Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1861-02-09
about it. But let US consult the Levilcal Law

about u. But let as consult the Levilical Law
further.
XeTes a. IS, 20 Both thy bopdmen and thy bond.
mills Whien thou shalt have, shall he OF the heathen that
round about you or them shall We Inv bopn,en ana
eondmads Moreover Of the children Of thy strangers that
families that are with you which they 6eget in YOUR land
and they shall be your possession And ye shall take
an inheritance Tor your children after you, IN inherit them
possession they shall be your bondmen forever
In these passages we find the full reliable
strength OF the pro-savery, scriptural argument.
These are among the grand proof.iext to vindi.
cate American Slavery on divine authority. II
these do not prove that slavery is a scriptural
INSTITUTION, then there is no proof in the Bible
1he simple question: is do these passages, or
any Others, teach the existence Of ChdtteL
StdUery IN the American sense Of .he word
Were the Jews shareholders under the provi-
sions OF this Law, and their slaves property ?
am aware that some antislavery writers
speak OF Jewish servitude, as a mild form of
Slavery and Of bOndnen as slaves. But they
wholly deny the chdtteL element, unless 10 speak
ing OF criminals or cdptiUes taken in war.
take the American definition, as the true one,
and affirm that God neither gave sanction, nor
tolerated 'chattel slavery in the Hebrew Com
monwealth nor did the nation ever practice
it, unless after they apostatized, and then God
rejected them.
1t IS striking fact that there is no word in
the Hebrew language for sldve hence the
Iranslators never use the word 10 translating
Hence, no word synonymous with sLdUe, ever
entered into the Hebrew CODE Had God 20
design IN thus carefully excluding such word.
'Bnt, surely say the advocates Of slavery, the
word 'Bondmen' is equivalent to sLdue and must
mean the same thing The argument of Mr. Van
Dyke for Hebrew slavery, seems to be based.
mainly, on the conclusion that 'bondmen and
slave are Synonymous terms
This deny. And this Mr.. Van DYKE does
not attempt to prove by a single criticism, or
alluslon as to the use, or meaning of the Origi.
nal word Had he faithfully told his bearers,
that there is no HebreC ,COrd for slaue, that the
word translated boadnGn,' is also translated
servant and denotes any one serving 10 any ca
pacity, 1t might have created some doubts as
to the soundness Of his conclusions. Suppose
| call attention to the language Of the Levilical
law. as quoted
First give literal translation of the He
brew text, by a citizen of Virginia, gentleman
Of cdHdor and scholarship
Verse a. And thy mau-servant aud thy maiden which
shall be to the ha bs) from the nations which surround
you From them shall ye procure he) servant and the
maiden
Verse IS And also from the Of the foreigners and tn,
strangers among You from them shall poere-and from
their families which (ae) among which they brought in
to your land and hey) shall be to you for possesson
Verse 46 And ye shall possess them yourselves your
SONS you s spre p 70 Posess W pose m Forever o
Of Israel towards his brother thou shalt rule
with igOr.
In this translation, the words enclosed in
parenthesis, are not in the original, but are sup
piled to render the reading more natural to the
English reader. The words eUedh and anlau
translated 'bondmen' and 'bOndmaids in the
common translation, are both in the singular
number 10 the Hebrew and 10 the sirih verse OF
this same chapter are translated servant and
maid and should have been so translated in
this verse, instead of bondmen' aud bon dmaids.
The word translated heathen' should be render
ed nations as more literal and true TO the ori.
gna.
But let US examine the import of the word
'bondmnn' more critically and see if it is synony
nous with the word 'sIdre, or will admit ol
such an Interpretation. The word 'sldue' ia
definite ard always means one and the same
thing, unless used fguratvely. Technically, il
means literal Stare, one 10 bondage, such as is
imposed by the American slave code. When
we speak of men as slaves to lust or passion
or when we hear the shareholders taunt white
slaves of the north no candid person under
! stands that literal sEdVcs are intended. The
word stdUe therefore and its significance is we'll
understood, and no intelligent person is in dan.
ger Of confounding it with something else,-
some other relation or condition. SLGUe means
slave, and literally, nothing else,-it is the legal
word for 'chdtteLS PERSONAL The Hebrew en-
ployed Que word to denote servitude of any
kind, and that word was ebedh, correctly and
properly translated 'serUGnt.' This is the word
that our translatOrs render bondmen' Now
to attach the idea of StdUe to this word would
not only be false in fact but absurd in theory.
| Suppose we give few examples of the use OF
this word and render it sLdUe. Judah when
pleading before Joseph for Benjamin is made to
say, Now therefore when come to thy slGUe,
my father &C. But was Jacob the slave oI
Pharaoh Again let thy sLdUe abide instead
of the lad, a SLdUe to my Lord So, the Queen
of Sheba speaking OF the officers of SOlomon's
Court is made to say according to this version
Happy are these thy slGUes which stand con.
tinually before thee SauPs officers and sol
ders must be his sLdUes,-David is Jonat athan's
slave-Abigai is Davds slave, and so of a
multitude of cases where minister's and worship
pers of the true God and men in every variety
of service must be slaves if the word transa.
ted 'bondmen means slave Yet this is the
keystone 10 the arch OF Bible slavery Had
the Hebrew word been translated serUdHt, as il
| SlOulu nave Dten slavery WOulu never nave ueV
to the Levitical Law and seized upon the wore
bOadmdn 10 order to vindicate 'chattel slavery,
The transIators being familiar with system O
UilleinGge' peculiar to their country and wish
| ing to express difference between hired ser
wants of Jewish birth, and servants of other
nations, under longer contract Of service, and
perhaps less favored used the term bondmen
/ but never with thought of expressing 'chatte
slavery or they would have used the WORD
slave, instead Of the equivocal term bOndmen.
But, we are told, these 'bondmen' were 'bOugh
tDiM money therefore they must have been
slaves or property.
The word 'buy'-bough with mo
ney,' &c. is very far from expressing the idea o
property 10 man 10 the sense Of 'chattelism.
This the most common reader Of the Bible may
know, simply by taking his concordance and
looking out the word The common Hebrew
word Is 'kaunau' and accord ng to Gesenius tht
highest authority, means TO found, create, +
get, gain, obtain acquire, possess, pHTehGse bug
DC Who would ever think Of deriving slave
~ from this word. But we're persons bought
slaves 2 II is said that Joseph bought th
Egyptians, during the severe famine. Wer
they his slaves Jacob bought his two wlve!
of Laban, their father. Were they his slaves
Boaz bought his wife, Ruth. Was she there
fore his slave 2 might multiply examples o
! tho ,,aa Of baunan IN Oal nhtain buV. NC.. IN