2. Efiypiian Bondage. — The Israelites were frequently reminded, after their exode from Egypt, of the oppres- sions they endured in that " house of bondage," from which they had been delivered by the direct interposi- tion of (iod. The design of these admonitions was to teach them justice and kindness towards their servants when they should have become settled in Canaan (Deut. V, 15; viii, 14; x, 19; xv, 15; xxiii, 7, etc.), as well as to impress them with gratitude towards their great de- liverer. The Egyptians had domestic servants, who may have been slaves (Exod. ix, 14, 20. 21 ; xi, 5). But the Israelites were not dispersed among the families of Egvpt; thev formed a special communitj' ((ien. xlvi, 34; Exod. ii, 9; iv, 29; vi, 14: viii, 22, 24; ix, 26; x, 23 ; xi, 7 ; xvi, 22 ; xvii, 5). They had exclusive pos- session of the land of Goshen, " the best part of the land of Egypt." They lived in permanent dwellings, their own houses, and not in tents (xii, 22). Each family seems to have had its own house (ver. 4; comp. Acts vii, 20) ; and, judging from the regulations about eating the Pass- over, the houses could scarcely have been small ones (Exod. xii, etc.). The Israelites appear to have been well clothed (ver. 11). They owned "flocks and herds, and very much cattle" (ver. 4, 6, 32, 37, 38). They had their own form of government, and although occupying a province of Egypt and tributary to it, they preserved their tribes and family divisions, and their internal or- ganization throughout (ii, 1; iii, 16, 18; v, 19; vi, 14, 25; xii, 19, 21). They had to a considerable degree the disposal of their own time (ii, 9; iii, 16, 18; iv, 27, 29, 31 ; xii, 6). They were not unacquainted with the fine arts (xxxii, 4; xxxv, 22, 35). They were all armed (x.xxii, 27). The women seem to have known some- thing of domestic refinement. They were familiar with instrnments of nnisic, and skilled in the wtirking of tine fabrics (xv, 20; xxxv, 25, 26) ; and both males and fe- males were able to read and write (Dent, xi, 18, 20; xvii, 19; xxvii, 3). Their food was abundant and of great variety (Exod. xvi, 3; Numb, xi, 4, 5; xx, 5). The service rc(iuired from the Israelites by their task- masters seems to have been exacted from males only, and ap]iarently a portion oidy of the jteople were com- |>elled to labor at any one time. As triltutaries, they probably siip((lied levies of men, from which the wealthy appear to have been exem|)ted (Exod. iii, 16; iv, 29; V, 20). The |)oor were the oppressed, "and all the ser- vice wherewith they made them serve was with rig- or" (i, 11-14). But tJehovah saw their "afflictions and heard their groauings," and delivered them after having inflicted the most terrible plagues on their oppressors.
SLAVERY
195
SLAVERY
. 3. Jeieish Slavery. — The institution of slaverj' was recognised, tliough not established, by the Mosaic law with a view to mitigate its hardships and to secure to every man his ordinary rights. Kepugnant as the no- tion of slavery is to our minds, it is difficult to see how it can be dispensed with in certain phases of society without, at all events, entailing severer evils than those which it produces. Exclusiveness of race is an instinct that gains strength in proportion as social order is weak, and the rights of citiiienship are regarded with peculiar jealousy in communities which are ex])Osed to contact with aliens. In the case of war carried on for conquest or revenge, there were but two modes of dealing with the captives, viz. putting them to death or reducing them to slavery. The same may be said in regard to such acts and outrages as disqualified a person for the society of his fellow-citizens. Again, as citizenship in- volved the condition of freedom and independence, it was almost necessary to offer the alternative of disfran- chisement to all who through poverty or any other con- tingency were unable to support themselves in indepen- dence. In all these cases slavery was the mildest of the alternatives that offered, and may hence be re- garded as a blessing rather than a curse. It should further be noticed that a laboring class, in our sense of the term, was almost unknown to the nations of antiq- uity. Hired service was regarded as incompatible with freedom ; and hence the slave in many cases occupied the same social position as the servant or laborer of modern times, though differing from him in regard to political status. The Hebrew designation of the slave shows that service was the salient feature of his condi- tion; for the term ebed, usually applied to him, is de- rived from a verb signifying "to work," and the very same term is used in reference to offices of high trust held by free men. In short, service and slavery would have been to the ear of the Hebrew equivalent terms, tliough he full}' recognised grades of servitude, accord- ing as the servant was a Hebrew or a non-Hebrew, and, if tlie latter, according as he was bought with money ((ien. xvii, 12; Exod. xii, 44) or born in the house ((Jen. xiv^, 14 ; xv, 3 ; xvii, 23). We shall proceed to tiescribe the condition of these classes, as regards their original reduction to slavery, the methods by wiiich it might be terminated, and their treatment while in that state.