Israelite Religion

Here, the Bible suggests that the Israelite’s saw foreigners as being set apart from themselves not on the basis of the Israelites being a superior race, but rather, on the basis of the Israelites’ devotion to a distinctive culture and religion that was based on their belief in the God of the Bible. Nowhere does the text state that the Israelites were concerned with the race of the people of other nations. Instead, the text indicates that the Israelites were concerned with not falling into the cultural and religious practices of other nations which would steer them towards other gods and away from the God of the Bible. This is indicated in the above passage by the repeated demand to destroy anything that relates to non-Israelite gods. Numerous
This is indicated by the text of Joshua 9:22-23 which states the following: “Joshua summoned them (the Gibeonites), and said to them, “Why did you deceive us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ while in fact you are living among us? Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you shall always be slaves, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of
However, in regards to the enslavement of the Canaanites and Gibeonites, the above texts suggest that these groups were not enslaved on the basis of racial inferiority. To be fair, at first glance these curses might appear to mark the creation of slave races for the Israelites. However, this is not the case. In contrast to the southern system of slavery, which was based on the idea that Africans were an inferior race, the reason for the enslavement of both the Canaanites and the Gibeonites does not rest on the basis of the racial inferiority of these groups. Instead, slavery is brought upon these groups due to a religious concern rooted in their sinfulness against God. As scholar Catherine Hezser writes, in contrast to the idea that certain races of people are naturally suited for slavery, the Canaanites and Gibeonites are enslaved as a result of “their sinful behavior towards Noah and Joshua, respectively. Permanent slavery is envisioned as God’s punishment of the Canaanites’ and Gibeonites’ misconduct (against Noah and Joshua as God’s representatives) here.” Furthermore, with respect to the Canaanites, evidence suggests that they may have even held close racial ties to the Israelites. One theory holds that the Israelites represented a portion of the peasant population in Canaan. Under the stress of hard economic times, they left Canaan and established themselves in tribes and clans