Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them. – Deuteronomy 23:16

Today's Scripture Reading (March 11, 2025): Deuteronomy 23

North American slavery was essentially enslaving a race. Slaves were black, and often, they were enslaved by their own people. Wealthy or powerful black warlords would go on slaving raids in Western Africa, capturing and bringing these slaves to the coast, where they would be sold to the white slavers who had brought their ships to the African coast. As a result, slavery in some places in Western Africa almost caused the eradication of people. It was too dangerous if you were not among the ruling tribes to exist in that area of the continent, and sometimes, it was risky even if you were part of the ruling tribe. As a result, vulnerable tribes and people were driven east against their will.

Part of what we often forget is that because slavery involved a race of people, to be free and black was also very dangerous. Stories abound of formerly enslaved people who were attacked in "The New World" and sold back into slavery. It was one reason why formerly enslaved people often chose to remain with the family that had once enslaved them. It was safer to stay among the people you once served than to strike out alone.

Slavery, as described in the Bible, was often slightly different from that experienced in North America. However, understanding that the practice of slavery was different, the slavery that Israel suffered through in Egypt was probably closer to the experience of slavery in the Caribbean and the Southern United States than anywhere else in the world of that day. In Egypt, it was racial (Jews were the ones who were enslaved), it was slavery for life, and children seemed to be born into slavery.

There is another implication when we look at this passage from a distance. Theologians often remind us that the expectation here would seem to only apply to foreign enslaved people. That makes sense. But as Moses speaks, there weren't any enslaved people in Israel. Israel was a nation of escaped slaves who did not want to go back to that existence, not a nation that enslaved others. Every enslaved person Israel would encounter at this time would have belonged to someone else, maybe even a non-Jewish slave from Egypt. Moses insists that they were to treat these enslaved people as they wished others had treated them when they were enslaved, allowing them to live in their cities, not returning them to their masters or oppressing them. 

This passage also appears to foreshadow a time when slavery would not be an acceptable practice, a time when every human being was born and lived free. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 24

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my Dad.