Anti-swearing law

[James Smith]

--- "James E. Clapp" <jeclapp at WANS.NET> wrote:
> Anne Gilbert wrote:
Of course, with text as fraught with meaning as this,
any single
translation is an oversimplification.  One reason for
being leery of
posting the Ten Commandments in schools is that,
regardless of whose
version is posted, it will basically be
meaningless--indeed
deceptive--without an exegesis.  For example, that
part about the
neighbor's manservant and maidservant and other things
that are his:
Aren't we talking about bond-servants here--i.e.
slaves (i.e. property,
like the wife and the ass)?...

I don't know whether or not the Israelites had slaves
in the sense we usually picture them.  Bond-servants
were not slaves, but were bound or indentured, for
example as a result of debt, or had voluntarily bound
themselves to a master for life. They were not chattel
that could be bought and sold. The Pentateuch contains
rules and laws defining certain rights and obligations
of both the bond-servant and the master.

Paul, Timothy, James, and Simon Peter each identified
himself as a bond-servant of Christ, indicating
voluntary rather than compelled submission.


=====
James D. SMITH                 |If history teaches anything
SLC, UT                        |it is that we will be sued
jsmithjamessmith at yahoo.com     |whether we act quickly and decisively
                               |or slowly and cautiously.
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