מצות עבודה בעבד כנעני לעולם - שנעבד בעבד כנעני לעולם, כלומר, שלא נשחרר אותו לעולם ושלא יצא לחרות כי אם בשן ועין כמו שבא בכתוב (שמות כא כו כז), או בראשי אברים הדומין להם, כלומר, אברים שאינן חוזרין, כמו שבא על זה הפרוש המקבל (קידושין כד, א), שנאמר (ויקרא כה מו) לעולם בהם תעבדו. ואמרו זכרונם לברכה במסכת גטין בפרק השולח (לח, ב) אמר רב יהודה כל המשחרר עבדו עובר בעשה, שנאמר ''לעולם בהם תעבודו''. ועבד כנעני נקרא, אחד מכל האמות שקנהו ישראל לעבדות, אבל נתיחסו כל העבדים בשם כנען, מפני שכנען נתקלל להיות עבד הוא וזרעו לעולם. ואף על פי שפרשה זו שנצטוינו בה להשתעבד בהם תדבר בכנענים, כמו שכתוב מאת הגוים אשר סביבותיכם מהם תקנו עבד ואמה, וכתיב למעלה מזה לתת לכם את ארץ כנען, ידוע לחכמים זכרונם לברכה, דלאו דוקא משפחת כנען ואשר בארצם נקראים עבדים כנענים, דהוא הדין לכל שאר האמות, שיש להם דין עבד כנעני לכל דבר.
The commandment of work with a Canaanite slave forever: That we have a Canaanite slave work forever, meaning that we should never manumit him; and he should only go free for [suffering the loss of] a tooth or limb, as it appears in Scripture (Exodus 21:26-27) - or from the main limbs that are similar to them, meaning limbs that do not grow back, as the accepted traditional explanation comes about this (Kiddushin 24a) - as it is stated (Leviticus 25:46) "you shall work them forever." And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Gittin 38a), "Rav Yehudah said, 'Anyone who manumits his slave is in violation of a positive commandment, as it says, "you shall work them forever."'" And [any] one from all of the [other] nations who was acquired by a Jew as a slave is called a Canaanite slave. But all slaves are attached with the name, Canaan, because Canaan was cursed to be a slave - he and his progeny - forever. And even though this section in which we were commanded to subjugate them is speaking about Canaanites - as it is written (Leviticus 25:44), "from the peoples that surround you may you purchase a slave or maid-servant," and it is written earlier (Leviticus 25:38), "to give to you the Land of Canaan" - it was known to the Sages, may their memory be blessed, that it was not only Canaan and those in their land that were called Canaanite slaves. As the law is the same for all the rest of the nations - that they have the status of a Canaanite slave in every matter.
משרשי המצוה. כדי שיתן האדם אל לבו, כי האמה שלנו היא הנכבדת מכלן, ומתוך כך יאהב אמתו ותורתו, ויתן אל לבו גם כן, כי כמו שזה העבד העברי נמכר לו מפני דחקו, כך אפשר שיקרה לקונה אותו, או לאחד מבניו אם יגרם להם החטא, ובכבדו עבדו יחשב מחשבה זו בלי ספק, ומתוך מחשבתו זאת, יזהר מחטא לשם. ועוד תועלת אחרת בדבר, שילמד האדם נפשו במדת החסד והרחמים, ויתרחק ממדת האכזריות הרעה, ובהכין נפשו אל הטובה תקבל הטוב, והשם חפץ להעניק מברכותיו אל בריותיו, כמו שכתבתי פעמים הרבה במצות הקודמות.
It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is] so that a person place upon his heart that our nation is the most honored of all of them. And through that, he will love his people and his Torah. And he will also place upon his heart, that just as this slave was sold because of his desperation, so is it possible that the same could happen to the one who acquires him, or to one of his sons - if [their] sin causes it to them. And through honoring his slave, he will certainly think this thought; and through this thought he will be careful from sinning to God. And there is another purpose in the thing - that a man learn the traits of kindness and mercy, and distance himself from the evil trait of cruelty. And by preparing his soul for goodness, it will receive good - [as] God wishes to bestow from His blessings on His creations, as I have written many times before in previous commandments.
