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Philippians and Philemon: Prison Epistles, Part 2

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Philippians (Philippians 1–4)
    22 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Philippians: Suffering and Community (Philippians Review)
    22 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Overview of Philemon
    22 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Paul and Slavery (Philemon, Romans 6 Review)
    17 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Social Impact
    9 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Slavery was a standard feature of ancient Near Eastern economies. Israel was not an exception. In the Old Testament, we find passages that regulate and appear to endorse the practice, like this one in Leviticus:

Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly. 
Leviticus 25:44-46 NIV

The Hebrew word behind our word “slave” is eved (also written ebed). Looking at the different ways this word was used in the Old Testament helps us understand what it meant in that context. Rather than an economic system or status, eved refers generally in the Old Testament to subservience and a type of work or service. This term wasn’t applied to a course of people but to everyone in Israel, in one way or another. Favored individuals and sometimes even kings were eveds of God, as we can see in this passage in Jeremiah:

Then say to them, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them.” 
Jeremiah 43:10 NIV

And this passage in Genesis: 

That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 
Genesis 26:24 NIV

The Hebrew word behind our English word “servant” in these passages is the same behind the word “slave” in the Leviticus passage above. In the Jeremiah passage, it corresponds to a throne being established and a royal canopy being spread out—a very different association than we might assume for the word “slave.” In the Genesis passage, it refers to an intimate relationship and covenant with YHWH and the blessings that are associated with this. While eved is used in a different context in the Leviticus passage, it’s clear that our contemporary sense of the word “slave” is far different from the biblical one, which was more nuanced. 

Reference: Adapted directly from a Peter Williams lecture with his permission.

Dr. Peter J. Williams is the Principal of Tyndale House, a Cambridge-based research institute housing one of the world’s most advanced libraries for biblical scholarship. To learn more, visit: https://tyndalehouse.com.