Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1852-02-18
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Letters 10 Northern UniOnfsts on
tie Scripture View Of Slavery.
LETTER no. B.

INVESTIGATION OF HEBREW woRDs.-A-
NAH, a femGle slaue.-SHIpHcHAH, a fam
iiy bond-1coman.- Translation of these
terms iu The .4lerandrine Version Of the
Old Testament.
RESPECTED FRIENDs,-In seeking 10 as
certain the exact import of the principle
Hebrew words, which are used in reference
TO slavery, it will be most convenient, to
begin with those which are applied to fe-
male slaves. OF these there are two which
were in frequent use. One of these is a.
nah. do not undertake to give, the He
brew pronunciation; but only 70 represent
the words in the simplest manner possible.
This word is used, in the Hebrew Bible,
fifty-six times. In four instances, it is
translated bond-Doman !; in two, bond-maid i;
in twenty-three kandmaid; IN nineteen maid
serranl; and in eight, simply maid. All these
English terms are applied to slaves; the two
first mentioned, invariably the other three
are ambiguous. We can easily determine
the meaning of the original word from its
usage. Usage, or as it is technically called
by Interpreters, the usus loquendi; ; is ac-
knowledged to be the regulation of the
sense of all words. To show the usage of
this word, will quote from the English
Bible. giving IN italics the words which cor
respond to it.
The Hebrew word Gmah is applied to per-
sons who are bought and sold. Lev. IS: A,
"Both thy bondmen. and thy bondmaids,
which thou shalt have, shall be of the hea-
then that are round about you, of them shall
ye buy bondmcn and 6ondmaids." Ex. 21:
7, "If man sell his daughter to be maid
serrani." The word is found in list OF
property. Dcut. s.: 81, Neither shalt thou
covet thy neighbor's house, his field, or his
man-servant, or his maid-servant, or his OK,
or his ass.' Notice the location ofthe word
between "feld" and ox."-It is applied
to those who are expressly declared to be
property. Ex. 2l: 20, 21, "And if a man
smite his servant, or his maid, with rod,
and he die under his hand he shall be
surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he
continue day or two, he shall not be pun
ished for he is his money" Lev. % DO,
"They shall be your possession; )" spoken
in reference to the "bond-men and bond
maids" mentioned in the preceding verse.
In the next verse it is said "And We shall
take them as an inheritance for your chill
dren after you, to inherit them for posses
sion" The word is applied to those who
may be emancipated, CT continued in sla-
very. Elk. 21: 26, "And if q man smite
the eye of his servant, or the eye of his
maid, that it perish; he shall let him 90
free for his eyes sake Also VS.. 7, 27,
and Deut. Is: 17.-Compensation was TO
be given for the loss Of the amah. Ex. 21:
80, IF the OK shall push man-seryant or
maid-seruanl he shall give unto their mas
ter thirty shekels of silver."-She is distin-
guished from the hired servant. Lev. 25:
6, "For thee, and for thy servant, and thy
maid, and for thy hired servant Deut 10:
1.-THE term is applied to those who are
know to have been slaves: to Hagar, Gen,
21: 10, "Cast out this bond-;coman and her
son : for the son of this bond-woman" &C.,
VS.. 10, 13. To Bilhab, Gen. 80: 9.-In all
the above cases, the conneXion makes it
plain that the word designates slaue.
There is another class Of texts in which
the word is used, after the Hebrew manner
in the form Of respectful address to supe-
rior Thus Abigail says to David, Sam.
25: "a, "Let thine hand-maid, l pray thee,
speak in thine audience, and hear the words
of thine hand-maid." VS.. 25, %, 81, Al
The other passages where it is used in this
manner are, Judg. 19: 19-Ruth 8 81
Sam. 1: II, 16--2. Sam. IA: ID, 16, and
90: Ill Kings L: 13, II, and 8: 90
Psalm Sc: IS, and 116: 16. This mode of
expression was in general use among the
Hebrews. We have something similar to
It among ourselves. One gentleman, wri-
ting to another subscribes himself "Your
most obedlent and humble servant" He
does not mean that he is really "obedient"
or "humble," or even that he IS "servant"
at all, either bond or hired. So free born
Israelites could apply to themselves term
which signiied slave, and mean nothing
more by it, than a mark of respect TO those
whom they addressed. This usage of the
word comports very well with the idea, that
it means a s1ave especially considering the
profound reverence, with which the Orlen-
tails are accustomed to treat superiors.
There are other passages, in which the
word amah is used in literal sense, and in
which the connexion makes it more or less
probable that it is applied to slave but in
which the proof from the connexion alone
is not decisive. We have seen that in Deut.
5: 21, the meaning Of the word is manifest
because it is found in list Of property
There are several other texts containing it,
which are so similar. as to make it probable,
that in them it has the same sense. This
is true in special manner of one text, be-
cause it is contained in the same chapter,
with the one referred to: it is v. IA. 1t
commands that, in the Sabbath :-"Ihou
shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servaat, nor
thy mdid-servant, nor thine OK, ," &C., "that
thy man-seryant and thy maid-serrant may
rest as we'll as thou In the next verse it
is added as a reason :--"And remember that
thou vast servant in the land of Egypt"
The other similar passages are Ex. 20: III,
17-Deut. 12: u, IS, and IS: II, A.
There are other texts in which like prob
ability is afforded in different ways, Judg.
9: 1S-2 Sam. 6: 20, 22-Ezra q: Co
Neh7: 81.
There remain to be noticed only six
other passages in which the word is found:
Gen. 90: 17-Ex. 2:5, and 23: 12-Job
19: IS, and 81: 13-Nah. 2:7. In no one
of these, do we find any reason why it
should not be understood as signifying
slave. Something might be said to show
that some of them favor that meaning; but
we can afford to be generous, and we set
them all down as having no weight on Ell