Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-09-25
INDIANAPOLIS, ND, THURSDAY MORNING,

The leading objects OF this chapter are TO
establish and regulste the Sabbatical Year
and the Jubilee.
The first seven verses provide that every
seventh year shall be "a Sabbath of rest unto
the land.' Thou shalt not SOW thy field nor
prune thy vineyard"
The sixth verse declares that ''the sabbath
of the land shall be meat for you; for thee
and for thy Serranf; and for thy maid, and for
thy hired Serrant, and for the stranger that So
journeth with thee"
From the eighth verse, inclusive, TO the end
Of the chapter, the main subject is the jubilee,
recurring once in fifty years, and its bearings
on the various interests of the Hebrew Com
monwealth The 10th verse is in the follow
ing words, viz: " And We shall hallow the
fftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout
ali the land unto all the Inhabitants thereof;
1t shall be a jubilee unto YOU; and We shall re-
turn every man unto his possession. and We
shall return every man unto his family"
This passage so often quoted as evidence
that slavery ceased among the Hebrews every
fifty years, whereas, taking the whole chapter
together, it proves exactly the reverse. In
the first place, the bond servant, not He
brew, never had possession to which he could
return. In the next place, the jubilee was an
institution for the benefit of The Hebrew only,
from which the bond servants of foreign blood
are expressly excluded. The 39th and 43d
verses, inclusive, read as follows:
'And it thy brother that dwelleth by thee
be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, thou
shalt compel him 10 serve as bond servant.
But as hired servant, and a sojourner, he
shall be with thee, and shall serve thee until
the year of the jubilee.
"And then he shall depart from thee, both
he and his children with him, and shall return
unto his own family, and unto the possession
of his fathers shall he return.
"For they are my servants which l brought
forth out OF the land of Egypt; they shall not
be sold as bondmen.
"Thou shalt not rule over him with vigor;
but shall fear thy God.'
Then comes the 4ith, i5lh and 46th verses,
in the following words viz:
"Both the bondmen and bondmaids, which
thou shalt have, shall be of the brethren that
are round about you; of them shall We buy
bondmcn and bondmaids.
Moreover, of the children OF the strangers
that do soiourn among you, of them shall We
buy and OF their families that are with YOU,
which they begat in your land, and they shall
be your possession.
"And yc shall take them as an inheritance
for your children after you, to inherit them
tor possession; they shall be your bondmen
forever; but over your brethren, the children
OF Israel, We shall not rule one over another
with vigor"
Is il possible for language more clearly TO
declare, that while the Hebrew servant was
to be set free in the year of jubilee, the bond
men and bondmaids of foreign blood might be
ha halI ao sshonIpna,,
II there were any room for doubt on this
subject, it would be solved by the 4th verse
of the 2lst chapter of Exodus. in which it is
provided that if the master of the Hebrew
servant "havc given him wife and she have
bore him sons or daughters, the wife and her
children shall be her masters, and he shall 90
out by himself" But If the husband and
father prefer remaining in servitude with the
wife and children, it is provided (verse 6) that
his master shall bring him 10 the door or
unto the door-post, and his master shall bore
his ear through with an awl; and he shall seIre
him torerer."
1t hence appears that when master had
given his Hebrew servant wife, the wife and
children were not to be free with the husband
and father, who might, If he choose, remain a
servant with them, not to the year of jubilee
only, but '..torecer'
A practical illustration of the meaning of
these provisions is found in the saith chapter
of jeremiah. 1t seems that the jews had lal
len into the practice of disregarding the law
and holding their Hebrew brethren in bon
dage more than six years. On being required
to comply with the law they had done so, and
set their Hebrew servants free. Afterward,
however, they resumed control over them and
again reduced them to slavery. For this vio-
lanon Of the law the prophet denounced
against them the most terrible judgments.
The crime, however, did not consist in holding
a Hebrew in bondage sir years or the stranger
torerer; but holding the Hebrew more than
six years. The class of servants to which the
crime was confined, is explicitly stated, in the
9th verse, to-wit: That every man should let
his man-servant, being an Hebrew or an He-
brewess, 90 free; that none should serve HIM
self of them, to-wit of a jew his brother
In Abraham's time, the power of the matter
over the slave appears to have been absolute
nor was It very materially modified by the
laws of Moses.
[Conclusion tomorrow.