Book of the Law: Worker, Servant, Slave, Foreigner

Law of Moses pertaining to hired worker, servant, slave and foreigner

Leviticus 26:13

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.

Hired worker

Deuteronomy 24

14

Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.

15

Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Hebrew servant

Deuteronomy 15

12

If any of your people--Hebrew men or women--sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.

13

And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed.

14

Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the LORD your God has blessed you.

15

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.

16

But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you,

17

then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

18

Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

Leviticus 25

39

“ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.

40

They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you; they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.

41

Then they and their children are to be released, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors.

42

Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.

Redemption of Israelite servant in the service of a foreigner

Leviticus 25

47

“ ‘If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigner’s clan,

48

they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves. One of their relatives may redeem them:

49

An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves.

50

They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years.

51

If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them.

52

If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly.

53

They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year; you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly.

54

“ ‘Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee,

55

for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Slave

It should be noted that slavery existed during the days of Moses. The Israelites themselves were enslaved in Egypt; they were oppressed with forced labour and worked ruthlessly until Yahweh redeemed them—Exodus 1:11–14. 

The Law of Moses pertaining to slaves ensured that slaves acquired by Israelites were not oppressed.

Leviticus 25:44

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves.

Deuteronomy 23

15

If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master.

16

Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.

Sacred offering could only be eaten by the priest's family and his slave but not his guest or hired hand.

Leviticus 22

10

No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.

11

But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.

It is important to note that the word slave does not occur in the prophetic Scriptures about Israel—when the Messiah shall rule on the throne of David.

Foreigner

Leviticus 19:34

The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Exodus 22:21

Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.

Leviticus 24:22

You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 1

16

And I charged your judges at that time, "Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.

17

Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it."