People often ask why the Bible mentions servitude at all, and whether it endorses slavery. This deserves an honest answer. The servitude in Scripture was not the race-based kidnapping and lifelong bondage of later history. In fact, the Bible condemns man-stealing outright and plants the truths that undo slavery altogether.
The short answer
The Bible condemns man-stealing, the kidnapping and selling of people, as a capital crime. The servitude it regulates was largely debt-based and time-limited, very different from race-based chattel slavery. Scripture affirms that all people bear God's image, teaches masters and servants to treat one another rightly, and points to true freedom in Christ.
The Bible condemns man-stealing
The kind of slavery the modern world rightly abhors, seizing people and selling them, is directly condemned in the law of God as worthy of death.
"And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death."Exodus 21:16
The New Testament lists man-stealers, or kidnappers, among the worst of lawbreakers, condemned by sound doctrine.
"For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine."1 Timothy 1:10
Servitude in the Bible was different
Much of the servitude in the Old Testament was a way for the poor to pay debts, and the law limited it in time and protected the servant's dignity.
"If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing."Exodus 21:2
Masters were held responsible for how they treated their servants, and cruelty was punished, which is unlike the lawless brutality of race-based slavery.
"And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake."Exodus 21:26
The seeds of freedom
The gospel treats every person as equal before God, master and servant alike, and calls masters to justice, which undermines the whole logic of owning people.
"And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him."Ephesians 6:9
Paul urged a runaway servant to be received back as a beloved brother, not property, which is the gospel quietly dismantling slavery from within.
"Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?"Philemon 1:16
A common misunderstanding
Some assume that because the Bible mentions servitude, it endorses the race-based slavery of later centuries. It does not. That system was built on man-stealing, which the Bible calls a capital crime, and on the lie that some races are less human, which the Bible flatly denies. The truths of Scripture, that all bear God's image and that in Christ there is neither bond nor free, are exactly what fueled Christians to fight slavery and abolish it. The Bible does not bless slavery. It carries the seeds of its undoing, and true freedom in Christ is deeper still.
You are welcome to talk with us
If questions like this have made you doubt the Bible, we would love to talk them through honestly with you. There is real freedom to be found in Christ, and a warm welcome at our church in Greenwood. Please reach out any time, or come and visit us this Sunday.