Subduction Zone
Veteran Member
Well... like I said. The woman is his "wife" not concubine, not handmaid. We agree to this point right?
Also, the verse is talking about a Hebrew slave. That's right there in the verse.
It's well known that intermarriage is forbidden in Judaism.
We're explicitly forbidden to make a covenant with any of them, the other nations. What do you think a marriage is? That's a covenant.
There was no official conversion in ancient times. The process happened often through marriage.
Earliest Form of “Conversion” was AssimilationSo, in this context, "wife" means Jewish.
While there were no “conversions,” many non-Israelites joined the Israelite community, often through marriage or acceptance of the beliefs and practices of the community.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/conversion-history-ancient-period/
Yes, the children would also need to go free after 7 years or Jubilee which ever came first. Yes, infants make terrible slaves. More reason that this law actually discourages rather than encourages.
No, I'm not reading it a particular way just because I don't like the ramifications. I am perfectly comfortable with all the issues, the brutality, the negative role-modeling, that happens in the Hebrew bible.
This one particular idea, tricking someone to becoming a permanent slave is creative, but, doesn't quite fit.
Yes, it does say "wife". I will agree with that. But I just checked, The translation that I used does not say that she is a "Hebrew". It only says that she is a slave. And chattel slavery was allowed and did exist. That has already been covered. Do I need to quote that verse? Those slaves were not to be Hebrews, but female Hebrew slaves did have quite a bit in common with foreign slaves. Their slavery was for life. So the wife, would was the master's property even if she was Hebrew.
And yes, eventually people were likely to have been assimilated. But we are not talking about that here. The passage made it very clear that the woman was still the owner's property. The children were still the owner's property. To be with his wife and children he had to volunteer to be a slave for life. To me that is tricking a man. A young lonely and horny man does not give a lot of thought to the future. If he was a decent person he would not have wanted to abandon his wife and kids.
Perhaps you do not like the word "tricked". How about blackmail? They are both rather vile ways to force someone to "volunteer" to be a slave for life.