The Institution of Slavery Among the Ancient Hebrews

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Excerpt from The Institution of Slavery Among the Ancient Hebrews: According to the Bible and TalmudIsrael, since his deliverance from Egypt, has entered the service of God - be come his servant. But the servant of the Lord ought not to become the servant of men. Perpetual and real servitude can not, therefore, exist among Israelites, for that would be a virtual denial of the sovereignty of God. 2 Hence the re striction as regards the time during which an Israelite might be kept in servitude, and the rule that he should not, during that period, be treated as a bondman or serf, but as a hireling only. It is true that this second principle accrued directly to the benefit only of a citizen of the Hebrew commonwealth, yet it is certain that in its enforcement the way was already prepared for the total abolition of slavery, not only among the Israelites, but among all nations. For, with the diffusion of the knowledgexof God among all nations, these would also be ele vated to the dignity of servants of God, and thus the principle, that he who serves God can not become the slave of man, would not only be applied to them, but also be adopted by them. 3 So long, however, as this had not yet taken place, so long as the heathen nations remained in their false relation toward God, and thus recognized for themselves the possibility of their being degraded into a state of bondage to men, the law regarded their slaves as such, and insisted for the time being, only upon the observance toward them of every possible considera tion of humanity and kindness.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.