Kommentar zu Dewarim 23:16

לא תסגיר עבד THOU SHALT NOT DELIVER [UNTO HIS LORD] THE SERVANT [WHO IS ESCAPED FROM HIS LORD UNTO THEE] — Understand this as the Targum has it: עבד עממין the servant of the heathens. Another explanation is: that it implies even a Canaanite servant belonging to an Israelite who fled from outside the Land (from a foreign country) into the Land of Israel (Gittin 45a).

THOU SHALT NOT DELIVER UNTO HIS MASTER A BONDMAN THAT IS ESCAPED. This is connected with the section above that [when you go forth against the enemy] if a slave flees from his master against whom the host has gone forth and saves himself by fleeing to your camp you are not to deliver him to his master for money that he may give you. And since it states, he shall dwell with thee, in the midst of thee, in the place which he shall choose,²⁸⁴Verse 17. it appears that it is a commandment that he become a free man and that we should not enslave him. The reason for this commandment is that with us he will worship G-d and it is not proper that we return him to his master to worship idols. Moreover, it is possible that he [the bondman] may show them the entrance into the city,²⁸⁵Judges 1:25. for in that way they will capture many cities through slaves and captives fleeing from there. And our Rabbis have said²⁸⁶Gittin 45a. [that this prohibition is applicable] even [to] a Canaanite bondman who belongs to an Israelite who fled from outside the Land into the Land of Israel, for this one too, should preferably work for those who dwell in the Land of G-d and be saved from working for those that dwell in an unclean land,²⁸⁷Amos 7:17. and where not all commandments are binding.

לא תסגיר עבד אל אדוניו, after the Torah had spoken of the sanctity that must be prevalent in an encampment of Jewish soldiers in war, it switches to matters which are apt to happen in such surroundings, explaining how to correct deviations. One of these is how to deal with a gentile slave who has escaped from his master and taken asylum among the Jewish people; another is the subject of loose women who have infiltrated into the encampment of the Jewish army, an everyday occurrence in gentile armies. (verse 18)

לא תסגיר עבד לאדוניו, “Do not turn over a slave (who has escaped from his master) to his owner.” According to Nachmanides the reason why this verse is appropriately written at this point, is that that during the confusion which reigns during a siege or battle, many slaves use the opportunity to escape from their masters. A soldier who leaves his own camp in order to relieve himself, is liable to encounter such fleeing slaves in the no-man’s land where he answers a call of a nature. The Torah, especially has in mind, that the soldier in question not turn over the escaping slave by collecting a fee for this from his master, and thereby engage in slave-trading.

לא תסגיר עבד אל אדוניו, “Do not extradite a slave to his master.” The master the Torah speaks about here is a Gentile. The slave has fled from outside the boundaries of the land of Israel and sought refuge in the land of Israel. It is forbidden to hand over such a slave to anywhere outside of Eretz Yisrael out of love and fondness for the land of Israel. The court, or other authorities, force the owner to write a document releasing the slave in question and to free him to an Israelite. The former slave will sign a document in return obligating himself to compensate his former master accordingly (compare Gittin 45).

As Targum [Onkelos] renders, etc. עבד עממין (a slave of nations), meaning, a Jewish slave sold to non-Jews, as it says in Gittin (45a). According to this, why then does the verse call him a slave? He is a Jew! Therefore Rashi explains, “Another interpretation, etc.” But according to the alternative interpretation you might ask that since the term לא תסגיר implies freedom, as it says (Gittin 53b), “From here [we say that] if someone sells his slave to a non-Jew or outside the Land [of Israel], he goes free,” if so, why does the verse use the expression לא תסגיר, it should have said, “Do not enslave a slave to his master.” Therefore Rashi also needs the first interpretation.

V. 16. לא תסגיר וגו׳. Gittin 45 a wird der in unserem Texte besprochene Fall dahin erläutert: בעבד שברה מחוצה לארץ לארץ הכתוב מדבר, es spricht von einem kanaanitischen Sklaven, der sich von seinem jüdischen Herrn aus dem Ausland in das jüdische Land geflüchtet. Dem haben die jüdischen Behörden Schutz und Fürsorge zuzuwenden, sie haben — nach der auch im י׳׳ד rezipierten Auffassung des רמב׳׳ם (Abadim 8, 10) — ihm jedenfalls die Freiheit zu bewirken, haben dem Herrn die Alternative zu stellen, dem Sklaven einen Freibrief auszustellen und dagegen einen Schuldbrief auf dessen Wert entgegenzunehmen, widrigenfalls hat das Gericht kraft der ihm innewohnenden Expropriationsermächtigung ihn ohne weiteres frei zu sprechen. Er erlangt sodann als גר צדק das jüdische Bürgerrecht und steht unter der besonderen Agide des öffentlichen Rechts und Wohlwollens. Im Anklang an dieses Gesetz galt die Bestimmung, dass ein aus dem jüdischen Lande Auswandernder nicht befugt war, seine Sklaven wider deren Willen mit ins Ausland zu nehmen, und dass, wer seinen Sklaven nach dem Auslande verkaufte, ihm damit die Freiheit bereitete, המוכר עבדו לח׳׳ל יצא בן חורין (Gittin 43 b).

לא תסגיר עבד אל אדניו, “do not hand over to his master a slave who had escaped from him.” This verse was inserted here as it was the habit during wartime that many slaves used the confusion reigning to escape from their masters. They chose the land of Israel as a favourite destination, as they knew they would be treated there humanely.

עמך ישב במקום אשר יבחר, “he shall dwell with you in a location of his choice;” it is a positive commandment that this slave live as a free human being. The reason why this law has been given, and especially has been mentioned at this point, is that the former slave is to be encouraged to join us Jews in serving Hashem, instead of our turning him over to his former master and thereby increasing the number of pagans serving idols. Furthermore, by turning him over to his former master, there is a chance that this slave has become privy to information that might help the enemy to invade our country or to infiltrate the encampment of the Israelite army. History is full of stories of such “slaves” having been used as spies by their masters. Our sages interpret this verse as applying primarily to a Canaanite slave who has fled his master seeking refuge within Israel. Even though, basically, the Torah decreed that we must kill these people, here where the initiative comes from the Canaanite who is aware that he will likely be treated far more humanely by Jews, the Torah encourages us to bring him closer to Hashem by allowing him to embrace Judaism.

Wir haben bereits (Bereschit S. 213 und Schmot S. 122) die rechtliche Stellung des עבד כנעני im jüdischen Hause und im jüdischen Nationalkreise zu beleuchten Gelegenheit gehabt. Er ist Genosse des jüdischen Bundes und hat Teil an dem sittlichen Adel der Gesetzespflicht. Wir begreifen die ganze Größe des Kontrastes zwischen der menschenwürdigen Anschauung, die unter dem Regime des Gottesgesetzes im jüdischen Lande auch dem עבד כנעני bewahrt blieb, und der Auffassung des Sklaventums, die überall außer dem jüdischen Lande herrschte, und welcher auch der עבד כנעני eines Juden im Auslande ausgesetzt sein musste, und glauben wir, wie in den Gesetzesbestimmungen (Verse 11 — 15) eine Pflege, des sittlichen Momentes, so in diesen (Verse 16 u. 17) eine Pflege der internationalen Humanitätsgesinnung erblicken zu dürfen, welche beide nach den vorangehenden Gesetzesbestimmungen die hervorragenden Grundzüge des jüdischen Nationalcharakters bilden sollen.