Slaves, Singles, Strive and Strangers-Exodus 21-22

Exodus, Old Testament, Sermons

  • Video Sunday Worship Service 3/20/2022.
  • How does the Torah protect slaves (Exo 21:1-2, 16, 20, 26-27; 20:10; Dt 15:13-14) and their family (Exo 21:3-6; Dt 21:10-14)?
  • How does such humane treatment of slaves differ from that of other cultures?
  • Why does a person to become a slave–3 reasons [*indentured servitude-“debt-slavery;” * work for a certain period of time]?
  • How is this different from *chattel slavery [life-time forced labor; * a personal possession]?
  • Why didn’t the Torah abolish slavery outright? What would have happened if it did so at the outset of forming a new nation? [Does the Bible support slavery?]
  • Why would a parent sell their daughter (Exo 21:7-11)? Was it unusual for fathers to choose their daughter’s husband?
  • What is the punishment for premeditated murder (Exo 21:12, 14; Gen 9:6; Lev 24:17; Num 35:16; Dt 9:11-13)? What if the homicide is unintentional or unpremeditated (Exo 21:13; Num 35:9-15)?
  • Why is striking and cursing a parent so serious and grave an offense as to be worthy of the child’s death (Exo 21:15, 17; 20:12)?
  • Are the punishments for serious injury meant to be taken literally [lex talionis – law of retaliation/retribution] (Exo 21:23-25; Mt 5:29; 18:9)? Is this principle of equal punishment justice? How (Dt 24:16)? Does it prohibit unjust revenge? How do you reconcile this with Jesus’ words of non-retaliation and to “love your enemies” (Mt 5:38-44)? [Eye for an Eye:One of the Greatest Ideas in History.]
  • Why kill the bull/ox who killed a person and then not eat it (Exo 21:28, 32; Gen 9:5-6)?
  • How much is your word worth (Exo 22:8, 11)?
  • What is the intent of how the Torah deals with virgins and premarital sex (Exo 22:16-17)?
  • What are 3 polytheistic practices that merited the death penalty (Exo 22:18-20)?
  • Who are the most vulnerable and how does God protect them and why (Exo 22:21-27)?

Reflections to ponder and remember:

  • No single law can be understood as God’s word in isolation from the whole corpus of 613 laws or from its 3,000 year history of interpretation.
  • There is a great historical distance between the ancient culture and our own.
  • The lower status of women and implicit acceptance of slavery are disturbing. But modern readers should understand the cultural limitations and historical context of that specific time.
  • The Torah did not ban indentured debt-slavery, but it did punish kidnapping–usually for slavery–with death (Exo 22:16). Indentured servitude was the only way out of abject poverty for many throughout history.
  • Capital punishment for premeditated murder is the only law that appears in all 5 books of the Torah.
  • Since man was created in God’s image, the last place a murderer could/should find refuge is in a house of the Creator (Exo 22:13). Unlike in other cultures, there is no sanctuary for murderers.
  • The principle of “an eye for an eye” [lex talionis] (Exo 21:23-25) ensured that only the guilty party was punished for his crime. Perfct justice dictates that what I delibrately did to an innocent person be done to me.
  • In ancient Israel, the fear of God was so great an oath invoking God was regarded as sufficient proof of innocence (Exo 22:8, 11).
  • When people emerge from pain and oppression, they have 2 options: they can use their anger over their suffering to legitimize/justify their oppression of others, OR they can use the memory of their pain to empathize with others.

Debt-slavery/indentured* servitude was the lot of the destitute in the ancient world. [*required by contract to work for another for a period of time.] A person who could not pay a debt could “sell” temselves or a family member as compensation for that debt. These and other biblical laws deal with protecting slaves (Dt 15:11-18), rather than abolishing slavery, which modern readers prefer. The implied approval of slavery points to the limitations of any culture in manifesting the righteousness of God. God regulated, rather than prohibited, the practice in order for these laws to work in the context of the ancient world (Mt 19:8; Mk 10:5). Taking slavery as a cultural norm, these laws began a gradual trajectory of limited freedom and protection for slaves. Freedom from slavery is a primary context of the book of Exodus.

Ordinances [“laws”] for God‘s new nation. The preamble (20:22-26) and postscript (23:20-33) of the book of the covenant (Exo 24:7) contain warnings against idolatry, pointing forward to the golden calf incident (Exodus 32), after which the text reiterates a briefer form of the book (32:12-26) as a renewal of the covenant that the people broke.

