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Allegations must be met with texts that speak in the covenant’s own voice, and responses must be forged in the furnace of law, prophecy, and apostolic witness. The claim that God condones buying people as property fails when the law’s architecture is read in its full frame. The legal provision for Hebrew debt-servitude is bound to time, release, and generosity; service runs six years and exits in the seventh, and release is accompanied by provision, not by emptiness. Foreign household service exists, but even there, the community is forbidden commerce in persons through anti-kidnapping law, and the house is bound to sabbath rest and injury manumission. The logic of absolute ownership collapses under these constraints, for the covenant refuses to treat persons as transferable goods without remainder. The household is commanded to operate as a sanctuary of measured labor and release, not as a warehouse of bodies.
Original: שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד וּבַשְּׁבִעִת יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי חִנָּם
Transliteration: šēš šānīm ya‘ăḇōḏ; ūḇaššeḇī‘īt yēṣē’ laḥopšī ḥinnām
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): Six years: he shall serve; and in the seventh: he shall go out: to freedom: gratis. (Leningrad – Exodus – 21 – 2)
Original: וְכִי־יָמוּךְ אָחִיךָ עִמָּךְ וְנִמְכַּר־לָךְ לֹא תַעֲבֹד בּוֹ עֲבֹדַת עָבֶד
Transliteration: wəkī-yāmūḵ ’āḥīḵā ‘immāḵ; wenimḵar-lāḵ; lō ta‘ăḇōḏ bō ‘ăḇodat ‘āḇeḏ
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And when: your brother: becomes poor: with you; and he is sold: to you; you shall not serve: in him: service of a bondman. (Leningrad – Leviticus – 25 – 39)
The allegation that selling or kidnapping humans is allowed breaks against the legal wall that declares man-stealing and sale a capital offense, and the apostolic condemnation that names enslavers among those who reject sound order. The law does not permit commerce in persons as a category of property; it punishes it with death. The NT does not normalize the trade; it stigmatizes it with a word reserved for those who turn men into booty. Between Torah and gospel, the artery of trafficking is severed.
Original: וְגֹנֵב אִישׁ וּמְכָרוֹ וְנִמְצָא בְּיָדוֹ מוֹת יוּמָת
Transliteration: wəgonēḇ ’īš; uməḵārō; wənimṣā’ bəyādō; mōṯ yūmāṯ
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And one who steals: a man; and sells him; and he is found: in his hand; death: he shall be put to death. (Leningrad – Exodus – 21 – 16)
Original: לֹא יִמָּצֵא בְךָ גֹּנֵב נֶפֶשׁ מֵאֶחָיו יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהִתְעַמֵּר בּוֹ וּמְכָרוֹ
Transliteration: lo yimmaṣē’ ḇeḵā gonēḇ nefeš mē’eḥāy yiśrā’ēl; wehit‘ammer bō; uməḵārō
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): You do not find: in you: one who steals: a life: from his brothers: of Yisra’el; and he oppresses: in him; and sells him. (Leningrad – Deuteronomy – 24 – 7)
Original: ἀνδραποδισταῖς
Transliteration: andrapodistais
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): To enslavers: man-stealers. (Sinaiticus – 1 Timothy – 1 – 10)
The allegation that beating slaves is permitted must be read with the legal nuance that assesses intent, outcome, and remedy. The text recognizes discipline in a harsh world and establishes court oversight, but it makes permanent injury the trigger for immediate freedom. Where violence attempts to settle as normal, the law transforms the wound into a door of release. Harm-reduction is not approval; it is the refusal to permit cruelty to be consequence-free.
Original: מַכֵּה עַבְדּוֹ אוֹ אֲמָתוֹ בְּשֵׁבֶט וָמֵת תַּחַת יָדוֹ נָקֹם יִנָּקֵם
Transliteration: makkēh ‘aḇdō ’ō ’ămātō bəšēḇeṭ; wāmet taḥat yādō; nāqōm yinnāqēm
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): One strikes: his male servant: or his female servant: with a staff; and he dies: under his hand; vengeance: shall be avenged. (Leningrad – Exodus – 21 – 20)
Original: וְכִי יַכֶּה אִישׁ אֶת־עֵין עַבְדּוֹ אוֹ אֶת־עֵין אֲמָתוֹ וְשִׁחֲתָהּ לַחָפְשִׁי יְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ תַּחַת עֵינָהּ
Transliteration: wəkī yakkēh ’īš ’eṯ-‘ēn ‘aḇdō ’ō ’eṯ-‘ēn ’ămātō; wəšiḥătāh; laḥopšī yəšalleḥennū; taḥat ‘ēnāh
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And when: a man: strikes the eye: of his male servant: or the eye: of his female servant; and he ruins it; to freedom: he sends him; for her eye. (Leningrad – Exodus – 21 – 26)
The allegation that slavery is perpetual for some rests on a misreading that does not weigh foreign service within the entire covenant lattice. While foreign servants could be held long-term, the community’s law still installs asylum for runaways, sabbath rest, injury manumission, and jubilee resets that rethread social fabric and restrain generational bondage. The covenant’s architecture makes perpetual exploitation structurally difficult and ethically forbidden.
