Which came first slavery or the Bible?

[Abishai100]

Army of Darkness: Affliction

Human groups have always sought ways to make labor more efficient and divide tasks among groups who have formed resource-utility contracts.

With any kind of labor contract, there comes the need for leadership and deliberation, and as with anything else, a human being will form multiple models for problem-solving. Hence, contract-formation will lead to the development of different kinds of governance methods (i.e., monarchy, egalitarianism, etc.).

It seems that the 'instinct' to create slavery (or coerced labor) would be as old as early cavemen instincts to 'find' wives by dragging them into caves for marriage.

Therefore, we can imagine that slavery is as old to humanity as is warfare.

The folk story of the Golden Arm relates the tale of betrayal and fortune-hunting which meets with eerie and severe retribution. This story suggests that ambition (or greed) is related to wrath. Greed and wrath are primal fears, and the Bible caters to any kind of natural angst. I would say that the Bible is more like history and slavery instincts preceded the writing of the Scriptures.




The Golden Arm

 

[Hawkins]

The Israel slavery system has nothing to do with the slavery system adopted by human branches back then. It is just intended to be a labor system helping out the poor.

First the Jews are told to help each other out without one selling himself as a slave. If in the case that one has to sell himself as a slave the owner should only treat him as a worker/labor/helper instead of a slave. The slave will automatically released from slavery in the Jubilee year. And a slave will only work for at most 6 years and will have to be released from slavery in the 7 year.

If a female slave is unwilling to take part into a marriage (either as wife or concubine), she should be returned to her father. No re-selling of slaves against their will. If the female slave is willing to, she can be married with the owner, or the owner's son, or another owner who is willing to take her as wife/concubine, or the owner's male slave.

As time goes by, the system as exploited by the greedy so at Jeremiah's time God called (through Jeremiah) for the complete cancellation of such a slavery system.


On the other hand, since the non-Jews (such as the Egyptians) enslaved (and killed) the Jews, under the "Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth" policy, God allows the Jews enslave the non-Jews, and using another set of rules which are far better than what the Egyptians adapted.

 

[koshergrl]

The best thing about this ridiculous thread is how serious everybody takes themselves.