There were two classes of servants among the Jews. The first, those who
were taken from among themselves; the second, those obtained of the
strange nations by which they were surrounded, or who were taken captive
in battle. This second class of servants were called bondmen and
bondwomen. The former class were denominated servants. The practice
authorized by law, regarding those who were the lineal descendants of
Abraham, placed men and women in the very same relation to the master,
who was bound to reward them alike when the period of service should
terminate. This is evident from Deuteronomy xv, 12-17: "And if thy
brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve
thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from
thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let
him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock,
and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. ... And it shall be, if he say
unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and
thine house, because he is well with thee; then thou shalt take an awl,
and thrust it through his ear into the door, and he shall be thy servant
forever. And also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise."
Those who declare that the law of Moses makes a distinction in the
matter of release from servitude, between men-servants and
maid-servants, to the disadvantage of the latter, in confirmation of
their assertion quote Exodus xxi, 7; but if they read also, in
connection with it, the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh verses of the
same chapter, a careful consideration of the entire passage will, we
think, clearly show that the reference therein contained is not to the
ordinary maid-servant, but to one whose master had betrothed her to
himself, or to his son.
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