Bondage

Bondage in Scripture refers primarily to Israel's servitude in Egypt, described as the defining national trauma from which Yahweh redeemed his people (Ex. 2:23–25; 5:1–23). Egypt is repeatedly called the “house of bondage” in the Decalogue preamble and throughout Deuteronomy (Ex. 13:3; 20:2; Deut. 5:6; 6:12), grounding Israel's obligation to serve Yahweh alone in the historical fact of his prior redemption. Post-exilic writers apply the same vocabulary to the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 9:8–9; Isa. 14:3).

The New Testament develops bondage as a metaphor for the human condition under sin, the law, and demonic oppression. Paul's contrast in Galatians and Romans between the spirit of slavery leading to fear and the spirit of adoption leading to freedom (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:24–25) draws on the Exodus typology to describe salvation. Hebrews 2:15 speaks of those “all their lives held in slavery by their fear of death.” The movement from bondage to freedom through divine redemption is one of the master narratives of both Testaments.