The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-11-03

IN without any farther contract; he is to serv
!. him continually without intermissiOn till re
n leased, with all other servants in the land, a
o. the Jubilee. There can scarcely be doub
that this is the true meaning of the law, AM
l.. especially as this was the meaning which tn
j Jews themselves attached to it. Josephus tell
us that the servant who chose to remain Will
y his master was set free only at the coming o
% the Jubilee which is the ffteth year.
o iv, ch. s.
r. TREATMENT OF HEBREW SERVANTS.
II In Lev. XIV, 39-43, we fnd the following
II iniunctions II thy brother that dwellcth by
IS thee be waxen poor and be sold unto thee (sel
: himself) thou shalt not compel him to serve a.
bondman, servant but as hired servant
r and as a sojOurner he shall be unto thee, and
d shall serve thee unto the year of Jubilee, and
8 then shall he depart from thee, both he and
{ his children with him, and shall return unto
= his own family and unto the possession of his
r fathers shall he return for they are my ser
= wants which | brought out of the land OF
@ Egypt; they shall not be sold "a bondmen (ser-
1 vants) Thou shalt not rule over him with
= rigor, but shall fear thy Cod
2 This reference to the Jubilee has already
been explained The law now under consider
alton is given IN connection with the establish
. ment of the institution of the year OF release.
The general law limiting service to six years
is here accommodated to the Jubilee; when the
six years would extend beyond the year of Ju-
: bee, then the service is to terminate at that
! year.
We find in this law some general principles
laid down, which were to influence the con-
, science of the master not specific enactments
, controlling his conduct: Thou shalt not COM
, pei him TO serve as a servant" they shall
, not be sold as servants What are we to un-
derstand by these expressions and how are
such declarations TO be reconciled with the va
rious legal provisions made respecting the sale
of Hebrews as SERVANTS, and with the fact that
Hebrew servants are spoken of so frequently in
the books of Moses The transators not I'M
derstandng the spirit Of the prohibition to
compel Hebrew to serve as a servant, and of
Hebrews being sold as servants, SO apparently
at variance with the whole code of servitude,
thought proper to substitute bOndman and
bOndmen for servant and servants thus CON
veying the idea that although Hebrews might
be servants, they might not be Slaves. The
command, "ThOu shalt not compel him to
serve as servant" is explained by the next
clause OF the sentence: But as hired servant
and as q SOiOurner shall he be unto thee" la
OtueT dilHOuBn Ho rs JpuT StTNd,st anu
is bound to obey your orders and TO perform
any labor you may require of him. still you are
morally bound to treat him with kindness and
consideration. A hired servant is one who
contracts to do a specific work for paw and he
is not bound ordinarily to do any and every
kind of work Now, be considerable to your
servant, and, instead of exercising an arbitrary
authority over him. behave towards him with
the same forbearance and moderation you
would show to hired servant whose wages
you must pay at night, and who will not re-
turn to you in the morning if you treat him ILL.,
Instead OF treating your servant as a servant
as one who has no will of his own, and to whose
feelings you pay no regard-treat him as So
Journer in your family, as he really is and do |
you try to make him comfortable and happy |
Such Is the true meaning of the in junction not
to treat an Obed as an Obed and it explains |
the declaration, "They were my servants which |
brought out of the land Of Egypt; they shall |
not be sold as SerudntsD This is not predic- |
tlOn for many Jews have been sold among their |
cOnquerors nor is it prohibition of Jews sell |
ing themselves servants, for this the law most
explicitly allowed. lie - "A mere repetition of |
the rule just quoted enforced by the consider |
alton OF the favor shown to the Jews by God |
himself. The whole spirit of the rule is com
prised in the precept " Thou shalt not rule |
over him with rgor, but shall fear thy God" |
To rule with rigor is an indefinite expression, |
and the language, instead Of being defined by |
law, is left to be interpreted and applied in the
fear of God, by each master for himself
Such are the great moral rules given by the
Mosaic law with regard to the treatment of
domestic servants The benevOlence which
dictated these rules is farther displayed in tho
manner in which masters are required to dis
miss their servants on the expiration of their |
six years service: "When thou sendcst him |
out free from thee, thou shalt not let him 20 |
away empty; thou shalt furnish him literally
out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out
of thy wine press" Here, again, is an injunc-
ton addressed to the conscience of the master.
He is to make liberal present to his departing
servant, of meat, and grain and wine but how
much of each is left to his own sense of duty
The Injunction il intended to excite kind in
terest in the future welfare of the servant, while
the amount of the gifts to be made TO him are
very properly to be governed by circumstances,
and not by positive law.
FAMILIAR INTERCOURSE BETWEEN MAS
TIERS AND SERVANTS.
We have already seen that the sx.year do
mestcs were Incorporated into their masters
family Hence the servant of priest might
eat holy flesh, a privilege denied to the married
daughter of the priest himself. SO tho servant
eat the Passover with his master, which a
friend or lodger in the house could not do. All
this proves that the servant was considered "a
member of the family. Az such, he united with
the family in its religious social rites. OF course,
all the men servants went up to Jerusalem
three times year, with their masters, to OBJ
serve the ritual solemnties XIII, IL. The
feast of Weeks was a national festival, held at
Jerusalem, and the command respecting it is,
Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,
thou and thy son and thy daughter, and thy
man servant and thy maid servant"-Deut.
xvi, IL. SO also Mt the feast of Tabernacles:
Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast thou and thy
son and thy daughter, and thy man servant
and thy maid seivant.'-Dem. xvi. IA
Not only were the servants partakers Of the
great annual ieasts, but they were also parta
kers of the ordinary feasts which followed the
sacrifices. Thus: There shall be place
which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause
his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring
all that command you your burnt offerings
and your sacrifices, your titbes, and tho heave-
Offering of your hand, and all your choice vows
which yc vow unto the Lord and shall re-
joice before the Lord your God ye and your
sons and your daughters, and your men ser.
wants and your maid servants. '-Deut XII H.
H.
, We have already seen that the law contem.
plated that the master and his sons might in
termarry with the maid servants, and that il
guards these women from becoming the yctm
of fraud. Not only did sous of the family marry
. maid servants, but masters gave their daugh
ters to men servants. Thus we learn, incident
. ally that Sheshan gave his daughter to hi
servant for wife, and that this servant was
= stranger, an Egyptian Chr. ii, 81 w,
= find Samuel, then at the head of the Jewish
y Common wealth, giving : select dinner party
as it would SEEM in honor of Saul, and bring
ING Saul and his S,rp1ut into tho narlnr IN,