Difference between revisions of "Status of a wife provided to a freed slave/es"

Revision as of 14:44, 18 September 2020

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Primero, debemos entender estas leyes de esclavitud / servidumbre contra una motivación de fondo: que el sistema voluntario de esclavitud / servidumbre de la ley bíblica funcionó como una especie de sistema de bienestar para proteger y apoyar a aquellos que tenían dificultades para proveerse de forma independiente. Excepto (quizás) en el caso de las leyes que obligaban a los delincuentes a pagar sus deudas por servidumbre, todas las demás leyes de servidumbre tenían el objetivo de liberar eventualmente a todos los que estaban en servidumbre (si eran capaces de mantenerse por sí mismos, obviamente algunos las personas no eran capaces de sostenerse por sí mismas debido a alguna discapacidad u otra). Parte de la razón del regalo de manumisión (Deut. 15: 12-15) fue darle al hombre recién liberado algo de capital inicial para hacer esto.

Female slaves/servants would be set free in their seventh year if they were able to be supported/protected by someone, such as a husband or relative. They would not be forced to provide for themselves in a subsistence economy with no land possession. On the other hand, if a master gave a wife to his servant, the servant has incurred an additional debt of a bridewealth (mohar) payment (there is a similar example in the case of Joseph/Laban). He gets the benefit of having a wife and being able to produce children, but he has not yet demonstrated that he can support her independently. Rather than burden him immediately -- along with his own freedom -- with the responsibility to also support a wife (and possibly children), the master continues in that responsibility until the freed servant can pay him a bridewealth payment as a "redemption" for her.

The fact that a servant is freed does not require him to separate from his wife or live elsewhere. This case law is merely establishing the responsibility of care for the woman and children. Also note that there is no indication that either slave was forced into the marriage.

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-First, we must understand these slavery/servanthood laws against a background motivation: that the voluntary slavery/servanthood system of Biblical law functioned as a kind of welfare system to protect and support those who had difficulty providing independently for themselves. Except (perhaps) in the case of laws that forced servanthood upon property criminals who were paying back their debt, all other servitude laws had the goal of eventually freeing everyone who was in servitude (if they were capable of providing for themselves -- obviously some people were not capable of sustaining themselves because of some disability or other). Part of the reason for the manumission gift (Deut. 15:12-15) was to give the newly freed man some starting capital in order to do this.
+Primero, debemos entender estas leyes de esclavitud / servidumbre contra una motivación de fondo: que el sistema voluntario de esclavitud / servidumbre de la ley bíblica funcionó como una especie de sistema de bienestar para proteger y apoyar a aquellos que tenían dificultades para proveerse de forma independiente. Excepto (quizás) en el caso de las leyes que obligaban a los delincuentes a pagar sus deudas por servidumbre, todas las demás leyes de servidumbre tenían el objetivo de liberar eventualmente a todos los que estaban en servidumbre (si eran capaces de mantenerse por sí mismos, obviamente algunos las personas no eran capaces de sostenerse por sí mismas debido a alguna discapacidad u otra). Parte de la razón del regalo de manumisión (Deut. 15: 12-15) fue darle al hombre recién liberado algo de capital inicial para hacer esto.
 Female slaves/servants would be set free in their seventh year if they were able to be supported/protected by someone, such as a husband or relative. They would not be forced to provide for themselves in a subsistence economy with no land possession. On the other hand, if a master gave a wife to his servant, the servant has incurred an additional debt of a bridewealth (''mohar'') payment (there is a similar example in the case of Joseph/Laban). He gets the benefit of having a wife and being able to produce children, but he has not yet demonstrated that he can support her independently. Rather than burden him immediately -- along with his own freedom -- with the responsibility to also support a wife (and possibly children), the master continues in that responsibility until the freed servant can pay him a bridewealth payment as a "redemption" for her.