“And when thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.” * * * “And it shall be, if it make answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein, shall be tributaries unto thee, and shall serve thee” (וַֽעֲבָדֽוּךָwaʿăbādûkā va abaduka, shall be slaves to thee). “And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it.” “And when the hand of thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.” “But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is within the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.” “Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of those nations.”
It is evident that the captives here allowed to be made were to be slaves, from what follows on the same subject, in the same book, xxi. 10–15: When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thy hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldst have her to thy wife: then thou shalt bring her home to thy house, and she shall shave her head and pare her nails: and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that, thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money: thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.”
Thus the fact is proved, that if he had not thus made her his wife, she would have been his slave and an article of merchandise.
LESSON XI.
In the introductory part of Mr. Barnes’s book, he makes some remarks in the nature of an apology for his undertaking to examine the subject of slavery. Page 20, he says—
“Belonging to the same race with those who are held in bondage. We have a right, nay, we are bound to express the sympathies of brotherhood, and ‘to remember those who are in bonds as bound with them.’”
We were not aware of any fact relating to Mr. Barnes’s descent; nor did we before know from what race he was descended.
We were truly much surprised at this avowal, and endeavoured to imagine that he had used the word in some general and indefinite sense, as some do when they say animal race, and human race. But on examining his use of the word, page 20: “How is a foreign race, with so different a complexion, and in reference to which, so deep-seated prejudices and aversions exist, in every part of the land, to be disposed of if they become free?”—and page 27: “And the struggles which gave liberty to millions of the Anglo-saxon race did not loosen one rivet from the fetter of an African;” page 83: “The Hebrews were not essentially distinguished from the Egyptians, as the Africans are from their masters in this land, by colour;” and page 86: “They were a foreign race, as the African race is with us;” and page 96: “There are in the United States now, according to the census of 1840, 2,486,465 of a foreign race held in bondage;” and page 97: “It would have been as just for the Egyptians to retain the Hebrews in bondage as it is for white Americans to retain the African race;”—we were forced to conclude that the author understood his language and its meaning.
Such, then, being the fact, we cannot find it in our heart to blame him for “expressing the sympathies of brotherhood.” But we feel disposed with kindness to relieve his mind from the burthen of such portion of sympathy for those of his race who are in slavery, as he may conceive to be a duty imposed by the injunction, “Remember those who are in bond, as bound with them.” We will quote the passage, Heb. xiii. 3: “Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them.” It is translated from the Greek— Μιμνήσκεσθε τῶν δεσμίων ὡς συνδεδεμένοι, Mimnēsicĕsthe tōn dĕsmiōn hōs sundĕdĕmĕnoi. The words translated “bonds,” “bound with,” &c. are derived from the root δέω, deo, and signifies to bind, to bring together, to chain, to fetter, to hinder, to restrain, &c., which meaning falls into all its derivations. When one was accused of some offence, and was, on that account, restrained, so that he might be surely had at a trial for the same, such restraint would be expressed, as the case required, by some of its derivations. Hence we have δέσις, dĕsis, the act of binding; δέσμα, desma, a bond, a chain; δέσμιος, desmios, chained, fettered, imprisoned, &c.; δεσμός, desmos, a bond, chain, knots, cords, cables; δεσμόω, desmŏō, to enchain, to imprison; δεσμοφύλαξ, desmophulax, a jailer, &c.