# Does the Bible Support Slavery? > The Bible condemns kidnapping a person to sell them, and it says every person is made in God’s image. It also regulates slavery in ancient Israel and the Roman world. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/slavery-in-the-bible - Religions: none - Denominations: none - Beliefs: Moral questions - Tags: hard-passages, bible, slavery - Updated: 2026-10-09 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) The Bible condemns kidnapping a person to sell them, and it says every person is made in God’s image. It also regulates slavery in ancient Israel and in the Roman world. It does not present chattel slavery as a Christian good. In Christ, Paul says there is neither slave nor free. ## Key points - [Exodus 21:16](/bible/exodus/21/16) says the man who steals a man and sells him “shall surely be put to death.” - [Deuteronomy 24:7](/bible/deuteronomy/24/7) says the same about stealing a brother and selling him: “that thief shall die.” - [1 Timothy 1:10](/bible/1-timothy/1/10) lists “menstealers” with sins contrary to sound doctrine. - [Leviticus 25:44](/bible/leviticus/25) tells Israel they may buy bondmen from the nations around them. - [Galatians 3:28](/bible/galatians/3/28) says there is neither bond nor free, for all are one in Christ Jesus. - The [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2414](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8B.HTM), says the seventh commandment forbids enterprises that lead to the enslavement of human beings. [Is hell real?](/moral-questions/hell) is the other hard passage in this cluster. ## What the Bible says [Genesis 1:27](/bible/genesis/1/27) (King James Version) says God made humanity in his image: > So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. [Exodus 21:16](/bible/exodus/21/16) (King James Version) makes kidnapping a capital crime: > And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. [Deuteronomy 24:7](/bible/deuteronomy/24/7) (King James Version) says: > If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you. [1 Timothy 1:10](/bible/1-timothy/1/10) lists “menstealers” among those the law is for, with people who practice sins “contrary to sound doctrine.” The same Law also regulates servitude. [Leviticus 25:44](/bible/leviticus/25) (King James Version) says: > Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. In the churches Paul writes to, slaves and masters are both addressed. [Ephesians 6:5](/bible/ephesians/6/5) tells servants to obey masters “as unto Christ.” [Ephesians 6:9](/bible/ephesians/6/9) tells masters to forbear threatening, “knowing that your Master also is in heaven.” [Colossians 4:1](/bible/colossians/4/1) says, “Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal.” [Galatians 3:28](/bible/galatians/3/28) (King James Version) says: > There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. [Philemon 1:16](/bible/philemon/1/16) (King James Version) tells a Christian master to receive Onesimus: > Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord? ## Where churches stand The pages fetched from Southern Baptist, LCMS, PCA, ELCA, United Methodist, Orthodox, Latter-day Saint, and Jehovah’s Witness sources for the other articles on this shelf did not print a paragraph on slavery, so they are not quoted here. The [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2414](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8B.HTM), says: > The seventh commandment forbids acts or enterprises that for any reason - selfish or ideological, commercial, or totalitarian - lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, . . . both in the flesh and in the Lord." ## I can’t become a Christian because the Bible has slaves in it The verses are in the book. [Leviticus 25:44](/bible/leviticus/25) permits buying bondmen from the surrounding nations. [Exodus 21:16](/bible/exodus/21/16) puts the kidnapper to death. [Philemon 1:16](/bible/philemon/1/16) tells a master that the enslaved man is a brother. The catechism quoted above calls enslaving people a sin against their dignity. The Christian claim is that every person bears God’s image ([Genesis 1:27](/bible/genesis/1/27)) and that Jesus, who is God, makes slave and free one ([Galatians 3:28](/bible/galatians/3/28)). That confession is [the deity of Christ](/christianity/deity-of-christ). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does the Bible call kidnapping a crime? [Exodus 21:16](/bible/exodus/21/16) and [Deuteronomy 24:7](/bible/deuteronomy/24/7) require the death of the person who steals a man and sells him. [1 Timothy 1:10](/bible/1-timothy/1/10) lists menstealers. ### Does the New Testament tell masters to free their slaves? [Philemon 1:16](/bible/philemon/1/16) tells Philemon to receive Onesimus as a beloved brother, no longer as a servant. [Ephesians 6:9](/bible/ephesians/6/9) and [Colossians 4:1](/bible/colossians/4/1) tell masters that they also have a Master in heaven and must give what is just and equal. [Galatians 3:28](/bible/galatians/3/28) says bond and free are one in Christ. ### Is American chattel slavery what these laws describe? [Leviticus 25:44](/bible/leviticus/25) is a law for ancient Israel about buying bondmen from neighboring nations. The catechism paragraph quoted above forbids buying and selling human beings as merchandise. The New Testament paragraphs address masters and slaves in the Roman world and call the slave a brother in the Lord. ## Passages quoted on this page ### 1 Timothy 1:10 King James Version. > For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; ### Ephesians 6:5 King James Version. > Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; ### Ephesians 6:9 King James Version. > And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. ### Colossians 4:1 King James Version. > Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Book of Exodus, 21:16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/exodus/21/16). King James Version 2. [Book of Deuteronomy, 24:7](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/deuteronomy/24/7). King James Version 3. [Book of Leviticus, 25:44](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/leviticus/25/44). King James Version 4. [Letter to the Galatians, 3:28](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/galatians/3/28). King James Version 5. [Letter to Philemon, 1:16](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/philemon/1/16). King James Version 6. [First Letter to Timothy, 1:10](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-timothy/1/10). King James Version 7. [Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2414](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8B.HTM) ## See also - [Is Hell Real? What the Bible Says About Hell](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/hell) — Jesus speaks of everlasting punishment and of fire that is not quenched. Some churches, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, teach a different end for the wicked. - [Can Christians Believe in Evolution?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/evolution-and-creation) — Christians confess that God created the heavens and the earth and made humans in his image. They do not agree on the age of the earth or on the means. - [What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/abortion) — Historic Christianity treats the child in the womb as a human life that must not be killed. Churches differ on the rare case in which the mother’s life is in danger. - [What Does the Bible Say About Divorce?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/divorce) — Jesus treats marriage as a covenant God joins. He names sexual immorality in Matthew 19:9. Churches disagree about desertion, abuse, and remarriage. - [What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?](https://apologetics.wiki/moral-questions/homosexuality) — The historic Christian reading is that sexual intimacy belongs in the marriage of a man and a woman. Churches that confess the Trinity have not all published the same recent statements. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/slavery-in-the-bible.md)