The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1853-10-27

nent. At the time of the Conquest the most
numeroqaelass in the community were villeins
or slayesNhe property of thoir lords and in.
capable themselves of holding property" This
species OF bondage resembling in many respects
American slavery, had only totally expired in
England till the reign preceding that in which
tho present version was made. IL was gradu.
ally abolished, not by operation of law, but 10y
the progress Of civilization, which slowly con.
verted the villein into tenant The consist
ency of Slavery with Christianity was not one
OF the questions which In that age engaged
the attention of the Church, and excited theo-
logical controversy. The Fathers of the Eng.
lish Church seemed never to have searched the
Scriptures, TO know if they might lawfully
hold property in man. Tho translators appa.
rently took for granted that the Jews held
slaves, and hence they made their translation
accord with this supposition. Ii must also be
recollocted, that many of their Pro.Slsvery
versions were copied from the earlier English
TRANSACTIONS made in the reign of Horny VIII,
when villensge was still common. To the lib,
erty taken by the translators, of giving Pro
Slavery sense to the Hebrew terms of seryi.
tude, must be attributed the popular impress
sion, that the Jews were themselves slaves in
Egypt. They were subjected to a tyrannical
tax in labor for the State, but they were not
slaves. Instead of being sold throughout the
kingdom, and scattered among the Egyptian
families, they lived together i'll the land of Go
shen, In their osn houses, were governed by
their own officers, and, No far from being inca
pablo OF holding any property, each head of
family was required TO kill for the Pass
over lamb without blemish and on leaving
Egypt, they took with them their fiocks and
herds, even very much cattle" They were, i,
is true, an oppressed people, but we cannot
recognise in their condition feature of chat
eel slavery. There is not the slightest reason
for believing that, before the Exodus, any He
brew but Joseph had ever been sold in Egypt
Yet our English Bibles lead us to look upor
the Jews as slaves. Egypt is the land o
bondage" (9f labor aud the house OF bond
age" lof labor) Their lives we're made bite
with "hard bondage" (hard labor) "Thor
shalt remember thou vast bondman (servan
or laborei) in the land of Egypt"
The instances of arbitrary translatons o
obed are numberless Let few examples suf
doe 1: Let thy servant abide instead of the lad
d bondman to my Lord' The reader of oours,
supposed there is the same distinction in the
original rs in the English, between servant
here mere term OF c)urtesy--and the bond
man OF slave which Judah offers to become
Yet obtd alone is used Let thy obed abide
instead OF the lad, an obed to my lordn S,
Josephs brethren imputed to him the design I,
take them " for bondmen," but the word usec
lis the same with that applied by the Queen o
Shebs to the officers of Solomon's Court
" Happy arc these thy servants, which staut
continually before thee, and that hear thy wis
DOM SO also the terms in the original, sig
off ing women servants, are at pleasure rem
dered landmarks, or bondmaids, while the mere
English reader OF course suppOses that tn,
same difference in meaning is found in tn,
Hebrew
The influence of the opinion held by the
translators in regard TO Hebrew Slavery OF
their version is obvious in various parts Of tn
Engl 81 Bible In Leu. XIV, 80, we have-"I
thy brother that dweleth by thee be waxeI
poor, and he sold unto theen In the 47th vers
Of the same chapter we have" IL a sojourne
Or a stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brothe
that dive ieth by him wax poor, and sell himsc!
unto the stranger or sojourner."
The inference from these two verses is, tina
poor Jew might be sold by his creditor t
one Of his own people, but not TO a foreigner
but that, if he chose, he might contract with
foreigner for his labor Now, strange as
may seem, the Hebrew word rendered be sol
in the fret verse is the identical word rendere
sell himself in tho second The Vulgate
more faithful. la the 39'h verse it is"
paupertate compulsns, vendiderit Sc tib frate
tuus )" and in the 47th verse-" attenuatus fra
ter tuus vendiderit se Ell"
| In both cases the man made q voluntsr
contract to serve six years. In Jer. xxxiv, IA
we have another instance of the desire Of tn
translators to represent Jewish servitude a
Slavery The prophet ID denouncing the wick
cd coerced servitude Of the poor Jews, and re
peats the law Of Moses" Let We 20 evory maj
his brother i'm Hebrew which hath been sole
unto thee, when he hath served thee six years
| ln the margin we have" or hath sold him9J'
| Again, in Jer. ii, II, we have" Is Israel
sersant IL he home-b0rn sidUe" Here th'
translators have honestly put the word slav
in itacs-thus admitting it to be their inter
probation; but the Interpretation betrays tb'
theory which prompted it. Tho true transla
ation is" Is Israel a servant! Was he borr
in the house!D That is, 10 Israel not only
| servant but the son Of domestic? Our trans
ators make Ezra say, awe were bondmen
yet our God hath not iorsaken us in our bond
age, but has extended mercy unto us in the
sight of the Kings of Persia "-Ezrd tx, 3.
The appellation bondmen conveys m idet
very inapplicabc to the condition Of the Jew
IN Babylon They were subjects, tributaries
in certain sense servants, but they we're not
chattes, not the property Of individuals. Som,
were high in Office, some had great wealth, and
Ezra tells us that the emgrants were acompa
med, on their return to Judea, by their ser
vants--of course, voluntary attendants. Jere
miah writing to the captives In Babylon, t.
discourage all expectation of speedy return
exhorts them" Build ye houses and dwell ir
them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit o.
| thcmD-yer. xxx s. Strange advice to bt
given to bondmen, or slaves. Once more Ia
Reu xviii, -, we read of merchandise in "sldve
and souls of men "--in the original "bodle'
and souls IF men" Tho merchandise Of Baby
lon in human bodies and souls may typiiy
either ecclesiastical tyranny and corruption, OF
personal slavery. The Interpolation Of "slaves'
INTO the text, is a comment, not u translation
The Vulgste the Rheims, and it is believed ai
tho Roman Catholic versions, have "Stdves ant
souls of men," while in Tyndal's and Cranmer''
versions, it il bodies and souls Of men }
Strange is il, that King James's translator
should have restored tho Popish reading, evi
IDENTIFY false AZ it is.
Divestng our minds Of all preconceived opn
ions founded on certain words used in OuI
English Bibles expressive Of servitude, let III
proceed ~ tho examination Of the laws Of Mo
SEES prescribing the relations Of master anc
servant
HIRED SERVANTS.
Both Jews and resident foreigners might b
employed rs hired servants: Thou snalt no
Cypress an hired servant, whether he DO of thy
brethren, or OF thy strangers that are in thy
Lnd"-DeM. xiv, Ia. Tho law required Tia,
daily payment Of wages: "The wages Of hin
that is hired shall not abide with thee al
night, until the morning"-Lev. xix, 49, Thu
reason Of this prompt payment was, that the
servant living at home and not in the house o
his employer, needed his wages for the inme
diato maintenance Of himself and family Thu
exactness observed 10 paying the hireling, rem