וכן ישראל שבא על שפחה כנענית, כלומר, על אשה מן האמות שקנה אותה אחד מישראל הרי הנולד ממנה ומישראל כעבד כנעני לכל דבר (יבמות כב א), ואפילו היא שפחתו של אותו ישראל שבא עליה, וכן אחד מן האמות שבא על שפחה כנענית שלנו הרי הבן עבד כנעני, שנאמר אשר הולידו בארצכם. אבל עבד שלנו שבא על אחת מן האמות אין הבן עבד, שהעבד אין לו יחוס. וכן גר תושב כלומר, שקבל שלא לעבד עבודה זרה והוא שוכן בארצנו שמכר עצמו לישראל הרי דינו כעבד כנעני, ואמרו זכרונם לברכה (יבמות מח ב) בענין עבד כנעני שמטפל בו אדוניו עד שנה אם רוצה לכפר בעבודה זרה ולהניחה ושימול ויטבל לשם עבדות ושיתחיב במצות שהנשים ישראליות חיבות בהן מוטב, ואם לאו אסור לנו להשהותו בבתינו יותר משנים עשר חדש, אלא מוכרים אותו מיד, ועל אלה העבדים שמלו וטבלו לשם עבדות נצטוינו לעבד בהן לעולם.
Also, if an Israelite has intercourse with a Canaanite slave woman - that is, a woman from the [other] nations who was purchased by an Israelite - behold the offspring from her is a Canaanite slave for all purposes (Yevamot 22a), and even if she is the slave of that Israelite that had intercourse with her. Similarly, [in the case of a free man] from the nations that had intercourse with a Canaanite slave woman of ours, the child is a Canaanite slave - as it it stated (Leviticus 25:45), "that they begot in your land." However [in the case of] one of our slaves that has intercourse with a [free woman] from the nations, the child is not a slave - as a slave has no [paternity]. And so [too,] a resident alien - that is, one that has accepted not to worship idolatry and he is living in our land - who sold himself to an Israelite, behold his status is that of a Canaanite slave. And they, may their memory be blessed, said regarding a Canaanite slave (Yevamot 48b) that his master takes care of him up to twelve months; if he wants to deny and abandon idolatry, get circumcised and immerse for the sake of slavery and accept the commandments that Jewish women are obligated, it is good. But if not, it is forbidden for us to hold him in our homes longer than twelve months. Rather we sell him immediately. And [it is] about those slaves that were circumcised and immersed for the sake of slavery that we were commanded to work them forever.
מדיני המצוה. מה שאמרו זכרונם לברכה (קידושין כב, ב) שהוא קונה עצמו בכסף, ובשטר שחרור, ובראשי אברים שאינן חוזרין, והם עשרים וארבעה אברים, ואף על פי שדינו לצאת בראשי אברים שאינן חוזרין צריך גט שחרור מן האדון, וכופין את רבו לכתבו לו אחר שחסרו מאחד מעשרים וארבעה אברים הידועים. ואמרו זכרונם לברכה (גיטין מג ב) שהמוכר עבדו לגוים או לכותים או אפילו לגר תושב יצא בן חורין, וכן ישראל הדר בארץ שמכרו לישראל הדר בחוצה לארץ כדי שיוציאנו מן הארץ, יצא בן חורין. וכמו כן אמרו זכרונם לברכה (שם מ, א) שאם השיאו רבו לעבד בת חורין או הניח לו תפלין בראשו או שאמר לו רבו לקרות שלשה פסוקים בספר תורה בפני הצבור, וכל כיוצא באלו הדברים שאינן חיבין בהן אלא בני חורין יצא לחרות בכך, וכופין את רבו אחר כך לכתב לו גט שחרור, ולפיכך צריך הרב להזהר שלא לעשות לו מכל אלו הדברים כלל, כדי שלא יבטל מצות עשה זה, אלא אם כן עשה כן לכבוד מצוה, כמו שפרשנו. ודיני כתיבת גט השחרור ותורתו ויתר פרטיה. בקדושין וגטין [יו''ד סימן רסז וח''מ סימן קצו].
From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Kiddushin 22b) that he may acquire [his freedom] though money, a contract, or [an injury to] the main limbs that will not grow back - and they are twenty-four. And even though the law pertaining to him is to go out for the main limbs that do not grow back, he [still] requires a contract of manumission from the [master]; and we force the master to write [it] for him, since he caused him to lack one of the twenty-four well-known limbs. And they, may their memory be blessed, said (Gittin 43b) that [in a case of] one who sells his slave to gentiles or Kuthites, or even to a resident alien, [the] slave goes out to freedom. And so [too, in the case of] an Israelite who lives in the Land [of Israel] who sold him to an Israelite who lives outside of the Land, in order that he take him outside of the Land - [the] slave goes out to freedom. And similarly, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Gittin 40a) that if his master marries him to a free woman, or if lays tefillin on him, or [if] his master tells him to read three verses in a Torah scroll before the congregation or anything that is similar to these things about which only free men are obligated, [the slave] goes out to freedom with these and we force his master afterwards to write him a contract of manumission. And therefore the master must be careful not to do any of these things at all, so that he will not violate this positive commandment, unless he did this for the honor of [another] commandment, as we explained. And the laws of the writing of the contract, its instruction and the rest of its details are in Kiddushin and Gittin (see Tur, Yoreh Deah 267 and Tur, Choshen Mishpat 197).
