It is not in narratives, of course, that the central moral revelation of the Bible is found: the Torah is far more precise, thorough, centralized, and direct in its moral doctrines, though the subsequent prophetic writings sometimes elaborate on or reiterate points from Mosaic Law. In Jeremiah 34, owners of Jewish servants finally decide to free their male and female slaves as Exodus 21 and Deuteronomy 15 prescribe for servants from one's own country [1]. For the Jews, this would mean that after six years of service, slaves who are also Jews (for Gentiles, this obligation would be to people from their own community/country) are to be liberated—and gifted liberally from the former master's/mistress's belongings (Deuteronomy 15:13-14). However, the people at large in this narrative reclaim their slaves again in a treacherous and unjust reversal of what would otherwise be upright deeds.
The officials and general masters and mistresses of the Jews make a covenant with King Zedekiah of Judah (Jeremiah 34:8-10) to do what they are already obligated to: to free slaves who are fellow Hebrews after six years of work, no matter what debts might be outstanding (Exodus 21:2, Deuteronomy 15:12). Afterward, the officials and people who freed their servants find these same individuals and take away their freedom all by forcefully and invalidly making them servants all over again (Jeremiah 34:11, 16), revoking the righteous thing that they did and damning themselves to death by the hands of the Babylonians. Yahweh points out how they made their covenant in the house that bears his "Name" and yet they have profaned his name by doing this (34:15-16). It is crucial that the text itself is explicitly gender egalitarian here, despite how the Bible's gender egalitarianism on these specific issues of servitude and freedom is established well before Jeremiah.
There is nothing about physical labor (which is the kind of labor permitted under Biblical slavery) that has anything to do with genitalia and gender-specific physiology, as would male circumcision (Leviticus 12:3) and mothers separating themselves from their community for at least 33 days after childbirth (Leviticus 12:4-5). Thus, it would be true by logical necessity that if women have the right to have their servitude to their country people ended every seventh year, men would have the same right, and vice versa. Both are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). Some people might asininely think that the male language of Exodus 21:2 (at least in English) means the obligation to free slaves from one's own people only applies to literal men, but Deuteronomy 15:12 already mentions both male and female servants being set free if they are fellow countrypeople, with Genesis 1 and logical equivalence already mandating gender egalitarianism.
Jeremiah 34:9-10 and 16 make it clear, as if Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy do not, that neither gender is to receive any special privileges in servitude or in receiving freedom. The use of male language in the Torah, as still happens today with mankind referencing humankind, often refers to men and women alike or the concept behind it applies to women as well, so with Mosaic Law, this is the case except with things that could only apply to men or women in particular (as with the aforementioned things). Still, Jeremiah 34 once again, as does Mosaic Law, affirms how this obligation of masters/mistresses to servants applies to those of their own nationality or people (moral obligations and rights like those of Exodus 21:26-27 pertain to servants of all nationalities either way as is clear from the lack of qualification altogether) without saying foreign servants do not also have this human moral right. Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12-14 specify that this is what is deserved by all servants from one's own country, and while foreign (or local) runaways cannot be returned to their masters or mistresses (Deuteronomy 23:15-16), foreigners cannot be kidnapped for slavery (Exodus 21:16), and so on, it is not mandatory to free them every seven years by default according to the strict words of Exodus 21, Deuteronomy 15, and Jeremiah 34. This follows from other logical and Biblical points with which the aforementioned three chapters do not ultimately conflict [2].
Jeremiah 34:9, 14-15, and 17 emphasize that slaves from one's own people that must be freed in this manner; other verses like Leviticus 19:33-34 are relevant as well. A rational person could tell that this is what is being taught in Mosaic Law and that this would apply to any other nations, for Jews do not possess God's image any more than Gentiles. Nonetheless, the people who made the covenant with God and Zedekiah do not fulfill this obligation on any level except for the initial liberation. To take the slaves back is to undo what righteousness they had agreed to perform and begun to carry out. In part because of this sin, Yahweh says that calamity will befall them (34:17-20). Due to their failure to give freedom to the servants whom God has commanded to be released every seven years, the Jews who did not consistently obey in this become "free" to be killed by the sword, plague, and famine.
[2]. In a completed post to be released later, I will address why, though Exodus 21:2 and Deuteronomy 15:12 neither mention Gentile servants nor exclude them, Leviticus 25:44-46 with its direct comments about foreign slaves does not actually contradict either 1) the logical fact that moral obligations and rights must be universal to all people on all levels (Jews and Gentiles) except where there is a logically necessary reason for an exception or 2) the fact that the Torah as well as the broader Old Testament and the New Testament clearly present all matters of human value, obligations, and rights as universal between Jews and Gentiles (such as in Genesis 1:27, Leviticus 18:5-30, 19:33-34, Deuteronomy 24:14-15, and Ezekiel 5:5-7). To very briefly summarize, what Leviticus 25:44-46 describes as the morally legitimate status of foreign slaves is exactly that of the Hebrew slave/the servant from one's own countrypeople: they are bought/paid for labor and they can become lifelong servants if they consent.
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