Exodus Pt. 7. A Few More Laws

 

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The Ten Commandments Was 

Just a Warm-up

Welcome back. Sorry if you've been anxiously waiting for the next installment, we're coming up on a whole bunch of material that, to be honest, I've found to be a bit of a slog. Also, I have a couple of other books I'm reading right now that are rather difficult to put down, and although I'm only about halfway through each of them I can recommend both.

• Gator Country, by Rebecca Renner, is at once a true crime tale and a personal examination of her beloved home state of Florida. The writing transports you to the wilds and the places that used to be even wilder, and introduces you to people who are very much of the land where they live.
• The Great Abolitionist, by Stephen Puleo, brings us the life of a truly remarkable man who should occupy a whole lot more space in our history books. Charles Sumner usually gets a brief mention as the victim of a brutal caning on the floor of Congress in the 1850's, but his life up to that point and then subsequent to that horrific act of violence perpetrated by a South Carolina representative name of Preston Reed, tells of a remarkable man who bravely, stubbornly, single-mindedly battled against slavery, the Original Sin of the United States of America. This story, in particular, is resonating with me as I come across reference after reference in the Old Testament to the accepted, seemingly Endorsed by God, practice of one person owning another. 

    And that leads us to Chapter 21, which immediately follows the Ten Commandments and the warning against climbing altar steps.

    The subtitle of Chapter 21 is..."The Law concerning Slaves", and I've got to tell you, it is disturbing, especially as these laws are supposed to have come directly from Ol' Yahweh his own darn self. Here's a sample, referring to the proper etiquette to follow when a Hebrew slave has served his seven years and is eligible for parole:

    4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go alone.

    Which means that if a male slave gets married during his period of servitude, his family belongs to the "master" and the slave has to choose between his own freedom and keeping the family together. If he wants to stay with his wife and kids he gets his ear pierced with an awl and he's stuck as a slave for life. Nice.

    Another thing that comes to mind here is that these rules are aimed at the gentry in possession of Hebrew slaves, in other words persons who could very well be members of the same congregation as their masters and overlords. What about imported slaves, or slaves that have been raised in agnostic or Unitarian households? Does the seven year indenture not apply? Does anything go as far as disposition of spouses and offspring? I suppose we might find more slave related material later on, but for now this seems like pretty slim contract material. 

    Verses 7-11 deal with daughters being sold by their fathers and how things should be arranged if the purchaser either decides she's not quite what he had in mind, or he's going to pass her on to one of his sons. Somehow within these few verses, the female slave's title morphs into "wife", although this comes up in a passage about the rights she should retain if Dad Master or Son Master makes additions to the harem. For the umpteenth time, women are presented as mere possessions here in the Old Testament, quite the demotion from their original promised title of "partner" given in Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 18. If Eve had known what her sex was in for she may have decided to remain a rib.

    But let's move on.

    The chapter continues with "The Law concerning Violence". Here we get what seem to be a few random scenarios of someone whaling on somebody else followed by the consequences or lack of consequences deemed appropriate by God. There are a number of acts that, according to The Word of God, warrant the death penalty.

• Striking a person mortally.
• Unless it wasn't premeditated, then the perpetrator can flee to a place designated by God. Altars are mentioned, but there is no caution about going up the steps and the view accorded to those below.
• Striking ones father or mother.
• Kidnapping.
• Cursing ones father or mother. Yep, that'll get you the death penalty, so watch your mouth.
• When a slaveowner strikes a slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately.
• But if the slave lingers for a day or three before succumbing to his or her wounds, "there is no punishment: for the slave is the owner's property."

    We have some lesser punishments for other very specific scenarios.

• Striking a person with a stone or fist to the point that the victim is confined to bed results in no penalties outside of an obligation to pay for "loss of time, and to arrange for full recovery." This is, of course, dependent upon the victim recovering and being able to walk around outside "with the help of a staff."
• Anyone injuring a pregnant woman and causing a miscarriage is only liable for whatever financial compensation the woman's husband thinks is reasonable. If the attack on the woman results in injuries beyond miscarriage, then we get the famous "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe".
• And if a slave owner puts out the eye of a slave that slave gets to go free. Same deal if they knock out one of the slave's teeth. It is nice to see the humanity coming forward here, isn't it?

    No mentions about road rage or spousal abuse or schoolyard bullying or political assassination or mugging or...you get the picture, there are some gaps.

    Next we have a lot of rules about what happens when livestock are involved. Sometimes the punishment extends only to the beast in question, but sometimes the owner is held liable too. If you or your neighbors have any oxen inclined to mischief, I suggest you read up in Exodus, Chapter 21, verses 28-36, just in case. It just might save you from being stoned. The being pelted with rocks until you're dead kind of stoned, not the Cheech and Chong kind.

And that is all we have time for today. We need to do a Costco run and I need to get some guitar practice time in if I'm going to stand any chance of getting my fingertips nicely calloused.

*From our tour of the Louvre. If you know the name of the sculpture, please let me know. I just liked his enthusiasm.