The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 164

HOMILETICS. Vers. 2-11; 20, 21; 26, 27; 32. The slave laws. Slave laws be,ong to all com- munities, and not to some only, slavery being really a universal and not a partial institu- tion. In the most civilised co=unities of modern Europe, there are two large cl:i.sses of slaves-lunatics and criminals. The law openly condemns these last to penal senri- tude, which may be for life; and this "servitude," as Lord Chief Justice Coleridge bas repeatedly pointed out, is simply a form of slavery. Ancient co=unities differed from modern-1. In the extent to which slavery prevailed; 2. In the grounds upon which men were bound to it; and 3. In the treatment whereto those bound to it were sub- jected. I. EXTENT OF ANCIENT SLAVERY. The slaves in ancient states were almost always more numerous than the freemen. At Athens they amounted to more than four-fifths of the co=unity. Every free person was a slave owner, and some owned hundreds of their fellow-creatures. Perpetual insecurity was felt in consequence of the danger of revolt; and this fear reacted on the treatment of slaves, since it was thought necessary to break their spirit by severities. The evil effects of the institution pervaded all classes of the co=unity, fostering pride and selfishness in the masters, dissimulation, servility, and meanness in the slaves. II. GROUNDS ON WHICH ANCIENT SLA.VERYJIESTED. Ancient slavery did not necessarily imply any mental or moral fault in the slave. Some reached it through mental defect, as our lunatics; some through crime, as our convicts (see Ex. x.x.i.i. 3). But the great majority were either born in the condition, or became slaves through the fortune of war. 'l'hus slavery was not co=only a deserved punishment, but an undeserved misfortuI?.e. Men found themselves, without any fault of their own, the goods and chatteis of another, with no political and few social rights, bound to one who might be in all respects inferior to themselves, but who was their lord and master. A sense of injustice conse- quently rankled in the bosom of the slave, and made him in most cases dangerous. Slave revolts were of frequent occurrence. III. TREATMENT OF SLAVES IN ANCIENT STATES. Some considerable differences may be observed between the treatment of slaves in different co=unities; but there are certain features which seem to have been universal. 1. Slaves were for the most part the property of individuals, and depended largely on the ea.price of individuals, who might be harsh or mild, brutally tyrannical, or foolishly indulgent. 2. Slave families 1mght at any time be broken up, the different members being sold to different masters. 3. Slaves might everywhere be beaten, and unless in case of serious injury, there was no inquiry. 4. Very severe labour might be required of them; they might be confineJ. in workshops, which were little better than prisons, made to toil in mines, or chained to the oar as galley slaves. 5. They might be badly lodged, badly clothed, and badly fed., with- out the law taking any notice. 6. In most places there was no redress for any injury that a slave might suffer short of death; and in some the law took no cognisance eveu of his murder. 'l'he Mosaic le<>islation, finding slavery established under these con- ditions, set itself to introduceb ameliorations, without condemning the institution altogether. Compare St. Paul's conduct when he sent Onesimus ~ack to P~ilemou (Phil. 12, 16). It divided slaves into two classes, Hebrew and foreign, cha.ngmg the slavery of the former into a species of apprenticeship for six years, and guarding, not merely the life, but the members and organs of the latter. It acknowleJ.geJ. the lailllly do in the cas,i of the slave, and laid down rules tending to check the separation of wives from husbands. It protected slave concublll.es from the caprice of a sated husb.aml. It absolutely forhaclo the practice of kidnapping, whereby the slave-market was largely recruited in most countries, putting men-stoalers on a par with munlcrcrs, anll rc,1uiriug  172 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [en. XXI. 12-21.