Jesus on Slavery (and Usury)

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 4:43 AM

Premises 

1. The OT does not forbid slavery in general: it forbids it if exerted towards another person belonging to God’s covenant with Israel, IOW towards fellow Israelites.

44 'Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites (achim bene Yisra'el) ruthlessly. (Lev 25:44-46)

2. There are more than one word in the OT Hebrew that are translated into the English “neighbour”: `amiyth, qarowb, rea`, r@`uwth, shaken. By far the most important word for “neighbour” in the OT Hebrew is rea`, with 102 occurrences out of a total of 130.

It is worth providing the quotation form the OT relative to slavery, where we find that slavery, and several other trespasses (e.g. usury) are forbidden against one’s “neighbour”:

But if he [a virtuous man] begets a son who is a thief, a murderer, or who does any of these things (though the father does none of them), a son who eats on the mountains, defiles the wife of his neighbour [Hebrew: rea`], oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not give back a pledge, raises his eyes to idols, does abominable things, lends at interest and exacts usury -- this son certainly shall not live. Because he practiced all these abominations, he shall surely die; his death shall be his own fault. (Ezekiel 18:10-13 - USCCB-NAB)

3. Likewise, there are more than one word in the Greek NT (and also in the Greek Septuagint) that are translated into the English “neighbour”: geitōn, perioikos, plesion. By far the most important word for “neighbour” in the NT Greek is plesion, with 16 occurrences out of a total of 21.

4. In the New Testament we find confirmed by Jesus, in reply to a “scribe of the Law”, that (like in the OT) the two most important commandments of the Law are … 

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' [citation from Deut 6:4-5] The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbour [the Greek word for “neighbour” is plesion] as yourself.' [citation from Lev 19:18 – the Hebrew word for “neighbour” is rea`] There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31; cp. Matthew 22:34-40 and Luke 10:25-28 - USCCB-NAB)

5. In Luke, the passage in which Jesus explains which are the two most important commandments [Luke 10:25-28] is slightly different form Mark and Matthew: it is not Jesus who recites the two commandments but the “scholar of the law” himself, who had asked the question. Jesus only confirms the correctness of the scribe’s statement and adds that by the adherence to those commandments “you will live”. At the further request of the scribe: "And who is my neighbour?", Jesus explains what to understand for “neighbour”, NOT by means of a definition, but by a parable and a call to action.

But because he [the scribe] wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" [Greek: plesion] Jesus replied:
"A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, 'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.'Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour [Greek: plesion] to the robbers' victim?"
He [the scribe] answered, "The one who treated him with mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:29-37 - USCCB-NAB)

(Tentative) conclusions:

m. Jesus has radically changed the notion of neighbour: NO MORE simply “countryman”, not even in the God-given sense of belonging to the Covenant between YHWH God and Israel, BUT any human being (Jew, Samaritan, Greek, whatever), and even more strongly any human being who needs help.
n. All commandments about “neighbour” are NO MORE restricted to “neighbour” in the sense of “kinsman”, not even  or “co-member of the Covenant”, BUT the new “definition” given by Jesus (actually: “call to action”) applies.
o. In the OT, the Jews were forbidden to resort to Usury and Slavery towards a “neighbour”, viz. towards a “co-member of the Covenant”, but this prohibition did not apply to strangers.
p. Because Jesus, in the New Covenant, has abolished the distinction between neighbour and stranger, all precepts of the Old Covenant concerning neighbour, MUST be applied without restrictions: in the New Covenant there are no more strangers.
q. The Church affirms the central importance of the New Covenant introduced by Jesus, BUT she has failed to draw all the consequence form the change of the new “definition” given by Jesus (actually: “call to action”) of the word neighbour.
r. The serious flaws and sloppy changes of the Doctrine of the Church concerning Usury and Slavery (an more in general all doctrine where the notion of neighbour applies) are due to failure to draw all the consequence form the change of the “definition” of the word neighbour.