Kadmoniot Ha-Halakha
Ed. Shmuel Rubinstein
"The gemara (Kiddushin 25a) teaches: 'There are twenty-four protruding limbs of a person, for all of which a slave is set free, and these are they: the tips of the fingers, toes, ears, nose, penis and breasts... Rabbi says: Also testicles. Ben Azzai says: Also the tongue.'
The situation of a slave in ancient times was truly awful. He was like an object owned by his master, who was free to do whatever he wanted in order to force the slave to perform hard labor day and night, and to use him for all kinds of perverted purposes. The master could beat his slave mercilessly for any major or minor wrongdoing; he could permanently maim his limbs without fear of any punishment. For any purpose desired by the master, the slave could be blinded. Herodotus writes (4:2) that the Scythians used to blind their captive slaves so that they would work in producing butter. And there were several other such purposes for which slaves would be struck with blindness, TO THE POINT WHERE PUTTING OUT EYES BECAME A SYMBOL OF SLAVERY. Likewise, prisoners taken in war were blinded as a sign of slavery, and this was done particularly to kings and officers of the defeated army, as a sign of revenge and enslavement. For the same reason Shimshon was blinded by the Philistines (Shoftim 16:21), and this is apparently also the meaning of the words of Nachash the Ammonite to the men of Yavesh Gil'ad: 'By this condition I will make a covenant with you: if you all put out your right eye' (Shemuel I 11:2), as if to say, 'in order that you will be slaves and prisoners of war to me.' For the same reason King Tzidkiyahu was blinded by Nevukhadnetzar (Melakhim II 28:7), and this is also the meaning of the words of Datan and Aviram to Moshe: 'Will you put out the eyes of those men?' - as if to say, 'Are we considered in your eyes as slaves, prisoners of war, that you will exert your power over us and to do us whatever you wish, to drag us wherever you decide?' This arrogance on the part of the enslavers seems to have lasted until much later times, explaining even Herod's blinding of Bava ben Buta (Bava Batra 4a).
For some wrongdoing in his work, or for breaking some vessel, the slave's fingers or hands could be cut off, and this was apparently also done to prisoners of war as a sign of enslavement. This explains the amputation of thumbs and big toes by Adoni Bezek, who testifies that 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes amputated [would gather food under my table].' This was practiced among the Romans, too: Seneca reports that 'For breakage of a small vessel, the slave's hands would be cut off, or he would be put to death.'
THE AMPUTATION OF A SLAVE'S EARS WAS SO COMMONLY PRACTICED THAT IT WAS ESTABLISHED AS A PUNISHMENT FOR SLAVES. The Hammurabi Code stipulates: 'If a slave strikes a free person on the cheek, his ear is to be cut off' (205); 'If a slave tells his master, "You are not my master," and it is proved that he is in fact his master, then his master is to cut off his ear.' (282)
Slaves were routinely castrated in order that thoughts of women would not interfere with their work, and eunuchs were also used to serve women. This was so common that the term 'eunuch' came to be used for all kinds of servants, even those not castrated, like Potiphar, 'the eunuch of Pharaoh' (Bereishit 39:1), and the royal winebearer and baker who are referred to as Pharaoh's 'eunuchs' (ibid. 40:2)…
In summary, there was nothing that prevented a master from doing any of this to his slave; it seems that they would even make the slaves deaf in order that they would not talk among themselves during their work, or for other purposes. AND THEY WOULD STRIKE OR KNOCK OUT THEIR TEETH so that they would not be able to eat much. Cicero describes how 'it was common among the Romans that if a slave knew some evidence against his master, the master would cut out his tongue in order that he would not be able to testify.' And the maiming of slaves, either by purposeless beating or for some purpose desired by the master, was so common that BLEMISHES WERE INFLICTED ON THE EXPOSED BODY PARTS OF THE SLAVE IN ORDER TO MARK HIM AS A SLAVE, AND THE BLEMISHES WERE A SIGN OF SLAVERY.
It was against all of this that the Torah came to improve the lot of the slaves and their worth, as much as was possible in those days. For beating to death the Torah prescribes, 'he shall surely be avenged' – which, in the view of the Sages (Sanhedrin 52b), refers to the death penalty.
