“Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort” (1 Timothy 6:1-2 KJV).
While God permitted the ancient Israelites to acquire slaves from among the surrounding nations, He also instructed them to view those relationships through the lens of their experience as former slaves within the nation of Egypt…
“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you…” (Deuteronomy 15:15, see also Leviticus 19:34).
The Old Testament Law that governed the nation of Israel also contained a number of safeguards that were designed to protect slaves from those who might treat them in a less than Godly manner. For example, while slaves of other nations had no rights (and were sometimes worked to their literal deaths), the Law ensured that an Israelite slave received one day of rest each week…
“but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you” (Deuteronomy 5:14).
In addition, the Mosaic Law prohibited (or penalized) behaviors that were commonly accepted within other cultures of that time including…
- Beating a slave to death (Exodus 21:20-21).
- Causing permanent bodily injury to a slave. A slave was granted his or her freedom in such instances to compensate for their injury (Exodus 21:26-27).
- Returning an escaped slave to a master (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).
Since the inhabitants of Canaan were about to be dispossessed of their land by the people of Israel, they were left to choose from among the following options…
- They could fight (and likely die).
- They could try to escape to an area beyond the Promised Land and risk capture along with foreign enslavement.
- They could accept a master/slave relationship with the people of Israel along with the protections afforded to them by Israel’s God.
Thus, an agreement to enter a master/slave relationship with the Israelites may have represented the best available option , especially when considering these alternatives.