“Now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou _tillest_ (תַֽעֲבד֙ _tha ebod, thou slavest_) the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” * * * “And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” “Shall not yield unto thee her strength;” either the earth should be less fruitful, or from his own waywardness, it should be less skilfully cultivated by him, or that a profit from his labour should be enjoyed by another; or, perhaps, from the joint operation of them all. Thus an aggravated degree of sin is always attended by an aggravated degree of slavery. The next final step we discover in the history of slavery appears in Ham, the son of Noah; and he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” “_Servant of servants_,” עֶ֖בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים _ebed ebadim, slave of slaves_. This mode of expression in Hebrew is one of the modes by which they expressed the superlative degree. The meaning is, the _most abject slave_ shall he be to his brethren. Heretofore slavery has been of less intensity; here we find the ordination of the master, and it is not a little remarkable that he is distinctly blessed! “And he said, I am Abraham’s servant. And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver and gold, and _men-servants_ (וַֽעֲבָדִים _va ebadim, and male slaves_), and _maid-servants_ (וּשְׁפָ֔חֹת _va shephahoth, and female slaves_), and camels and asses.” “And Sarah, my master’s wife, bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.” And of Isaac it is said— “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundred fold: and the Lord blessed him, and the man waxed great, and went forward and grew until he became very great: for he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants (וַֽעֲבֻדָּ֥ה _va ebuddah, and a large family of slaves_): _and the Philistines envied him_.” We pray that no one in these days will imitate those wicked Philistines! And of Jacob it is said— “And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and _maid-servants_ (וּשְׁפָחוֹת _vu shephahoth_), _and female slaves_ and _men-servants_ (וַ֥עֲבָדִים _va ebadim, and male slaves_), and camels, and asses.” “And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.” “_He that is_ despised, and hath a _servant_ (עֶבֶד _ebed, a slave_), is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.” _Prov._ xii. 9.