For causing blemishes to the exposed body parts in order to thereby signify that he was a slave – or even without such express intent – the Torah prescribes that 'he shall send him free,' which is the opposite of the purpose of creating these blemishes. From this we derive the laws stipulating that the master must set the slave free for causing blemishes upon the 'exposed' body parts."
Ed. Shmuel Rubinstein
"The gemara (Kiddushin 25a) teaches: 'There are twenty-four protruding limbs of a person, for all of which a slave is set free, and these are they: the tips of the fingers, toes, ears, nose, penis and breasts... Rabbi says: Also testicles. Ben Azzai says: Also the tongue.'
The situation of a slave in ancient times was truly awful. He was like an object owned by his master, who was free to do whatever he wanted in order to force the slave to perform hard labor day and night, and to use him for all kinds of perverted purposes. The master could beat his slave mercilessly for any major or minor wrongdoing; he could permanently maim his limbs without fear of any punishment. For any purpose desired by the master, the slave could be blinded. Herodotus writes (4:2) that the Scythians used to blind their captive slaves so that they would work in producing butter. And there were several other such purposes for which slaves would be struck with blindness, TO THE POINT WHERE PUTTING OUT EYES BECAME A SYMBOL OF SLAVERY. Likewise, prisoners taken in war were blinded as a sign of slavery, and this was done particularly to kings and officers of the defeated army, as a sign of revenge and enslavement. For the same reason Shimshon was blinded by the Philistines (Shoftim 16:21), and this is apparently also the meaning of the words of Nachash the Ammonite to the men of Yavesh Gil'ad: 'By this condition I will make a covenant with you: if you all put out your right eye' (Shemuel I 11:2), as if to say, 'in order that you will be slaves and prisoners of war to me.' For the same reason King Tzidkiyahu was blinded by Nevukhadnetzar (Melakhim II 28:7), and this is also the meaning of the words of Datan and Aviram to Moshe: 'Will you put out the eyes of those men?' - as if to say, 'Are we considered in your eyes as slaves, prisoners of war, that you will exert your power over us and to do us whatever you wish, to drag us wherever you decide?' This arrogance on the part of the enslavers seems to have lasted until much later times, explaining even Herod's blinding of Bava ben Buta (Bava Batra 4a).
For some wrongdoing in his work, or for breaking some vessel, the slave's fingers or hands could be cut off, and this was apparently also done to prisoners of war as a sign of enslavement. This explains the amputation of thumbs and big toes by Adoni Bezek, who testifies that 'Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes amputated [would gather food under my table].' This was practiced among the Romans, too: Seneca reports that 'For breakage of a small vessel, the slave's hands would be cut off, or he would be put to death.'
THE AMPUTATION OF A SLAVE'S EARS WAS SO COMMONLY PRACTICED THAT IT WAS ESTABLISHED AS A PUNISHMENT FOR SLAVES. The Hammurabi Code stipulates: 'If a slave strikes a free person on the cheek, his ear is to be cut off' (205); 'If a slave tells his master, "You are not my master," and it is proved that he is in fact his master, then his master is to cut off his ear.' (282)
Slaves were routinely castrated in order that thoughts of women would not interfere with their work, and eunuchs were also used to serve women. This was so common that the term 'eunuch' came to be used for all kinds of servants, even those not castrated, like Potiphar, 'the eunuch of Pharaoh' (Bereishit 39:1), and the royal winebearer and baker who are referred to as Pharaoh's 'eunuchs' (ibid. 40:2)…
In summary, there was nothing that prevented a master from doing any of this to his slave; it seems that they would even make the slaves deaf in order that they would not talk among themselves during their work, or for other purposes. AND THEY WOULD STRIKE OR KNOCK OUT THEIR TEETH so that they would not be able to eat much. Cicero describes how 'it was common among the Romans that if a slave knew some evidence against his master, the master would cut out his tongue in order that he would not be able to testify.' And the maiming of slaves, either by purposeless beating or for some purpose desired by the master, was so common that BLEMISHES WERE INFLICTED ON THE EXPOSED BODY PARTS OF THE SLAVE IN ORDER TO MARK HIM AS A SLAVE, AND THE BLEMISHES WERE A SIGN OF SLAVERY.
It was against all of this that the Torah came to improve the lot of the slaves and their worth, as much as was possible in those days. For beating to death the Torah prescribes, 'he shall surely be avenged' – which, in the view of the Sages (Sanhedrin 52b), refers to the death penalty.
For causing blemishes to the exposed body parts in order to thereby signify that he was a slave – or even without such express intent – the Torah prescribes that 'he shall send him free,' which is the opposite of the purpose of creating these blemishes. From this we derive the laws stipulating that the master must set the slave free for causing blemishes upon the 'exposed' body parts."