest that some “races” are more evolved than others. In fact, the
common belief is that “blacks” are less evolved. Biblical Christianity cannot be used that
way—unless it is twisted, by people who have deliberately misunderstood what
the Bible actually teaches. On top of
this, rejection of the Bible, a book that is not racist, because one may think
evolution is superior is a sad alternative.
Recall Darwin’s
prediction of non-white “races”:
“At some future period, not
very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost
certainly exterminate and replace the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes. .
. will no doubt be exterminated. The
break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will
intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the
Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro
or Australian [aborigine] and the gorilla.”
Conclusion
Though
this short chapter couldn’t delve into every verse regarding slavery, the basic
principles are the same. In light of what we’ve learned here are a few pointers
to remember:
- Slaves under Mosaic Law
were different from the harshly treated slaves of other societies; they
were more like servants or bondservants.
- The Bible doesn’t give an
endorsement of slave traders but the opposite (1 Timothy 1:10).
A slave/bondservant was acquired when a person voluntarily entered
into it when he needed to pay off his debts.
- The Bible recognizes that
slavery is a reality in this sin-cursed world and doesn’t ignore it, but
instead gives regulations for good treatment by both masters and servants
and reveal they are equal under Christ.
- Israelites could sell
themselves as a slave/bondservant to have their debts covered, make a
wage, have housing, and be set free after six years. Foreigners could sell
themselves as a slave/bondservant as well.
- Biblical
Christians led the fight to abolish harsh slavery in modern times.
. We are using the term
“White” to refer to peoples of European origin and “Black” to refer to peoples
primarily of African origin. We are actually not too thrilled about these terms
either since all people are really the same color just different shades, but
for the sake of understanding, we will use them in this chapter.
Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man (New York, A.L. Burt, 1874, 2nd
ed.), p. 178.