them: It is the victim of the passage
of the Lord." Moreover, they are commanded to teach them the rules of
right conduct: wherefore it is written (Deut. 21:20) that the parents
had to say: "He slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself
to revelling and to debauchery."

Reply Obj. 1: As the children of Israel had been delivered by the
Lord from slavery, and for this reason were bound to the service of
God, He did not wish them to be slaves in perpetuity. Hence it is
written (Lev. 25:39, seqq.): "If thy brother, constrained by poverty,
sell himself to thee, thou shalt not oppress him with the service of
bondservants: but he shall be as a hireling and a sojourner . . . for
they are My servants, and I brought them out of the land of Egypt:
let them not be sold as bondmen": and consequently, since they were
slaves, not absolutely but in a restricted sense, after a lapse of
time they were set free.

Reply Obj. 2: This commandment is to be understood as referring to a
servant whom his master seeks to kill, or to help him in committing
some sin.

Reply Obj. 3: With regard to the ill-treatment of servants, the Law
seems to have taken into consideration whether it was certain or not:
since if it were certain, the Law fixed a penalty: for maiming, the
penalty was forfeiture of the servant, who was ordered to be given
his liberty: while for slaying, the punishment was that of a
murderer, when the slave died under the blow of his master. If,
however, the hurt was not certain, but only probable, the Law did not
impose any penalty as regards a man's own servant: for instance if
the servant did not die at once after being struck, but after some
days: for it would be uncertain whether he died as a result of the
blows he received. For when a man struck a free man, yet so that he
did not die at once, but "walked abroad again upon his staff," he
that struck him was quit of murder, even though afterwards he died.
Nevertheless he was bound to pay the doctor's fees incurred by the
victim of his assault. But this was not the case if a man killed his
own servant: because whatever the servant had, even his very person,
was the property of his master. Hence the reason for his not being
subject to a pecuniary penalty is set down as being "because it is
his money."

Reply Obj. 4: As stated above (ad 1), no Jew could own a Jew as a
slave absolutely: but only in a restricted sense, as a hireling for a
fixed time. And in this way the