Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnappers possession. Kidnapping is listed alongside murder in severity of penalty because the reduction of a person to property through force is a fundamental violation of the image of God in which every person is made. Deuteronomy 24:7 specifically applies this to the kidnapping of a fellow Israelite. 1 Timothy 1:10 lists slave traders among those for whom the law was made — the New Testament application of the principle is explicit. The economy of Egypt, which depended on enslaved labor obtained through force, is here implicitly condemned. The people who were kidnapped into Egypt are legislating against what was done to them.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a note on this verse