Original: וְלֹא־תַסְגִּיר עֶבֶד אֶל־אֲדֹנָיו אֲשֶׁר יִנָּס מֵאִתְּךָ אֵלֶיךָ
Transliteration: lō-taśgīr ‘eḇeḏ ’el-’ăḏōnāyw ’ăšer yinnās mē’ittəḵā ’ēleyḵā
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): You shall not deliver: a servant: to his master: who has fled: from you: to you. (Leningrad – Deuteronomy – 23 – 15)
Original: לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתֶךָ כָּמוֹךָ
Transliteration: ləma‘an yānūaḥ ‘aḇdəḵā wa’ămāṯeḵā kāmōḵā
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): So that: your male servant: and your female servant: may rest: like you. (Leningrad – Exodus – 20 – 10)
Original: וּקְרָאתֶם דְּרוֹר בָּאָרֶץ לְכָל־יֹשְׁבֶיהָ יֹבֵל הִוא
Transliteration: ūqərā’ṯem dərōr bā’āreṣ ləḵol-yōšḇeihā; yōḇēl hīw’
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And you shall proclaim: liberty: in the land: to all its inhabitants; a Jubilee: it is. (Leningrad – Leviticus – 25 – 10)
The allegation that runaway slaves must be returned is directly contradicted by law that forbids delivery and commands settlement with non-oppression. The covenant reverses imperial practice; fugitives find sanctuary, not capture.
Original: לֹא־תַסְגִּיר עֶבֶד אֶל־אֲדֹנָיו אֲשֶׁר יִנָּס מֵאִתְּךָ אֵלֶיךָ
Transliteration: lō-taśgīr ‘eḇeḏ ’el-’ăḏōnāyw ’ăšer yinnās mē’ittəḵā ’ēleyḵā
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): You shall not deliver: a servant: to his master: who has fled: from you: to you. (Leningrad – Deuteronomy – 23 – 15)
Original: וְעִמָּךְ יֵשֵׁב בְּקִרְבֶּךָ בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר בְּאַחַד שְׁעָרֶיךָ בַּטּוֹב לוֹ לֹא תוֹנֶנּוּ
Transliteration: we‘immāḵ yēšēḇ bəqirbəḵā bammāqōm ’ăšer yiḇḥar bə’aḥaḏ še‘āreyḵā; baṭṭōḇ lō; lō’ tōnennū
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): With you: he shall dwell: in your midst: at the place: he chooses: in one of your gates; where good is: for him; you shall not oppress: him. (Leningrad – Deuteronomy – 23 – 16)
The allegation that the NT endorses slavery because it instructs slaves to obey is corrected by reading the household codes in full. These instructions meet status as it exists and bind both sides under one Master. Slaves render service as to the Anointed; masters present justice and equality knowing their own Master judges without partiality. The codes regulate reality; they do not create or bless the institution. The gospel’s witness erodes possession by making status kneel before heaven’s bench.
Original: οἱ δοῦλοι, ὑπακούετε τοῖς κυρίοις κατὰ σάρκα… ὡς τῷ Χριστῷ
Transliteration: hoi douloi, hypakoiete tois kyriois kata sarka… hōs tō Christō
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): The slaves: obey: to the masters: according to flesh… as: to the Anointed. (Sinaiticus – Ephesians – 6 – 5)
Original: οἱ κύριοι, τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὴν ἰσότητα τοῖς δούλοις παρίστατε
Transliteration: hoi kyrioi, to dikaion kai tēn isotēta tois doulois paristate
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): The masters: present: the just: and the equality: to the slaves. (Sinaiticus – Colossians – 4 – 1)
The allegation that Paul supports slaveholding dissolves under the letter that reframes a runaway not as property but as beloved brother and under the counsel that urges freedom when possible. The apostolic appeal presses the logic of kinship into the social bond, indicating that the return cannot be a reinstatement of possession but an embrace within the family of faith. Where freedom is possible, it is urged; where status remains, it is judged by the Master in heaven.
Original: οὐκέτι ὡς δοῦλον, ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ δοῦλον, ἀδελφὸν ἀγαπητόν
Transliteration: ouketi hōs doulon, all’ hyper doulon, adelphon agapēton
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): No longer: as a slave; but: beyond a slave; a brother: beloved. (Sinaiticus – Philemon – 1 – 16)
Original: εἰ καὶ δύνασαι ἐλεύθερος γενέσθαι, μᾶλλον χρῆσαι
Transliteration: ei kai dynasai eleutheros genesthai, mallon chrēsai
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): If even: you are able: free: to become; rather: use [it]. (Sinaiticus – 1 Corinthians – 7 – 21)
The allegation that God is indifferent and that the Messiah is silent about bondage is answered by the public mission statement that proclaims release to captives and by the Golden Rule and neighbor-love that render ownership of persons incompatible with the ethic of the kingdom. The Anointed reads release into the assembly; the rule forbids doing to others what one would not have done to oneself; the command binds love to neighbor as self. Indifference is thus impossible under the gospel’s grammar.
