He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
The saying stands in chapters 25 to 29, the proverbs of Solomon gathered into Hezekiah's collection. Those chapters were copied out of Solomon's writings by men appointed by Hezekiah, laboring about three hundred years after Solomon.
It discloses that a Gentile servant procured by an Israelite could marry his master's daughter and at the length become as his son. Such an outcome proves that Israelite servitude was a system of voluntary contract rather than slavery for life. It joined proselytism to the Jewish religion with naturalization to full citizenship, so that servant and master stood under the same law, shared the same table, and kept the same Passover.
The saying stands in chapters 25 to 29, the proverbs of Solomon gathered into Hezekiah's collection. Those chapters were copied out of Solomon's writings by men appointed by Hezekiah, laboring about three hundred years after Solomon.
It discloses that a Gentile servant procured by an Israelite could marry his master's daughter and at the length become as his son. Such an outcome proves that Israelite servitude was a system of voluntary contract rather than slavery for life. It joined proselytism to the Jewish religion with naturalization to full citizenship, so that servant and master stood under the same law, shared the same table, and kept the same Passover.