1. In extreme poverty, he might sell his liberty. Lev. xxv. 39: “_If thy brother be waxed poor and be sold unto thee_.” 2. A father might sell his child. Ex. xxi. 7: “_If a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant_.” 3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. 2 Kings iv. 1: “_My husband is dead, and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondsmen_.” Also, Matt. xviii. 25. 4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the fine laid on him by the law, was to be sold for his profit whom he had robbed. Ex. xxii. 3: “_If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for the theft_.” 5. A Hebrew was liable to be taken in war, and sold for a slave. 2 Chron. xii. 8. 6. A Hebrew slave who had been ransomed from a Gentile by a Hebrew, might be sold by him who ransomed him to one of his own nation. All who became slaves under this system were emancipated in the seventh year, except those who should refuse to accept liberty. Ex. xxi. 2-6. They were emancipated in the year of jubilee. But then, the law further provided for domestic slaves _in perpetuity_. “Both thy bondmen and thy bondmaids which thou shalt have, shall be of the _heathen_ that are round about you: of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover, of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land; and they shall be your possession; and ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession: they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren, the children of Israel, ye shall not rule over one another with rigor.” Lev. xxv. 44-46.