God's Protections for Young Women in a Passage Everyone Claims as the Opposite
Exploring What the Bible REALLY Says About Slavery
[This article is Part 2 of the chapter exploring Exodus 21:7-11. You can read Part 1 here.]
God’s protections for young women
Now that we’ve established from the text who this woman actually is, let’s proceed to explore everything God lays out for her benefit in this passage.
“When a man sells his daughter as an amah, she shall not go out as the male ebed do” (Exodus 21:7).
As soon as we read this through a modern lens, we assume this means the male ebed are in a better position. We assume the males go out (leave service) easier than the female amah.
It’s just the opposite.
The following verses detail the extra ways in which an amah might go out, ways that did not apply to the men. These laws provide extra protections for women.
“If she does not please her master…” (Exodus 21:8 ESV).
In the modern day, the idea of “pleasing” someone typically carries a sexual connotation. But we can’t allow our modern corruptions to distort the text.
The passage itself carries no sexual connotations. The Hebrew people prized virginity before marriage, in both men and women. They did not carry the loose conception of sexual pleasure being available for recreation. They kept it sacred, reserving it for the committed relationship of marriage. If a man dared to lie with a woman who did not want it, he would be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:25).
Remember the nature of an amah, above. She enters the family in a serving role, hopefully to be married in fully.
But what happens if she is a terrible servant? What if the family discovers she is not the kind of person they want wedded to them?
This is what the passage refers to.
If the woman displays a character or behavior that is repellant to the family, what can they do? The passage clarifies:
“…If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her” (Exodus 21:8 ESV).
Can the family sell her to someone else? No, they can’t, because she is not their property. Even if she is a servant, not having been married yet, she is not a slave — they do not own her. They cannot sell her, because she is a person, not property.
What, then, can they do? They entered into a social contract when they paid the bride price. Everyone expects her to be wed into the family and make her home with them. What can they do to break this social agreement?
They can allow her to be redeemed.
As we saw in the previous chapter, Leviticus contains abundant provisions for redeeming people out of various situations. In this case, her family can redeem her out of her situation, bringing her back home to live with them. Ostensibly, this would involve returning part of the bride price as the price of redemption.
Let’s revisit one such passage:
[…] after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself (Leviticus 25:48-49 ESV).
Notice that redemption is limited to close family — brothers, uncles, cousins, close relations. This emphasizes the point that the woman cannot be sold, not even by cleverly re-naming the process. The master can’t rename selling to “redeeming” and allow a random person with money to “redeem” her. That’s not redemption. Only her own relations may redeem her, to restore her to her family.
Once redeemed, the young woman would return home to her parents. She would resume her old life, hopefully to be married again to a different family — perhaps one more welcoming to her uniqueness.
Note, also, the final line in the verse:
“…since he has broken faith with her.”
Who failed?
Not her.
She didn’t break faith.
He broke faith with her.
If she had been a slave, such a thing would be impossible. If a master isn’t pleased by a slave, he replaces the slave. He doesn’t view himself as breaking faith with the slave, because the slave isn’t on the same level as him. He’s over the slave. The slave does his bidding or else.
Yet in Exodus 21:8, the woman is restored to her family of origin because the master failed her. He entered into an agreement, not just with her family, but with her, personally — and broke it.
He can’t sell her, because she isn’t property who failed him.
He must let her go home, because she’s a person with her own life to live.
“If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter” (Exodus 21:9 ESV).
While the word “designates” might sound a bit crude, the verses are simply distinguishing between whether the head of the household intends to marry the young woman himself, or whether he is seeking a spouse for his son.
If she does marry his son, then she must be treated as a “daughter” — certainly, not as a slave!
Even if this woman entered the family as a servant, coming from a poorer family of origin, she is not to be treated as a slave, nor as a lesser class. From the beginning, she is a daughter — loved by the family, held on equal footing with them.
“If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money” (Exodus 21:10-11 ESV).