Though the contents seem jumbled, the book of the covenant includes laws regarding:

  • slavery,
  • striving–human violence,
  • injury by dangerous oxen,
  • restitution for theft and property damage,
  • strangers–limiting the use of power over the most vulnerable,
  • worship,
  • integrity in the face of corruption or hate,
  • Sabbath laws to protect the poor, and
  • rules for religious feast days.

God emphasizes the proper treatment of:

  1. slaves,
  2. singles–virgins,
  3. pregnant women,
  4. widows,
  5. orphans,
  6. strangers, and
  7. the poor–the community’s most vulnerable members.

Outline: Exodus 21. Ordinances for God’s new nation: Justice and the civil law.

  1. Debt slaves and capital offenses (21:1-17). [Covenant Laws I]
    1. The Hebrew slave (21:1-2).
    2. Slaves and family (21:3-6).
    3. Daughters sold into service (21:7-11).
    4. Capital offenses (21:12-17).
  2. Personal injury, bulls and oxen (21:18-36). [Covenant Laws II]
    1. Bodily injury (21:18-27). 5 cases of human violence and injury, with 3 providing protection for slaves.
    2. Last 4 cases address dangerous bulls and the protection of bulls (21:28-36).
      1. Dangerous animals (21:28-32).
      2. Harm to animals (21:33-36).

Exodus 22. Property rights, capital offenses, using power, relationship to God. [Covenant Laws III]

  1. 11 major cases of theft and damage. Legal precedents for dealing with loss of property, safeguarding personal property rights (22:1-17).
    1. Protection of property (22:1-6).
    2. Caring for another’s property (22:7-15).
  2. Seduction (and marriage) of the un-bethrothed virgin (22:16-17).
  3. 3 capital offenses (22:18-20). Abomination and idolatry.
  4. Duties toward the vulnerable (22:21-27): Wrong use of power over vulnerable and marginalized people.
    1. Duties toward the vulnerable: the stranger (Exo 22:21).
    2. Duties toward the vulnerable: widows, orphans, and the poor (22:22-27).
  5. Toward holiness: duties toward rulers, human and divine (22:28-31). 4 laws addressing one’s relationship to God.

Exodus 23. Corruption, poverty, 3 festivals, God’s promises. [Covenant Laws IV]

  1. Sacred obligations to the true, the good, and the right (23:1-9). Laws establishing judicial integrity.
  2. Sabbatical rest (23:10-13). Sabbath laws that protect the poor and beasts of burden.
  3. Sacred times: the seasonal festivals (23:14-19). Institution of 3 yearly festivals.
  4. Looking ahead to the land: prospects, risks, and responsibilities (23:20-33). A formal narrative conclusion to the book of the covenant. Chiastic structure with blessing at the center (Exo 23:25-26).
  • A. Promise of the Lord’s angel’s help in securing the land (20-23).
  • B. Warning against false gods (24).
  • C. Blessings of the Lord your God (25-26).
  • A’. Promise of the Lord’s help in securing the land (27-31).
  • B’. Warning against false gods (32-33).

Genesis exposes the fundamental weaknesses of human beings uninstructed. Twisted parent–child relations are the theme of Genesis stories [honoring one’s parents does not come easily]:

  1. Lot’s daughter’s incest.
  2. Jacob’s deception of his father Isaac in stealing the blessing intended for Esau.
  3. Esau wanted to kill Jacob.
  4. Reuban supplanting his father in an incestuous liason with Jacob’s concubine, Bilhah.
  5. Jacob’s sons brutal, mendacious [lying] and near-patricidal display of Joseph’s bloodied coat to him.
  6. Joseph’s [perhaps] near-patricidal indifference to his aged father’s heartache, when he requests for Benjamin.

Addressing these unsavory tendencies and evil practices [Relate these ordinances to the principles enunciated in the Decalogue. Almost all its topics are elaborated in the ordinances, save only “coveting”–not a subject for legislation–and surprisingly, adultery and the related issues of marriage and divorce]:

  • wounded pride leading to murder and mayhem,
  • rebellion against paternal authority leading to patricide,
  • unrestrained sexual desire leading to licentious behavior, rape and incest,
  • xenophobia leading to brutal oppression and chattel slavery,
  • hubristic pride leading to self-worship, and
  • despair leading to superstition and idol worship.

