Exodus 21:18 – 19 “If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed, then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.”
Remember that the Israelites have just come out of Egypt. In Egypt, if you were a commoner, you were in trouble. Priests and nobles could get away with all kinds of abuses. But God has removed the Israelites from Egypt and now He must work to remove Egypt from the Israelites. God wants Israel to be a holy people, so all their social interactions must be placed on the foundations of grace and mercy, not offense and revenge.
If two men fight and one kills the other, this act counts as premeditated murder and the murderer would pay with his life. But now God is introducing a new concept: compensation if a victim is only injured and not killed outright. The man inflicting the injury must not only compensate his victim for working time lost but also must care for him until he is COMPLETELY healed. This law indicates that if the victim never fully recovers, the one inflicting the injury might have to care for him for the rest of his life.
When I was in General Surgery residency, one of our nurses was working in her flower garden next to her house when a drunk driver missed a turn and struck the nurse, pinning her to the wall of the house. This poor lady lost one leg below the knee and one leg above the knee. Because the drunk driver was politically influential, he was not held accountable for this horrific injury but only was fined and had his driving license revoked for a few months. The victim, now a double amputee, suffered through several operations and months of hospitalization and rehabilitation. Although there probably was some compensation from insurance, this driver got off far more lightly than he would have under Mosaic law!
v. 20 – 21 “If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.” (Berean Study Bible)
At first, this provision may seem cruel; however, it actually represents a giant step forward in the treatment of servants and slaves. This provision recognizes the servant or slave as a person for whose death a master can be punished. Previously, masters could kill their servants or slaves without fear of any retribution, but here it indicates that the master himself can be punished.
Some translations of verse 21 state “If he remains alive a day or two,” indicating that the slave might eventually die from the wounds inflicted by the master. This paints quite a different picture from that of a slave who has received a beating as discipline but who recovers within a few days. Those of us who hate slavery passionately would still blame the master; after all, had he not beaten the slave severely, this death would not have occurred. Some commentators argue that the death of a slave represents an economic loss to the master, thereby punishing the master. But what price can you put on a human life?
APPLICATION: Why should we care about these verses? While there were many reasons for the American Civil War, one of the major issues was slavery and its consequences. Abolitionists used these verses to condemn slave owners while slave owners used the same verses to justify slavery itself and their inhumane treatment of their slaves. Anyone choosing to justify evil can always twist Scripture to suit themselves, but that does not make it right. God will not hold us guiltless if we mishandle His Word.
Did God love slaves? Certainly! God loved the Israelite slaves so much that He delivered them from Egypt. We have already studied God’s commandments to the Israelites that those who kidnap human beings, presumably to enslave them, deserve the death penalty. (Historically, those supporting slavery conveniently overlooked the command regarding kidnapping!) Today, God loves those who are working in Third World factories under horrible conditions for tiny amounts of money. Slavery of any kind is not God’s will for people.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving each and everyone of us! Thank you for making provisions so that all people are regarded as persons of worth, fully deserving of your mercy and your grace. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for the sins of the whole world, including the sins we commit each day. Please help us to respect your Word and to handle it carefully, not twisting it to support our prejudices. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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