Introduction:
I'm writing this Mytake to give proper context as to why when looking through a different set of lens and time era to better understand why slavery in some instances wasn't bad at all, but rather helpful for society and the common man.
Often times secular and athiest people will jump on God's back claiming He can't possibly be just and good because He condones slavery in the Bible; when in fact God neither condones nor condemns it, but rather gives guidelines to the ancient Hebrews how to properly handle bondservants.
Slavery in ancient days which was practiced by every nation wasn't particalurly because one group of people or nation hated your skin color or other trival matters, but rather a form of economical advancement and employment opportunities for a nation or struggling man in debt to pay off what he owes or woman without a man needing aid to survive.
Please, Buy My Service.
Thousands of years ago there's wasn't a million jobs and easy 9 to 5 menial labor you can pretty much find at every corner of the street like today in our time.
It was pretty much you either had a job in government in which case the king will have to evaluate if you have the skills and intelligence to attain such high positions in his kingdom to serve, agriculture, military or craftsmanship.
There were no corporate companies nor collecting a free check from the government on welfare etc, it was every gorilla for himself to survive the best way they could.
If you didn't own a farm or posses the skills of a farmer on how to properly cultivate a land and grow crops or built anything useful, had a warrior mentally to fight in war, or had high intelligence to serve in government then you were pretty much screwed and your only option was to offer yourself as a slave to maybe land a gig doing menial labor like taking care of sheep, feeding and washing animals in a field somewhere, washing dirty clothes or be the driver of a chariot and butler of a rich family or person.
Therefore, people who had no better options or the mental capacity for such more vauled careers where pretty forced to sell themselves as servants as a means to survive the harsh realities of life 2 to 4 thousand years ago and beyond.
Guidelnes To Properly Deal With Bondservants.
The ancient Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years and were mistreated and oppress with strick and inhumane labor.
Upon out of Egypt and once the Hebrews inherated the promise land, God gave them guidelines on how to correctly treat bondservants and not to mistreat them nor oppress them as other nations treated their slaves or how they themselves were treated in Egypt.
And anyone that kidnapped a man into slavery or tried to sell them as a slave must be put death for his wickedness.
Exodus 21:1-8:
“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.
If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges.
He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
“And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed.
He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
Exodus 21:16:
“He who kidnaps a man and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, shall surely be put to death.
Deuteronomy 23:15-16:
“You shall not give back to his master the slave who has escaped from his master to you.
He may dwell with you in your midst, in the place which he chooses within one of your gates, where it seems best to him; you shall not oppress him.
In relations to foreigners who were purchased as servants from other nations, they were to be servants til death and their children as well.
I know you might think and argue that is unfair to the children, but hey, their parents decided to sell themselves as bondservants.
Leviticus 25:44-46:
And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have—from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves.
Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who dwell among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property.
And you may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them as a possession; they shall be your permanent slaves.
But regarding your brethren, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.
Discipline And Punishment.
A master had a right to discipline and punish his servants.
We all know people can be rebellious and lazy and don't like to work hard, so if in case a servant is being lazy, hard headed and acting a fool, the master had a right to impose a spanking on his servants, but if he took it too far and hurt the eye or tooth of his slave then he must let him go free and if he killed him, he then must be punished.
Proverbs 29:19: A servant will not be corrected by mere words;
For though he understands, he will not respond.
Exodus 21:20-21:
“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.
Notwithstanding, if he remains alive a day or two, he shall not be punished; for he is his property.
Exodus 21:26-27:
“If a man strikes the eye of his male or female servant, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for the sake of his eye.
And if he knocks out the tooth of his male or female servant, he shall let him go free for the sake of his tooth.
Daughter Being Sold As A servant.
“And if a man sells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do."
Upon reading that quote you may have cringed and wonder why would any father sell his daughter as a slave?
A father didn't sell his daughter as a servant because he hated her or didn't love his daughter, but rather he did so that in case he dies his daughter will have a man to look out for her and provide for her all her needs.
Let's keep in mind thousands of years ago a woman desperately needed a man to care of her and protect her from evil men in society.
A woman without a man in her life or if she wasn't a queen or didn't have a rich father who left her a large inheritance of wealth was screwed big time and would be in despair.
Where is she going to live? Can she built a house from scratch and lay a strong foundation?
Where is she going to get the materials needed to built a house like a hammer, saw, nails, ply wood, bricks etc. 
Not to mention food, water and clothes, there wasn't no Wal-Marts nor Taco Bell etc. back then and if a water well was maybe 2 or 3 miles away how is she going to carry the large buckets of water on her own if she had no horses, chariots or camels which only the rich and privileged had?
Life was extremly rough for the average person in ancient times much more so for a woman by herself without a man.
Her only option would have been to sell herself as a maidservant such as helping raising kids, cooking, cleaning or be a hooker to survive.
So when you consider and look at things through the proper lens and context you see why the father will sell his daughter to be a servant if he couldn't find a husband for her.
Conclusion:
I hope that when you engage in a topic of ancient slavery or someone who speaks out against slavery and how the Bible justifies it and calls God unjust, that you can honestly share why things were the way they were as I pointed out in the article.
It's about understanding the proper context and era of certain civilizations and how they used bondservants to the benefit of themselves, nation and for the desperate poor needy person looking to survive the harsh realities of ancient days.
Hope you learned something. 😜
Thanks for reading. ✌
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