Reference:

  1. Leon R. Kass. Founding God’s Nation. Reading Exodus. 2021.
  2. James K. Bruckner. Exodus. New International Bible Commentary. 2008.
  3. John Goldingay. Exodus & Leviticus for Everyone. 2010.
  4. Robert Alter. The Hebrew Bible. A translation with commentary. The Five Books of Moses. 2019.
  5. Dennis Prager. Exodus. God, Slavery, and Freedom. The Rational Bible. 2018.
  6. Does the Bible support slavery?
  7. Eye for an Eye:One of the Greatest Ideas in History.
  • 613 commandments.
  • God’s name “I Will Be What I Will Be” is not necessarily a name of who God is [Hi, I’m Ben], but God is saying, “Watch what I say. Watch what I do.”
  • Apotheosis [noun].  From the Gk apotheoun, to make a god or to deify. Apotheosis implies a polytheistic conception of gods while some individuals straddle the boundary between gods and men. It is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term has meanings in theology, where it refers to a belief, and in art, where it refers to a genre.  The highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax.
  • Dionysian:relating to the Greek god Dionysus, known for the sensual, spontaneous, and emotional aspects of human nature [Canaan].
  • Apollonian: relating to the god Apollo, relating to the rational, ordered, and self-disciplined aspects of human nature [Egypt].
  • Technocracy: The government or control of society or industry by an elite of technical experts.
  • Exodus shows, “No God, no Law. No Law, no Children of God/Israel. Conversely, no Children of Israel as led by Moses, no knowledge of God.” Culture and theology are upstream from politics.
  • Halachic: the body of Jewish law supplementing the scriptural law and forming especially the legal part of the Talmud.
  • Solicitude: care or concern for someone or something. “I was touched by his solicitude”
  • Mensch [noun]: a person of integrity and honor.  The word “Mensch”, in Yiddish, is “someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. Sentence exampleHe was a real mensch : a decent and responsible person, a particularly good man of integrity and honor.
  • To read philosophically–the pursuit and love of wisdom, to living well, and for human flourishing. Let the book inhabit you, sympathize with the characters, let the experience work on you. Gen 1-11 is human life unrestricted, in the absence of instruction, we take pride in human reason and freedom. Genesis teaches the need for a new way and through the patriarchs, God has gotten a toe hold into the world.
  • Tabernacle, Hebrew Mishkan, (“dwelling”), in Jewish history, the portable sanctuary constructed by Moses as a place of worship for the Hebrew tribes during the period of wandering that preceded their arrival in the Promised Land.
  • Egypt: Techno-despotism, preoccupation with long life, absence of decay, immortality. The essence of Egypt is a recurrent human possibility. What is Egypt? It is a fertile place, the gift of the river not dependent on the rain, a paradise that worships the sun and where all kinds of natural powers are revered, while the human animal does not have special or dignified standing (cf. Gen 1:26-27). While they worship natural deities, inside the palace Pharaoh has his sorcerers/magicians do things to nature to make it even more hospitable. While they revere the river and the sun,  they are obsessed with mortality and decay [everything from their hieroglyph to shaving their bodies to embalming their dead, they want to make time stand still]. You have the rule of 1 man as a god who rules in his own interest, and with Joseph you have a technological and administrative state bent on conquering mortality and making nature more hospitable to human needs, while human dignity is not well respected and moral practices are out the window.
  • Canaanites: earth worshippers given over to the pleasures of the flesh. Eat, drink, tomorrow we die. Exuberant. Dionysiac culture. We see both Egypt and Canaan in our broader culture.
  • So can you rely on technological progress [Silicon valley] and administration and prosperity on the one hand, or can you rely on I’m OK, you’re OK, and let’s let it all hang out and get over our repressions and enjoy life? Can we build the universal city of man [Mesopotamians/ the U.N.]? Can these produce a people that is well governed and long lasting.
  • bedraggled adjective dirty and disheveled. “we got there, tired and bedraggled” disheveled, disordered, untidy, unkempt, tousled, disarranged.
  • Moses’ shining face: “I will be with you” is now stamped on his face.
  • A haggadah is a collection of Jewish prayers and readings written to accompany the Passover ‘seder’, a ritual meal eaten on the eve of the Passover festival.
  • It’s not that the Jews kept the Sabbath but that the Sabbath kept the Jews.
  • Not only did the Jews keep the Passover, but the Passover has kept the Jews alive.
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