Slavery in the Bible

Table of Contents

In this article, I have provided all references from the Bible, showing how it acknowledges the history of slavery and commands how slaves should be treated. However, it is important to note that the concept of slavery cannot be defined in simplistic modern terms, just as war cannot be stopped merely by saying “stop.” It requires time, action, and a deeper understanding of the circumstances.

BIBLICAL RULES FOR SELLING YOUR DAUGHTERS

Ah yes, the divine moral code that Christians claim is the ultimate guide-yet it has rules for selling daughters. But hey, don’t blame us, blame the Bible itself:

📖Exodus 21:7-11
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. 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 21:1-3
“Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 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 out alone…”

Christian Excuses vs. Reality

Of course, when these verses are brought up, Christians suddenly turn into professional historians:
🔹 “Oh, but slavery was different back then!” – Sure, because selling your daughter sounds so much better when it’s indentured servitude.
🔹 “God was just regulating what was already happening!” – So instead of saying “Don’t sell your daughters,” God gave step-by-step instructions on how to do it right?
🔹 “It was part of the culture!” – And yet, Christianity claims absolute morality that never changes? So was selling daughters moral back then but immoral now?

Understanding the Context

Look, we get it. The Bible didn’t introduce slavery; it found people already practicing it. So instead of abolishing it, it gave rules to regulate it within that society. The issue isn’t that slavery existed—the issue is that the Bible never set a path to end it. Even Jesus didn’t bother to say, “Hey guys, maybe don’t own people?” And this isn’t just a problem in Christianity. Hindu scriptures also support slavery, where even Krishna gifted slaves to people as a divine reward:

📖Mahabharata 13:82
“I now give thee, O son of Pandu, this gold, this gem, this pearl, these slaves, male and female, this sea of milk, these robes and ornaments.”

📖Rig Veda 10.62.10
“Indra himself gave Manu wealth, and happy dwellings, steeds, and kine, and horses, golden-bedecked chariots, and slaves.”

So let’s get this straight- Krishna was literally giving out human beings as gifts? And Hindus still want to talk about slavery in other religions?

Related Article: Slavery In Hinduism

How Islam Handled It Differently

When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came, he also found a society where slavery existed. But instead of writing rules to make it last forever, Islam:

Encouraged freeing slaves as an act of righteousness (Qur’an 90:13)
Made freeing slaves mandatory for certain sins (Qur’an 4:92)
Declared all humans equal, regardless of status (Qur’an 49:13)

Instead of saying “Here’s how to properly sell your daughter,” Islam set a plan to eliminate these practices over time.

The Real Question for Christians & Hindus

If slavery was so bad, why did your own gods and prophets allow it? Why did Krishna give slaves instead of freeing them? Why did the Bible regulate slavery instead of ending it? Your own scriptures allow and even encourage slavery, while Islam worked to abolish it. If morality comes from God, why does yours come with a slave handbook?

BIBLICAL RULES ON SLAVERY: THE HOLY SLAVE MANUAL

Ah yes, the “ultimate moral guide”, the Bible, which not only allows slavery but actively regulates it. While Christians today act like slavery was always evil, their own holy book treats it like an everyday practice—because, well, it was! But hey, don’t take my word for it, let’s see what the Bible itself says:

📖Leviticus 25:44-46
“As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: YOU MAY BUY MALE AND FEMALE SLAVES FROM AMONG THE NATIONS THAT ARE AROUND YOU. You may also buy them from among the strangers who sojourn with you…”

So wait… you could literally buy slaves from surrounding nations? But I thought Christianity was all about love and equality? 🤔

2️⃣ Servants, Obey Your Masters-Even the Abusive Ones!

📖1 Peter 2:18
“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.”

📖Ephesians 6:5
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ.”

📖Colossians 3:22
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”

📖Titus 2:9-10
Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith…”

No matter how badly your master treats you, shut up and obey. And if you’re wondering why Christian slave owners in history felt no guilt, well… because the Bible told them they were right! 🤷‍♂️

3️⃣ Beating Your Slaves? No Problem, Just Don’t Kill Them Immediately!

📖Exodus 21:20-21
“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he shall not be avenged, for the slave is his money.”

