Appendix II — Bible Passages Discussing the Release of Slaves

Old Testament

• Exodus 21:2 states that when a Hebrew slave is purchased, they are to serve for six years, and in the seventh year, they are to be released without payment, enjoying freedom.

² When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.

• Deuteronomy 15:12-18 outlines the regulations concerning Hebrew slaves. A Hebrew man or woman sold into servitude is to serve for six years, and in the seventh year, they are to be released with provisions and not sent away empty-handed. If the slave chooses to remain with their master out of love and loyalty, their ear is pierced as a sign of lifelong servitude. This law emphasizes compassionate treatment of slaves, reflecting God’s redemption of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

¹² “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. ¹⁶ But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave forever. And to your female slave you shall do the same. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

• Leviticus 25:10 institutes the Year of Jubilee, occurring every fiftieth year, when liberty is proclaimed throughout the land for all its inhabitants. During this year, each person returns to their ancestral property and clan, highlighting God’s provision for restoration and freedom.

¹⁰ And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

• Nehemiah 5:1-13 recounts Nehemiah’s response to a crisis among the Jews where some were forced to mortgage their properties due to famine and pay heavy taxes. Outraged, Nehemiah confronts the nobles and officials for exacting interest from their own people and enslaving their fellow Jews. He calls for justice, urging the return of seized properties and the cessation of oppressive practices, ultimately securing a commitment from the assembly to rectify their wrongs before God.

¹ Now there arose a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. ² For there were those who said, “With our sons and our daughters, we are many. So let us get grain, that we may eat and keep alive.” ³ There were also those who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine.” ⁴ And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. ⁵ Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

⁶ I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. ⁷ I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them ⁸ and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. ⁹ So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? ¹⁰ Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. ¹¹ Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” ¹² Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. ¹³ I also shook out the fold of my garment and said, “So may God shake out every man from his house and from his labor who does not keep this promise. So may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the Lord. And the people did as they had promised.

• Isaiah 61:1-3 declares the mission of the anointed servant of the Lord. He is empowered by the Spirit to bring good news to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and release those imprisoned. This passage foretells God’s plan for restoration, comfort, and transformation, symbolized by exchanging mourning for joy and despair for praise, ultimately glorifying the Lord through the transformation of His people.

¹ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

• Jeremiah 34:8-22 recounts how King Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem initially made a covenant to proclaim liberty to their Hebrew slaves, fulfilling the commandment to release them after six years of service. However, they later reneged on this covenant and enslaved them again. God rebukes them through Jeremiah, emphasizing that their actions profaned His name and broke the covenant made when He delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. As a consequence, God declares impending judgment, including war, famine, and captivity by their enemies, as punishment for their disobedience and injustice.

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them, ⁹ that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. ¹⁰ And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. ¹² The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ¹⁴ ‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.’ But your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. ¹⁵ You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name, ¹⁶ but then you turned around and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

¹⁷ “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— ¹⁹ the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. ²⁰ And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. ²¹ And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.”

New Testament

• 1 Corinthians 7:21-24 advises bondservants (slaves) who become Christians to not overly concern themselves with their status, but if they have the opportunity to gain freedom, they should take it. Whether free or enslaved, they are encouraged to live for the Lord, recognizing that they belong to Christ and not to human masters. The passage emphasizes spiritual freedom in Christ as paramount, regardless of one’s earthly circumstances.

²¹ Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) ²² For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. ²³ You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. ²⁴ So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

• Philemon is a personal letter from the apostle Paul to Philemon, a Christian in Colossae. It addresses the return of Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus, whom Paul had converted to Christianity during his imprisonment. Paul appeals to Philemon to receive Onesimus back, not as a slave but as a beloved brother in Christ, urging Philemon to forgive him and treat him with kindness. The letter demonstrates Paul’s advocacy for reconciliation and equality among believers, regardless of their social status.