Hello Rjkirch, thanks for responding.

You said:

"This is very short sighted, and only describes the portion of the bible that makes you feel good about slavery. Indentured servants were a way for israelites to take care of other israelites. They were not to be owned as property because they were part of the "in" group."

Let's start where we agree: the indentured servitude is not slavery.

It's a way to care for each other.

It's a way for someone who is broke to be provided for while they get back on their feet.

Next:

"Slavery for the "out" group is described in Leviticus 25"

If you're read the rest of Leviticus, you'll see how the "out" group is treated better than the "in" group in many circumstances.

The Law repeatedly commands Israel to treat the "out" group well -- the foreigners, the non-Israelites, the travelers, the sojourners.

Sometimes, it even holds them up as the standard -- treat your fellow Israelites as well as you treat the foreigners!

God always gives the same reason: "Because you were slaves in Egypt." Treat the foreigners well, because you were foreigners, and you know what it is to be mistreated.

Next:

"44 As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. 45 You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. 46 You may bequeath them to your sons after you to inherit as a possession forever. "

That doesn't sound like freedom to me if you were not an israelite."

That's because you haven't read the full Law.

A few provisions clear this up easily.

First, Exodus 21:16 prevents kidnapping people as slaves, selling people as slaves, or owning people as slaves.

It means that the only person who can sell someone into slavery is -- yourself.

That's why you never see slave markets or slave traders anywhere in Israel.

It's why this passage doesn't describe slave markets or slave traders.

Such things were outlawed.

Next, Deuteronomy 23:15-16 mandates that any slave/servant/worker is free as soon as they want to be. If they leave a master who's treating them poorly, the Law instantly protects their freedom. They can live wherever they want, completely free, and their master can't do anything to get them back.

Anyone described by Leviticus 25 is free as soon as they want to be, if they're being mistreated.

They can only work for an Israelite by their own choice. They can't be sold into it.

Then, if they don't like how they're being treated, they can leave and find a better place.

These two laws alone mandate that no one is owned. People aren't possessions. You still maintain your liberty, even as a foreigner working for an Israelite.

Finally, if a foreigner wants to become an Israelite, they can be. As soon as they do, they're brothers and sisters, and the six-year release applies to them.

In short: these workers in Leviticus 25 have multiple paths of freedom always open to them, while the masters have no way of keeping them if they don't want to be kept.