Has there ever been an answer to the KJV Leviticus 25:45 criticism, why or why not?

Question

45Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.

Leviticus 25:45 (King James Version)

Now, I'm no "liberal theologian" but upon a plain reading of that verse, it looks like its saying its ok to own children as slaves.

I don't think that makes a whole lot of sense, something about that just isn't "right".

Now, how come there has never been an answer - a credible one - to the question, whats wrong with this verse?

Answer 1

Slavery used to be considered acceptable, even child slavery. Society has evolved beyond that, but ancient texts are forever bound to ancient ideals. It never ceases to amaze me that people will claim the Bible as a moral authority, when the morals contained within its pages are barbaric by modern standards.

It is fun to watch them back peddle and try to explain why slavery USED to be ok but isn't anymore.

Answer 2

It was part of the Law of the Land in a culture very different from ours. Children were "purchased" so the they would have a home. Sojourners were travelers that settled for a time, quite often until they were able to move on again.

Poverty among some nomadic bands of people was rampant. It was an opportunity for an established landowner to make sure that the children of sojourners were taken care of, not to purchase them as slaves. Possessions, yes. Slaves, no.

Answer 3

Lev 25:44-46 -
Property in foreign slaves is here distinctly permitted. It was a patriarchal custom Gen_17:12. Such slaves might be captives taken in war (Num_31:6 following; Deu_20:14), or those consigned to slavery for their crimes, or those purchased of foreign slave-dealers. The price of a slave is supposed to have varied from thirty to fifty shekels. See Lev_27:3-4, note; Exo_21:32, note; Zec_11:12-13, note; Mat_26:15, note. It was the object of Moses, not at once to do away with slavery, but to discourage and to mitigate it. The Law would not suffer it to be forgotten that the slave was a man, and protected him in every way that was possible at the time against the injustice or cruelty of his master.

Why is slavery permitted in the Bible?


Slavery was permitted in the Bible because of sin in the world. It existed before the Jews were formed as a nation and it existed after Israel was conquered. God allows many things to happen in the world such as storms, famine, murder, etc. Slavery, like divorce, is not preferred by God. Instead, it is allowed. Where many nations treated their slaves very badly, the Bible gave many rights and privileges to slaves. So, even though it isn't the best way to deal with people, because God has allowed man freedom, slavery then exists. God instructed the Israelites to treat them properly.

* The Bible acknowledged the slave’s status as the property of the master (Ex. 21:23; Lev. 25:46),
* The Bible restricted the master’s power over the slave. Ex. 21:20).
* The slave was a member of the master’s household (Lev. 22:11)
* The slave was required to rest on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:10; Deut. 5:14)
* The slave was required and to participate in religious observances (Gen. 17:13; Exodus 12:44; Lev. 22:11).
* The Bible prohibited extradition of slaves and granted them asylum (Deut. 23:16-17).
* The servitude of a Hebrew debt-slave was limited to six years (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12).
* When a slave was freed, he was to receive gifts that enabled him to survive economically (Deut. 15:14)

The reality of slavery cannot be denied. Slaves were "slave labor played a minor economic role in the ancient Near East, for privately owned slaves functioned more as domestic servants than as an agricultural or industrial labor force."1


You would think that since Leviticus is the atheists favorite book of the Bible, they would be experts in Jewish laws and customs.

Answer 4

What I find funny is peoples' responses to this, reading the rest of the book surrounding that verse doesn't justify child slavery. Here is more slavery in the bible verses to look for.

Exodus 21:2-6
Exodus 21:7-11
Exodus 21:20-21
Ephesians 6:5
1 Timothy 6:1-2
Luke 12:47-48

Answer 5

First. Why do you keep recycling this question???? It HAS been answered everytime you post it.

Question: "Does the Bible condone slavery?”



Answer: The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw the practice altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many people fail to understand is that slavery in the Biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was more of a social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their family. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their master.

