The practices of child slavery and forced marriage in the Old Testament

[jmt356]

A man who purchases a Hebrew girl as a slave (Exo 21:7) is given the following options:
1. If he has betrothed her to himself and she does not please him, then he shall let her be redeemed (Exo 21:8).
2. If he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters (Exo 21:9).
3. If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights (Exo 21:10).
4. And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money (Exo 21:11).

My questions: What does it mean in Exo 21:8 that he must let her be redeemed?

Do Jews follow these practices today?

Are Christian groups that fight child slavery, forced marriage and sex trafficking acting contrary to the Old Testament law?

 

[JohnDB]

Anthropology experts of the Ancient Near East tell us all about this.

People went into slavery because of debt...kinda often. Especially if your parents died and there wasn't any other family members to adopt you.

Redeemed/ransomed...
A person owning a woman slave may have made her property but it didn't excuse treating her without respect or as if she was worthless. Meaning that if you wanted her as a wife you had to pay for her as you would for any other bride that had a father and demanded a bride price for her. Which meant you had to give her a sizeable amount of money if you wanted to divorce her.

Today we have divorce courts...no one does this today...nor do they practice slavery.

When the Old Testament was written God spoke to the Jews in context of the world as it existed. Which was over 5500 years ago.

And we have a new Covenant today. Which doesn't have much in the way of codified laws...just guidelines that seal up loopholes and are much easier to violate.

 

[jasonc]

No modern Jewry doesn't

 

[Who Me]

My questions: What does it mean in Exo 21:8 that he must let her be redeemed?

Are Christian groups that fight child slavery, forced marriage and sex trafficking acting contrary to the Old Testament law?

Buy. Bible commentary or subscribe to biblegateway to get access to the background knowledge you need.

Your first quest. A man as purchased a girl. He does not like her, so he must let her be redeemed, that is bought back.


Are Christian s opposing God's laws today. No. Is thesimple answer?
A question for you.

Who were God's laws given to,who had to obey them?
Any idea?

It tells you in exodus etc the laws were given through Moses to the people of Israel, they are there laws to make thema you people.

We are not of the Kingdom of Israel, there is no King or Kingdom, there is no land or country where this laws apply.

So in opposing sex trafficking and slavery we are not breaking God's laws.


Re read them again. N a world of small traders and self supporting farmers the regulations protect those being sold, yes sold. Before you explode what social security was there?
Who looked after the poor. Read about the jubilee and what it meant.

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

A man who purchases a Hebrew girl as a slave (Exo 21:7) is given the following options:
1. If he has betrothed her to himself and she does not please him, then he shall let her be redeemed (Exo 21:8).
2. If he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters (Exo 21:9).
3. If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights (Exo 21:10).
4. And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money (Exo 21:11).

My questions: What does it mean in Exo 21:8 that he must let her be redeemed?

Do Jews follow these practices today?

Are Christian groups that fight child slavery, forced marriage and sex trafficking acting contrary to the Old Testament law?

Jesus gave us a better way.
We learn from him.

 

[jmt356]

JohnDB:

A man who purchases a Hebrew girl as a slave (Exo 21:7) is given the following options:

- If he has betrothed her to himself and she does not please him, then he shall let her be redeemed (Exo 21:8).
- If he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters (Exo 21:9).
- If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marriage rights (Exo 21:10).
- And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money (Exo 21:11).

A man who purchases a Hebrew girl is required to pay for her. Once he pays for her, she becomes his property. I see nothing here that requires him to pay her if he divorces her, and I am not aware of anything else in the Bible that requires this.

Traditionally, the family of a bride would pay the husband a dowry. The husband returns the dowry to the wife if he divorces her. However, I believe this is culture and tradition and is not mandated by the Bible.

Who Me:

If a man purchases a Hebrew girl and she does not please him, he can sell her back to her father, correct? Is it like a return for a refund where he gets his money back?

Note that this is the opposite of what JohnDB Seems to be saying above, which is that if you wanted to divorce a woman, you “had to give her a sizeable amount of money,” not that if you send her back to her father that you could get your money back for her. I do not believe JohnDB’s comment applies to the context of Exodus 21, which deals with the sale of Hebrew girls (as opposed to marriage and the payment of dowries to husbands and the return o fa dowry to a wife in the event of a divorce).

 

[JAG ..]

I don't have much interest in the subject of the Opening Post, but I did read through it and I remembered that I have a book in my library that has a section titled "Servant Girl As Prospective Wife : Exodus 21:7-11."

I will post some information about the book just in case there are some readers of this thread that do have an interest in the subject of the Opening Post and wish to pursue their interest and buy the book.

The book is written by Paul Copan who is a Christian Apologist and a friend of William Lane Craig who is considered to be one of Christendom's top apologists.

Paul Copan wrote this book in defense of the Christian faith, especially in light of the vicious attacks on Christianity by the so-called "new atheists" such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens.

As we all know these 4 atheists have launched a vicious attack on the God of the Bible, especially on the God of the Old Testament. Paul Copan seeks to defend the God of the Bible and especially the God of the Old Testament from the specific attacks made by these 4 atheists.

The book in titled "Is The God Of The Old Testament A Moral Monster? : Making Sense Of The Old Testament God", by Paul Copan. paperback, 252 pages.

The section of Paul Copan's book that deals with the subject of the Opening Post --"Servant Girl As Prospective Wife: Exodus 21:7-11" is on pages 113-115.

Amazon.com has the book, new, for $10.99 plus S/H

Amazon.com: Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Audible Audio Edition): Paul Copan, Claton Butcher, Baker Books: Audible Books & Originals

Amazon.com: Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God (Audible Audio Edition): Paul Copan, Claton Butcher, Baker Books: Audible Books & Originals

www.amazon.com

Its a very informative and helpful work on Christian Apologetics.

 

[Tertul]

My questions: What does it mean in Exo 21:8 that he must let her be redeemed?

Do Jews follow these practices today?

Are Christian groups that fight child slavery, forced marriage and sex trafficking acting contrary to the Old Testament law?

Hi

1) Redeemed: return the girl to her father and get a refund.

2) Christians are the true Jews. You mean Talmudists, and they are less biblical than Muslims. If Talmudists practice selling their children, it's not widespread.

3) Nothing in the Old Testament requires anyone to sell their children. Nothing in the Old Testament requires any government to allow the practice. So, no, fighting forced marriage and sex trafficking is not contrary to the Bible. Further, modern sex trafficking is nothing like the ancient Israelite practice of arranged marriages.

 

[Prycejosh1987]

My questions: What does it mean in Exo 21:8 that he must let her be redeemed?

I think it basically means let her go and be free to marry someone else. This is what the verse seems to be implying.