The questions we must first ask in relation to our question:
What is meant by the word slavery in the bible?
Are there any difficult verses that require context?
Does the bible’s ‘slavery’ differentiate from other types of slavery?
Today’s idea of what slavery looks like is based heavily on the type that occurred during the Atlantic slave trade. While the Bible mentions and discusses slavery and how it should be practiced, the slavery it mentions is not race-based, forced servitude. Instead, the Old Testament is speaking about the means by which a man or woman could work off their debt or a way of keeping captives from mustering a rebellion.
The condemnation of slave trading is even explicitly stated throughout the book of Exodus:
Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession – Exodus 21:16
There are, however, difficult verses that seem to be in opposition to the idea of well-intentioned servitude:
Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers in a day or two, since the slave is their property – Exodus 21:20-21
While the idea of a slave owner being punished for killing their slave would have been extremely counter-cultural, many people notice that this verse does not condemn slave beating. However, context is important, as disobedience and rebellion would have been met with some level of force in the times these laws were written.
Furthermore, the context of the surrounding verses leads us to believe that the Bible is not enforcing a scheme of subservient abuse, but rather an exception to be used as a last resort.
Both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible declare:
Slaves are to be regarded as full members of the community
- Genesis 17:13
Slaves are to receive the same rest periods and holidays as non-slaves
- Exodus 23:12
Slaves are to serve no more than 6 years, then be freed on the 7th
- Exodus 21:2
Cruelty to slaves resulted in immediate freedom
- Exodus 21:26-27
Conclusion
The bible does not support slavery, but instead provides a set of rules to protect those in indentured servitude, which at the time would have been considered absurd. It refers to a different type of slavery than we know today, and Jesus can even be quoted saying:
The student is not above the teacher, nor the slave above his master
As we are all made in God’s image, the biblical standpoint is and always will be that we are made in the image of God, with no man or woman above any other.