We touched on this verse above, but let’s drive the point home: even in the worst case, when the master takes another wife and prefers the second wife over the first, the law will not allow him to neglect his first wife. He must continue to take care of her, giving her all the food, clothing, and rights to have and raise a family of her own. If at any point he fails to give these to her, the law instantly releases her from this man. She is free to find a new home where she will be cared for.
The Law uses this extreme case to demonstrate how intrinsic human rights are.
Ideally, the man will marry one woman, and be devoted to her.
Ideally, the man will love his wife and any children they have.
Ideally, the man sees his wife as an equal with him, both made in the image of God.
Yet even when these ideals fall apart, the Law still requires that he honor this woman with her basic rights.
Freedom as a foundation right
When God wrote His Law, He wove freedom in as a foundational right:
If a young woman is not cared for properly, she is free (Exodus 21:7-11).
If an ebed is not being treated well, they are free (Deuteronomy 23:15-16).
Conversely, if anyone kidnaps a person, depriving them of their freedom, the kidnapper forfeits their own life (Exodus 21:16).
If anyone sells a person, further depriving them of freedom, the seller forfeits their own life (Exodus 21:16).
If anyone possesses someone who has been stolen and sold, perpetuating the loss of freedom, the possessor forfeits their own life (Exodus 21:16).
Yet every passage has its detractors. Several voices still claim this passage refers to as the patria potestas, the right of fathers to sell children into slavery, as practiced by ancient cultures all around Israel.
But these voices miss the very reason God established this passage.
Yes, other cultures tolerated this evil, allowing fathers to sell their children into slavery for money.
But God won’t.
Exodus 21:7-11 exists specifically to prevent the patria potestas. Even if other cultures practiced this in their lands, it cannot exist in Israel. Israelite fathers cannot sell their daughters as slaves. Exodus 21:7-11 contains provision after provision protecting the rights of these vulnerable young women, ensuring that they cannot be sold, they cannot be treated as lessers, they cannot be neglected, and they will go free if they are not cared for well.
A counter-example that ends up proving the point
If Exodus 21:7-11 had meant that fathers could sell their children into slavery, then we should expect to see it somewhere in the text. If God felt the need to write these rules into the start of His Law, we should expect to see this kind of situation all over Israel.
Instead, we never do.
Critics search the Scriptures in vain trying to find any place where fathers callously sell their daughters into slavery for cash. Such a thing simply does not exist. It’s yet another proof that this passage has nothing to do with slavery.
But some will point to Nehemiah 5:4-5, claiming that this passage indicates the kind of slavery they want this passage to depict:
And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. 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” (Nehemiah 5:4-5 ESV).
Indeed, this passage does depict parents selling their kids into slavery.
But why? This is what the critics miss.
Nehemiah 5 describes the struggles of Israelite society to resume living under the Law, after being exiled away from the land for 70 years. When Nehemiah finds out that such a practice is occurring, he is furious.
Nehemiah summons all the nobles and officials who are perpetuating this situation. He rebukes them harshly, charging them to obey God and His Law:
So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good! Out you not to walk in the fear of God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies?” (Nehemiah 5:9 ESV).
Nehemiah’s rebuke worked. The nobles ceased their wicked practices, saying:
“We will do as you say.” […] And all the assembly said “Amen” and praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. (Nehemiah 5:13 ESV).
What was the conclusion of the matter?
Israel went back to obeying the Law. The impoverished families received back their lands and incomes, and everyone who could be rescued out of slavery was. Now that Israel had returned to following the Law, such a thing never happened again.
All of this proves the point: The only example we can find of father selling their daughters is when Israel was not following the Law. They were still in the hangover period of lawless living that occurred in the land during the Exile.
When Israel follows the Law of God, we can’t find a hint of fathers selling their children.
This passage protected young women in Israel, which is why we never see them sold or exploited among those who follow the Law.