The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. Black people were considered slaves because of their nationality – many slave owners truly believed black people to be “inferior human beings” to white people. The Bible most definitely does condemn race-based slavery. Consider the slavery the Hebrews experienced when they were in Egypt. The Hebrew were slaves, not by choice, but because they were Hebrews (Exodus 13:14). The plagues God poured out on Egypt demonstrate how God feels about racial slavery (Exodus 7-11). So, yes, the Bible does condemn some forms of slavery. At the same time, the Bible does seem to allow for other forms of slavery. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries.

Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside-out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God, receiving His salvation – God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, he will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery.

Recommended Resource: Hard Sayings of the Bible by Kaiser, Davids, & Brauch.

Answer 6

so often times this is exacty why the bible is taken out of context, first of all you need to read and understand the whole story and the fact that this is a historial record of what took place many, many years ago. Another issue that you need to apply to this matter is that this is the OT and the NT dealt with the issues that Jesus came to begin a covenant with the people of Israel and this is not to be how we live now but how we can learn not to make the mistakes that the israelites made in their day and time.

Answer 7

Hi again Jim,
Ok, so we BECAUSE GODS PEOPLE have the "right" to seperate ungodly and brotheren from amoungst them, this is no different than when the egyptians enslaved all of Israel as a nation for over 400 years, before God raised up a deliver."to let my people go" etc.
This is never brought up, as far as slavery being an issue toward the Jews/believers that is.

*Here is the issue though-both physical and spiritual.
Gods people were captivated by the outside world around them, and the became captured by them literally and spiritually to a degree.
God(Yeshua, is telling them that if/when they OVERCOME their enemies that this is what to do, AND what to look forward to, hope of overcoming their advisaries-those that deny God himself.
**p.s... scripture in the bible tends to have DUAL MEANINGS, TIMING.
SO.......WHEN THE NATION AS A WHOLE OF ISRAEL IS STRENGTHENED ONCE AGAIN, THEY WILL rULE AND REIGHN OVER THE NONBELIEVER/NON FOLLOWER THAT IS(everyone mostly believes, but does not follow).
Read Revelation. It describes THE 2ND COMING OF JESUS.
AND THAT HIS PEOPLE WILL REIGHN AGAIN.
ALL FOR NOW, GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU SEEK THE TRUTH.
=] LIVE4TRUTH.

Answer 8

Thank God that we don't have to live like that anymore...Our intelligence have grown beyond enslavement....But yet all of us are still enslaved by something....either God or satan, money, our emotions,our family, spouses...ideas...not as far fetched as it sounds...there is a lot about the Bible we will never understand..and maybe God doesn't want us to understand it all?.Why does God allow us the loss of our children in tragic car accidents...our loved ones in wars...why is there hunger,abuse enslavement to drugs and alcohol...I always wonder why can't we just go to sleep and never wake up...why does there have to be tragedy involved...It all feels like a long-dawn out movie sometimes....

Answer 9

Slavery began as a PEOPLE oriented thing and not a GOD oriented thing and as there were many really fallen sinful societies around the Israelites who often posed a threat to the Israelites, God only okay'ed their taking of those in a war as slaves but God had not initially proposed slavery like the way God had proposed the celebrations of Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles and so-forth. Slavery was a thing which was spawned by the sinful societies which existed through out the times and God was trying to eventually lead the willing societies into better ways of life while still having to accommodate to those societie's customs and manners of living rather than to try to force them into total changes of their whole manners of living. God did not like slavery anymore than God liked their drinking of much wine. But God never forced them to never ever drink any wine. Slavery was of MAN and not of GOD. And God had to deal with a sinful society in a manner as to where society could deal with God.

Answer 10

Back in those days many of the wandering tribes would "hitch their wagon"to the Israelites.They always had food etc.A lot of these tribes were starving or under attack.They'd sell their kids to the Israelites as servants.But as you read down it says you treat them as family and not harshly.It also says you set them free after 6 yrs. and if they want to stay (so many did) then you put an ear ring in to show they are voluntarily yours permanently.
Big bad "seeker of truth",why don't you guys get off your high horses.