Consider other verses which show the God of the Bible does not consider other peoples equal to Israel. (The notion of "God's chosen people" speaks to this)The verses I provided make that distinction clear (Exodus 21 and Leviticus 25:44-46).
You ignore other verses that clarify what God expected in the treatment of others. And in no way was the treatment the same as in Egypt or other ANE cultures. It was better. As already pointed out, and you cannot deny it for it is Scripture, a 'slave' must be bought, not kidnapped from other lands. Kidnapping was punishable by death. That meant that a slave would have to agree to serve a Hebrew master.
Egyptian slavery was a bondage and oppression that God never wanted Israel to duplicate. It was a type of servitude that God forbade. Time and time again, God wants us to treat others as we want others to be treated. If you are blessed by wealth and can afford to hire others God still wants you to treat them with respect and dignity.
It seems your primary argument against Biblically condoned slavery is that 'it couldn't be slavery because slaves must be bought/ kidnapping is disallowed', suggesting Biblical slavery was always voluntary and some form of indentured servitude.
No, my argument is that OT slavery is not the same as chattle slavery in which the slave was treated hostile and as property to do with whatever. God forbade that type of slavery as I showed you in the many verses I quoted. He wanted Israel to remember the type of slavery they had experienced, the type of slavery that was expressed as bondage and oppression and wanted Israel never to practice this type of treatment of others. The foreign slave PURCHASED was a servant, yet had freedoms not allowed a chattel slave or the freedom of other ANE cultures.
When you take into account what God explicitly warned of there is no way that Israel's' slavery' was the same thing as Egyptian slavery. And if you want to find out what kind of treatment the Israelites experienced there are various accounts, some of which was what Moses witnessed. He actually heard the cries of the Israelites.
Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren...23 Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.
Exodus 3:7, 9, 17
7 The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings...9 Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them...17 So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt...
And what did Pharoh do when confronted with Moses telling him to let his people go? He doubles down on his harsh treatment of Israel.
Exodus 5:4-14
4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you [a]draw the people away from their [b]work? Get back to your [c]labors!” 5 Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” 6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘[d]Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”
10 So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your [e]work quota, [f]your daily amount, just as when [g]you had straw.” 14 Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten [h]and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”
Exodus 6:5, 7
5 Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage... 7 Then I will take you [f]for My people, and I will be [g]your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
The list goes on of their harsh treatment in Egypt. And God warned Israel to remember not to ever do what was done to them. So, how could God allow Israel to abuse foreign 'slaves?' It is illogical when you read the passages to then come up with Israel abusing foreign 'slaves.' You have to understand the OT slave as opposed to chattel slave or Egyptian slave. Israel slavery is not the same kind.
"[T]he Bible does speak of slavery, and that there are righteous forms of slavery, what are they? There are three of them, and they all have to do with ethical/judicial problems."
These three forms the author identifies and lists as,
1. 'Charitable slavery,' also known as indentured servitude. This is where a Hebrew could sell himself to pay off his debt, usually because of poverty and inability to support themselves. After six years, the debt was considered paid and the person became free once again, unless they chose otherwise.
2. '
Restitutional slavery,' again for a Hebrew, was a form a
crime in which the criminal would pay of his debt. In this case the penalty could last longer than seven years to pay the debt. If the guilty party refused to work the master could beat him as a punishment, but if the slave was injured in any way he would earn his freedom.
3. 'Evangelistic slavery,' is the type described in Leviticus 25:44-46.
"...[It] does allow Hebrews to buy slaves from foreign slave owners, and it does allow them to permanently enslave strangers who live in the land; not by kidnapping them but for the same reasons as enslaving Hebrews – debt or poverty."
The purpose of such slavery was to evangelize and convert a person to faith in God.
"[E]vangelistic slavery, designed to rescue the weakest members of pagan societies, those who have become victims of pagan slavery, and give them the chance to become children of God, free and independent. All these three forms are temporary, and have a redemptive purpose. Pagan slavery is chattel slavery; its purpose is only to keep a certain class of people in subjugation while maintaining another class in a position of power."
Thus, the purpose or design of foreign slavery was first a rescue mission against harsher treatment.
