“Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” “Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.”
The expression, “Thou shalt eat the herb of the field,” we think has a very peculiar significance; for God made “every herb of the field before it grew;” and one of the reasons assigned why the “herb was made before it grew,” we find to be, that “there was not a man to till the ground.” Now, the word to till is translated from the word לַֽעֲבֹֽדlaʿăbōd la ebod, and means to slave; but in English we use the term not so directly. We use more words to express the same idea; we say to do slave-labour on the ground, instead of to slave the ground, as the expression stands in Hebrew.
The doctrine is, that the herb, on which the fallen sinner is destined to subsist, was not of spontaneous growth; it could only be produced by sweat and toil, even unto sorrow. Sin had made man a slave to his own necessities; he had to slave the ground for his subsistence; and such was the view of David, who, after describing how the brute creation is spontaneously provided for, says—
“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service (לַֽעֲבֹדַ֣תlaʿăbdōat la ebodath, the slavery) of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth.” Ps. civ. 14.
This state of being compelled to labour with sweat and toil for subsistence, is the degree of slavery to which sin reduced the whole human family. If we mistake not, the holy books include the idea that sin affects the character of man as a moral poison, producing aberrations of mind in the constant direction of greater sins and an increased departure from a desire to be in obedience to the laws of God. If we mistake not, the doctrine also is prominent that idleness is not only a sin itself, but exceedingly prolific of still greater sins. This mild state of slavery, thus imposed on Adam, was a constant restraint against a lower descent into sin, and can be regarded in no other light than a merciful provision of God in protection of his child, the creation of his hand. If it then be a fact that a given intensity of sin draws upon itself a corresponding condition of slavery, as an operating protection against the final effect of transgression, it will follow that an increased intensity of sin will demand an increased severity of the condition of slavery. Thus, when Cain murdered Abel, God said to him—
“Now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest (תַֽעֲבד֙taʿăbōd tha ebod, thou slavest) the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” * * * “And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.”
“Shall not yield unto thee her strength;” either the earth should be less fruitful, or from his own waywardness, it should be less skilfully cultivated by him, or that a profit from his labour should be enjoyed by another; or, perhaps, from the joint operation of them all. Thus an aggravated degree of sin is always attended by an aggravated degree of slavery.
The next final step we discover in the history of slavery appears in Ham, the son of Noah; and he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” “Servant of servants,” עֶ֖בֶד עֲבָדִ֖יםʿebed ʿăbādîm ebed ebadim, slave of slaves. This mode of expression in Hebrew is one of the modes by which they expressed the superlative degree. The meaning is, the most abject slave shall he be to his brethren.
Heretofore slavery has been of less intensity; here we find the ordination of the master, and it is not a little remarkable that he is distinctly blessed!
“And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants (וַֽעֲבָדִיםwaʿăbādîm va ebadim, and male slaves), and maid-servants (וּשְׁפָ֔חֹתûšĕpāḥōt va shephahoth, and female slaves), and camels and asses.” “And Sarah, my master’s wife, bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.”