Original: πνεῦμα Κυρίου ἐπ’ ἐμέ… κηρῦξαι αἰχμαλώτοις ἄφεσιν
Transliteration: pneuma Kyriou ep’ eme… kēryxai aichmalōtois aphesis
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): Spirit: of the Lord: upon: me… to proclaim: to captives: release. (Sinaiticus – Luke – 4 – 18)
Original: πάντα οὖν ὅσα ἐὰν θέλητε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς
Transliteration: panta oun hosa ean thēlēte hina poiōsin hymin hoi anthrōpoi, houtōs kai hymeis poieite autois
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): All things: therefore: as many things: you may will: that: men: do: to you; thus: also: you: do: to them. (Sinaiticus – Matthew – 7 – 12)
Original: ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν
Transliteration: agapēseis ton plēsion sou hōs seauton
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Sinaiticus, SVO): You shall love: the neighbor: of you: as: yourself. (Sinaiticus – Matthew – 22 – 39)
The allegation that Scripture objectifies people is overturned by the image-bearing confession, by wisdom’s recognition of shared formation in the womb, and by the psalmic and Deuteronomic witness that God executes justice for the oppressed and loves the stranger. The texts stitch dignity into law and worship, placing God’s defense over the vulnerable and making objectification a violation of divine honor.
Original: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ
Transliteration: wayyōmer ’ĕlōhīm na‘ăśeh ’āḏām bəṣalmēnū kidmūṯēnū
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And God: said; let us make: man: in our image: according: to our likeness. (Leningrad – Genesis – 1 – 26)
Original: הֲלֹא־בַבֶּטֶן עֹשֵׂנִי עָשָׂהוּ וַיְכֻנֶּנּוּ בָּרֶחֶם אֶחָד
Transliteration: halō’-babbeṭen ‘ōśēnī ‘āśāhū; wayəkunnennū bāreḥem ’eḥāḏ
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): Did not: in the womb: the one who made me: make him; and He established us: in the belly: one. (Leningrad – Job – 31 – 15)
Original: עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט לַעֲשׁוּקִים נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לָרְעֵבִים יְהוָה מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים
Transliteration: ‘ōśeh mišpaṭ la‘ăšūqīm; nōṯēn leḥem larə‘ēḇīm; YHWH mattīr ’ăsūrīm
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): Doing: justice: for the oppressed ones; giving: bread: to the hungry ones; YHWH: releasing: the bound ones. (Leningrad – Psalm – 146 – 7)
Original: עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה וְאֹהֵב גֵּר
Transliteration: ‘ōśeh mišpaṭ yāṯōm wə’almānāh; wə’ōhēḇ gēr
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): Doing: justice: for the orphan: and the widow; and loving: the sojourner. (Leningrad – Deuteronomy – 10 – 18)
The allegation that prophets tolerate oppression is reversed by their cries, which command the opening of bonds, the releasing of the crushed, and the refusal to sell the righteous for silver. The prophetic witness condemns re-enslavement, calls assemblies to keep covenants of release, and rebukes leaders who turn kin into collateral. The prophets stand as guardians over memory and justice, declaring that worship without liberation is a lie.
Original: הֲלוֹא זֶה צֹום אֶבְחָרֶה… שַׁלַּח רְצוּצִים חָפְשִׁי
Transliteration: halō’ zeh ṣōm ’eḇḥāreh… šallaḥ rəṣūṣīm ḥopšī
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): Is not this: the fast: I choose… to send: the crushed ones: free. (Leningrad – Isaiah – 58 – 6)
Original: עַל־מִכְרָם בְּכֶסֶף צַדִּיק וְאֶבְיוֹן בַּעֲבוּר נַֽעֲלָיִם
Transliteration: ‘al-mikhrām bəḵeseph ṣaddīq; wə’ebyōn ba‘ăḇūr na‘ălāyim
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): For selling: with silver: the righteous; and the poor: for a pair of sandals. (Leningrad – Amos – 2 – 6)
Original: וַיְשַׁבֶּם לַעֲבָדִים וְלַשְּׁפָחוֹת
Transliteration: wayyaššəḇem la‘ăḇāḏīm wəlašəfāḥōṯ
Literal Interlinear Etymological Translation in English (Aleppo/Leningrad, SVO): And they brought them back: to male servants: and to female servants. (Leningrad – Jeremiah – 34 – 11)
These allegation-response pairs demonstrate that Scripture does not condone ownership of persons but confronts the institution of slavery by forbidding trafficking, constraining service, installing remedies, protecting fugitives, demanding release, dignifying labor with sabbath, and reframing status under the Lord’s judgment and the gospel’s kinship. The house that listens to this voice cannot rebuild Egypt within its walls; it must practice mercy, justice, and liberation.
