"He is worth double a hired servant to you, serving for six years."  (Deut 15:18)

It is no coincidence that the Torah introduced these laws with the declaration "If you should acquire a Hebrew servant, he shall work for six years, and in the seventh year he shall go free, for nothing."  This declaration nullifies slavery in Israel, and reaffirms "I am YHVH your Elohim who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery."  (Ex 20:2)

Freeing the slave/servant in the seventh year and providing him with the basic necessities upon his release, is a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt, as mentioned in the first Commandment.

"And you shall remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt, and YHVH your Elohim redeemed you, therefore I command you this thing today."  (Deut 15:15)

The laws of the Hebrew slave do not reflect the Torah's attitude towards the universal institution of slavery, only the special relationship that must prevail amongst the Jewish nation itself, which in turn is based on YHVH's relationship with them:

"For they are My servants, whom I took out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves."  (Lev 25:42)

The Torah makes a distinction between the nullification of slavery amongst the nation of Israel, who are "the servants of Yah" whom He took out of Egypt, in order that they may be His servants rather than slaves to any man.  As pertaining to the existence of slavery in other nations the Torah records:

"And your slave and your maidservant that you may have from among the nations around you, from them you may acquire slaves and maidservants, and they shall be your property."  (Lev 25: 44-45)

The laws of the Hebrew servant are significant in clarifying the Torah's stand on slavery.  The almost complete nullification of slavery in Israel shows that slavery in itself was considered an improper social situation, and should not exist within Israel, since the Exodus from Egypt made them servants to YHVH alone.  Of course, everyone is worthy of being YHVH's servant by virtue of being His creation and the obligation to serve Him, and there's no justification for the enslavement of those created in the Divine image in order to serve Him.

The laws of the Canaanite slave

Let us examine the laws of the gentile slave, also known as the "Canaanite slave", to shed light on the Torah's attitude towards slavery in general.

1.  "If a person should strike his slave or his maidservant with a staff, and he dies by his hand, he shall be avenged.  But if the slave survives for a day or two, then he shall not be avenged, for he is his (the master's) property."  (Lev 21:20-21)

2.  "If a person strikes the eye of his slave or of his maidservant such that he is blinded, then he is to be freed on account of his eye.  And if he causes the tooth of his slave or his maidservant to be knocked out, he shall send him free on account of his tooth."  (Lev 21:26-27)

3.  "If the ox should gore a slave or maidservant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to the master, and the ox shall be stoned."  (Lev 21:32)

4.  "You shall not give over a slave to his master if he escaped to you from his master.  He shall remain in your midst, in the place that he chooses in one of your gates, as it suits him, you shall not oppress him."  (Deut 23:16)

With slavery no longer practiced in our culture, it is difficult
for us to understand the full significance of these laws.  To properly understand the Torah's attitude towards slavery and the importance of these laws at the time they were given, some historical background can be helpful.

In the ancient world slaves were regarded as objects and
treated with no consideration whatsoever.

"If a person strikes his slave or his maidservant with a staff, and he dies by his hand, then he shall be avenged (put to death).  But if he survives for a day or two then he shall not be avenged, for he is his master's property."  (Lev 21:20-21)

If a person strikes his fellow free person, "he is tended until it becomes clear whether he will be healed, and if he dies, even after a long time, the one who struck him shall die."  Only if the injured party leaves his sickbed and recovers is the person who struck him acquitted of the death penalty.

The opposite is the case in the event of a person striking his slave.  He is guilty and deserving of the death penalty if 'the slave dies by his hand' (immediately) as a result of the injury.  If the slave survives for a day or two, the master is acquitted, even if the slave later dies.

Why this difference?  The one who strikes his slave does so using a staff, which is not a weapon designed to kill, but rather an acceptable tool in Biblical times to discipline a slave.

YHVH commanded that a master disciplining his slave must not use cruel discipline; if he sees that his slave will die from his blows, he should stop, or he will be put to death for causing his death.  Though striking a slave with a staff was acceptable at that time, the Torah enforced restrain on this practice.  Should the master use cruelty towards his slave and cause his death, the master deserved the death penalty.

The condition of "a day or two" comes to serve as some indication: if the slave "dies by the hand" of the master who struck him with the staff, there can be no doubt that the master did in fact intend to kill him.  But if the injured slave died "after a day or two" there was room to assume that the master did not intend to kill him, but rather only to discipline him, for he put away the staff when he saw the condition of the slave.  The actual blow that the master delivered to the slave did not represent sufficient grounds for the death penalty, "for he is his property" and he is entitled to strike him as a means of rebuke.