Let that sink in: As long as your slave doesn’t die immediately, it’s fine—because hey, they’re just your property. So, Christian slave owners in America who whipped their slaves? They were following Biblical law perfectly.

📖Exodus 21:26-27
“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.”

So basically, if you injure them badly enough, then okay, maybe they can go free. But notice how the Bible never says slavery is wrong, only that you shouldn’t beat them too much!

Biblical Rules on Slavery – A Product of Its Time

The Bible does not introduce slavery but instead acknowledges and regulates an already existing system. In ancient societies, slavery was a universal economic practice, not limited to one region or religion. The Bible found people practicing slavery, so rather than abolishing it outright, it set rules to regulate and control it in a way that was considered just within that context.

Why Did the Bible Allow Slavery?

During the time the Bible was written, slavery was:

A worldwide norm – Every major civilization (Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Hindus) practiced slavery.
An economic necessity – Societies depended on laborers, and there were no modern wage-based systems.
A result of war and debt – Many slaves were prisoners of war or people who sold themselves into servitude due to poverty.

Because of this, the Bible did not instantly abolish slavery but instead introduced laws to manage it. The goal was likely to make slavery more humane within those societies—at least by their standards.

BIBLICAL RULES ON FORCED MARRIAGE – TAKING CAPTIVE WOMEN

Ah, the Bible-the supposed “book of love and morality.” Yet here we are, reading a verse that literally allows men to take captive women as wives after war.

📖Deuteronomy 21:10-14
“When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails, and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.”

So… The Bible Allows Forced Marriage?

🔹 Step 1: Go to war ☠️
🔹 Step 2: Kill her people 🔥
🔹 Step 3: See a pretty woman? Take her home 💀
🔹 Step 4: Force her to shave her head & change her clothes 👀
🔹 Step 5: Make her your wife without her consent 💍
🔹 Step 6: If you’re “not pleased” with her, let her go—but hey, at least you can’t sell her as a slave, right? 🤡

So Christians have the audacity to attack Islam, yet their own book allows kidnapping women, shaving their heads, and forcibly marrying them just because a man is “attracted” to them!?

But Wait… Jesus is the Savior, So Why Did He Say NOTHING Against Slavery!?

Christians claim that Jesus came to save humanity and bring truth, so why did he never say a single word against slavery!?

📖Jesus never spoke against slavery – In fact, the New Testament tells slaves to obey their masters (Ephesians 6:5, Colossians 3:22).

If Jesus could:
✔ Flip tables in the temple 😡
✔ Call Pharisees hypocrites 😤
✔ Curse a fig tree for no reason 🌿🔥

Then why couldn’t he say one simple sentence like “Slavery is wrong!?” Was it really that hard? If Jesus was truly the “light of the world,” why did he leave millions of slaves in darkness for centuries!?

Additional Insights

Christianity’s Historical Connection to Slavery

Christianity not only failed to condemn slavery but actually played a major role in justifying it:

🔹 The Catholic Church endorsed slavery for centuries! The Dum Diversas papal bull (1452) authorized Portugal to capture and enslave non-Christians.
🔹 The Transatlantic Slave Trade was justified using the Bible! Christian slave owners used verses like Ephesians 6:5 (“Slaves, obey your masters”) to keep Africans in chains.
🔹 The Southern U.S. used Christianity to defend slavery! Pro-slavery preachers argued that slavery was a “divinely sanctioned institution.”

A Quote From Thomas Jefferson

Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth…..

Additional Information

In this article, we have added references from the Bible about slavery, and nowhere does it say these things are wrong or should be abolished. Instead, the Bible acknowledges and regulates slavery rather than ending it, Of course, the Bible didn’t create slavery, it simply found it being practiced, just like other religions and societies of that time. For that period, slavery was normal and fit within society, just like how strict parental control over children was once necessary for survival, but today, society functions with more independence, Just as a child cannot be given complete freedom immediately and must be gradually guided into adulthood, societies could not be forced to abandon slavery overnight. God allowed it within a structured system because the mindset of people needed time to evolve, So the real question is: If slavery was allowed because it was deeply rooted in society, why didn’t Jesus ever set a path to end it? If the Bible was truly a divine guide for all time, why didn’t it give a long-term plan to phase out slavery, as Islam did?