Freedom

Freedom in the Old Testament is primarily addressed in the context of the legal provisions governing the release of Hebrew servants and slaves. The Mosaic law limited the duration of voluntary servitude for Hebrews: a Hebrew servant was to serve six years and go free in the seventh (Exodus 21:2), though he could choose permanent bondservice by having his ear pierced at the doorpost. Female servants had different provisions regarding their release (Exodus 21:7–8). The Jubilee year (every fiftieth year) provided for the release of all Israelites who had sold themselves due to debt and the restoration of family land (Leviticus 25:39–41).

The theological dimension of freedom is grounded in the exodus: because God had redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, Israelites were not to be treated as permanent chattels — they were God's servants already (Leviticus 25:55). In the New Testament, freedom becomes a central soteriological theme: Christ's work liberates from the bondage of sin (Romans 6:18, 22), the curse of the law (Galatians 5:1), and the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14–15). Paul's paradox — "a slave of Christ is a freedman of the Lord; a freedman of the Lord is a slave of Christ" (1 Corinthians 7:22) — reframes the entire category of freedom in terms of belonging to God.