The "day or two" was not a leniency on the part of the Torah
concerning the killing of a slave, on the contrary, it was an extra measure of strictness with regard to the one who struck him, compared with the law pertaining to a master who struck his slave "with a knife, a stone or a fist", which were tools designed to kill.  It is for this reason that the text mentioned 'with a staff', because the Torah allowed him to strike only with a staff, a stick or a strap, not with something that is designed to kill.

The laws of the ancient nations say nothing at all about a master who killed his slave, permitting him to treat his slave as his property, as he saw fit. Just as he could slaughter his horse or donkey, so he could kill his slave if he so wished.

In Rome, a slave could be punished with cruel death for unintentionally breaking a glass vessel.  Even the 'Christian' emperor Constantine protected masters who had beaten their slaves to death.

Against this background we are able to appreciate the magnitude of the moral and legal revolution introduced by the laws of the Torah pertaining to the striking of a slave.  Although the slave was his master's 'property' his human value was retained.  His life was not the property of the master, but rather of the One Who gave him life, and it is He who will demand his blood from the hands of those who spilled it.

The application of the laws of a murderer to one who killed a slave, including his master, is proof of Torah's rejection of this perverted philosophy that justifies slavery.  The declaration that the Divine image in man is equivalent in a slave and a master, is the beginning of the demise of the institution of slavery.

"And if a person strikes the eye of his slave and blinds him, he shall send him free on account of the eye.  And if he causes the tooth of his slave to be knocked out, he shall send him free on account of the tooth."  (Lev 21:26-27)

It is not only the life of the slave that is not considered the master's property.  Even the slave's body is not the master's, to treat as he sees fit.  The full significance of this law can only be understood if we compare it with the condition of slaves in the ancient world.  Slaves were like objects owned by their masters, who were free to do whatever they wanted in order to force the slaves to perform hard labor day and night, and to use them for all kinds of perverted purposes.  The master could beat his slaves mercilessly for any wrongdoing; he could permanently maim their limbs without fear of any punishment.  Herodotus writes that the Scythians used to blind their captive slaves, particularly kings and officers of the defeated army, as a sign of revenge and enslavement.

For that reason Samson was blinded by the Philistines.  (Judges 16:21)  Nahash, the Ammonite, said to the men of Gilead: "By this I will make a covenant with you: if you all put out your right eye, in order that you will be my slaves and prisoners of war."  (I Sam 11:2)  King Zedekiah was blinded by Nebuchadnezar (II Kings 25:7) and Dathan and Abiram said to Moses: "Will you put out the eyes of those men."  For breakage of a small vessel, the slave's hands would be cut off, or he would be put to death.  The amputation of ears was also commonly practiced as punishment for slaves.  Slaves were routinely castrated in order that thoughts of women would not interfere with their work, and eunuchs were used to serve women.  Potiphar was Pharaoh's eunuch (Gen 39:1) which was the reason his wife was not satisfied with him and tried to seduce Joseph.  The royal wine bearer and baker were also Pharaoh's eunuchs.  (Gen 40:2)  They made the slaves deaf in order that they would not talk among themselves during work, and knock out their teeth so that they would not be able to eat much.  Cicero describes how it was common among the Romans that if a slave knew some evidence against his master, the master would cut out his tongue in order that he would not be able to testify.  Maiming of slaves was a common sign of slavery.

It was against all of this that the Torah came to improve the lot of the slaves and their worth.  For beating to death the Torah prescribed, 'he shall surely be avenged', which refers to the death penalty.  For causing blemishes to mark a slave, the Torah prescribed that 'he shall go free,' which is the opposite of the purpose of creating these blemishes.  Thus we learn that the laws of damages mentioned by the Torah, represented direct opposition to the universal institution of slavery, emphasizing the value of the life of the slave, and his body.  Anyone attempting to maim his slave to establish ownership, would achieve the opposite - 'measure for measure', his slave would go free, against the will of the master.

"If I have despised the just cause of my slave and my maidservant when they strove against me, then what shall I do when El rises up, and when He remembers, what shall I answer Him?  Did He who created me in the belly not create him, and was it not the same One who fashioned us in the womb?"  (Job 31:13-15)