God as Liberator and the Slave

This chapter offers a new approach to the moral quandary of the biblical sanctioning of slavery. The chapter argues that the Bible shapes its ideal view of slavery, not simply as deleterious to the human moral condition but as metaphysically injurious as well. It first conducts a methodical narrative analysis of the term ‘eved , the Hebrew word for slave. It then proceeds to examine the Bible’s strict regulation of slavery which is calibrated to rule it out of existence altogether. Rabbinic law advanced biblical law in further humane directions, limiting the harshness of slavery, culminating in a medieval formulation by Maimonides which presents a model of Jewish philosophical theology through a sophisticated weave of biblical texts, philosophy, theology, and law.

Art · Biblical studies · Epistemology · Hebrew Bible · Ideal (ethics) · Judaism · Limiting · Linguistics · Literature · Metaphysics · Narrative · Theology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Philosophy · doctrines · History of doctrines