This is rough incomplete version.  I have decided to divide the topic into a three part series, because it touches on a thread (at least in my heart) about the righteousness of God in His dealings with man.  When we look at the topic of slavery, we immediately see it through 19th century abolitionist eyes.  We wonder why the God of Abraham Lincoln did not emancipate the evils of the world.  I hope you learn as much from this as the Lord has taught me.

What is a DOULOI?

My wife keeps asking me what the point of all the research I put into this explanation.  I been telling her that the simple explanation is in the FAQ page, but I want to post a more in depth explanation for those with more questions.  First douloi is the nomative masculine plural form of doulos.

What was Hebrew Slavery?

Egyptian Slavery

When the Pentateuch was written, the Jewish people had spent about 400 years in Egypt and a good part of that was slavery to Pharaoh.  Pharaoh had good reason to be scared of the Hebrew people.   Genesis 46 says the number of Jacob’s family numbered 70 when he went to dwell in Egypt.  In 400 years the number had increased to 603,550 (Numbers 1:46) and that is just counting the men capable of combat.  Their population basically doubled every 30 or so years.  If our population increased that fast then the United States would reach a billion people in about 60 years.  Also, the Hebrew men tended to live long lives and produce many children, even in their old age.  The average lifespan of an Egyptian was 40 years, but Moses records the average age of a Hebrew was 70 years (Psalms 90:10).  Some of the Patriarchs lived to be far older Jacob was 130, Joseph was 110, and Moses was 120 (He was probably 80 when he wrote the psalm.).  In the modern world population growth tends to decrease with increase in life expectancy, but this was not the case with the Hebrews.  Needless to say Pharaoh, if he hoped to secure his dynasty, had a major problem.  He chose to curtail the problem by enslaving the Hebrew people and killing all the male children.

Hebrew Slavery

The above in know way legitimizes the involuntary enslavement of an entire ethnicity, just like understanding the economics of Germany does not legitimize the Holocaust.  It just helps one to understand the politics of the region. 

After the Exodus, the Jewish people needed a standard of law to maintain order.  Just reading the topics covered in Leviticus gives one a bearing on the ground that God had to cover.  Just think he actually had to mention all of that stuff, one would hope that most of it would go with out saying.  The Law was given to provide legal precedent, ceremonial organization, and moral guidance. 

If Exodus is at all organized by priority, it is interesting to not the position of the legislation regarding slavery.  After the Ten Commandments, the people ask God not to speak directly to them and Moses gives instruction about the construction of an altar.  The first written law about slavery is right after this, but before the laws about physical injury.

² "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

⁵ "But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' ⁶ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

⁷ "If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. ⁸ If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, ^[b] he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. ¹¹ If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.  

Exodus 21:2-11 NIV*

The Hebrew slave would have to be set free every six years.  If he was originally single he would leave single.  If he was originally married then he would leave married.  If his wife had been given to him by his master and she had bared him children, his family would not be freed with him.   A female slave that the master marries to his son or himself could be freed or at least given the rights of daughter.  Also, if the man marries a second wife and does not provide her with three things (food, clothing, and sex) she is given her freedom.  No Hebrew was ever meant to be enslaved against their will to anyone.

If one’s wife and children were still enslaved, the husband/father had the option of voluntarily becoming a life long slave.  He was not forced to do so, but he could voluntarily choose to stay with his master and family.  This is the concept of the term doulos.