Jholson of
the Jewish seminary at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in his comment on these
verses, says, "It must be observed that it was prohibited to SUBJECT _a
Stranger to slavery_. The _buying_ of slaves _alone_ is permitted, but
not stealing them."

Now whatever we call that condition in which servants were, whether
servitude or slavery, and whatever we call the persons in that
condition, whether servants or _slaves_, we have at all events, the
testimony that the Israelites were prohibited to _subject_ a Stranger to
that condition, or in other words, the free choice of the servant was
not to be compelled. ]

OBJECTION IV. "_If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and
be sold unto thee, thou shalt not compel him to serve as a BOND-SERVANT
but as an HIRED-SERVANT, and as a sojourner shall he be with thee, and
shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee_." Lev. xxv. 39, 40.

As only _one_ class is called "_hired_," it is inferred that servants of
the other class were _not paid_ for their labor. That God, while
thundering anathemas against those who "used their neighbor's service
without wages," granted a special indulgence to his chosen people to
force others to work, and rob them of earnings, provided always, in
selecting their victims, they spared "the gentlemen of property and
standing," and pounced only upon the strangers and the common people.
The inference that "_hired_" is synonymous with _paid_, and that those
servants not _called_ "hired," were _not paid_ for their labor, is a
mere assumption. The meaning of the English verb to _hire_, is to
procure for a _temporary_ use at a certain price--to engage a person to
temporary service for wages. That is also the meaning of the Hebrew word
"_saukar_." It is not used when the procurement of _permanent_ service
is spoken of. Now, we ask, would _permanent_ servants, those who
constituted a stationary part of the family, have been designated by the
same term that marks _temporary_ servants? The every-day distinctions in
this matter, are familiar as table-talk. In many families the domestics
perform only the _regular_ work. Whatever is occasional merely, as the
washing of a family, is done by persons hired expressly for the purpose.
The familiar distinction between the two classes, is "servants," and
"hired help," (not _paid_ help.) _Both_ classes are _paid_. One is
permanent, and the other occasional and temporary, and _therefore_ in
this case called "hired."[A]