Zedekiah's Covenant (34:1-22) 559oath-taking, the cutting of a calf in two, and people processing solemnly be-
tween its parts (v 19), took place at the Temple (v 15). The release was a gen-
eral release for all Hebrew slaves, corresponding to the Jubilee Year release
(Lev 25:39-46) and releases known to have occurred throughout the ANE,
also later in classical times. King Ammisaduqa of Babylonia (1646-1626 B.c.),
for example, issued an edict of mi8arum at the beginning of his reign, allowing
people who had been enslaved because of debt to be released together with
their families (ANET^3 528 §20; cf. Weinfeld 1990; Milgrom 2001: 2167).
Slaves were also released en masse in times of national emergencies, such as
the present one. Since slaves were not normally subject to military duty, if
they were free, they could be drafted into the army. Also, slave owners were
obligated to feed and house their slaves, which in time of siege and food scar-
city could be difficult. If the slaves were set free, they would have to find food
and shelter on their own. A Mari Letter (XXVI 363), dated to 1765/4 B.C., re-
fers to a general release of merchants and slaves by Hammurabi when his
country was under threat of enemy attack, the purpose being to strengthen his
army (Charpin et al. 1988: 164-65 #363; Anbar 1999). Diodorus of Sicily
(xxxvi 4.8) reports, too, an offer by Salvius to free the slaves of Morgantina, a
city he was besieging, but their masters countered with a like offer if the slaves
would join in the city's defense, which they accepted, and the siege was re-
pelled. But later the emanicipation was rescinded, and a majority of the slaves
deserted to the rebels.
Hebrews were permitted to have other Hebrews as slaves, the OT contain-
ing legislation both limiting and safeguarding what was apparently a long-
st<rnding practice (F.xod 21:2-11; Deut 15:12-18; and Lev 25:39-46). In Israel,
as in other nations, people belonging to the internal population were reduced
to slavery for two main reasons: hunger and debt. Debts, whether personal or
state-caused, reduced people and family members into slavery. Famine,
whether due to natural causes or to war, forced people to sell children and
even themselves into slavery in order that one or both might stay alive. Op-
penheim ( 195 5) published a collection of Neo-Babylonian texts from Nippur
(656-617 B.c.) that deals with parents' selling small children into slavery. In
two of the texts, small girls were sold when Nippur was under siege, the par-
ents needing the money and at the same time wanting to see their children
kept alive. Indebtedness could be incurred for a variety of reasons. Kings taxed
people for defense, war, and other ambitious programs of state, occasionally
having to tax them again in order to meet tribute demands from foreign rulers.
The latter had happened just recently, when Neco demanded tribute money
from Jehoiakim, who raised it from the people (2 Kgs 23:35). Nobles, land-
owners, and other people of means also charged excessive interest on loans,
just one example of how the rich preyed on the poor (Neb 5:1-13). In Babylo-
nia, Assyria, and Syria, interest rates on loans were a chief cause of insolvency:
20-25 percent on silver, and 33-1/3 percent on grain (Mendelsohn 1949: 23;
idem, IDB R-Z, 385). What they were in Israel and Judah, one can only
guess. Proverbs 22:7 says: "The borrower is a slave to the person who lends."