Misinterpretations often portray this verse as permitting or endorsing slavery overall, ignoring its specific condemnation of kidnapping and forced enslavement with capital punishment to abolish man-stealing. Some apply it rigidly to advocate death penalties for contemporary human trafficking, disregarding its ancient Israelite context and New Testament shifts toward mercy and state governance. Others assume it only protected Israelites against each other, missing the timeless principle of human dignity, or conflate it with allowances for war captives or voluntary servants.
Deuteronomy 24:7
King James Version (1769)
7 If a man be found stealing any of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh merchandise of him, or selleth him; then that thief shall die; and thou shalt put evil away from among you.
Deuteronomy 24:7 prescribes the death penalty for anyone who kidnaps a fellow Israelite, sells them into slavery, or holds them in possession, underscoring the sacred value of human freedom and dignity in God's eyes. In the Mosaic Law's framework for a just society, this law targets 'man-stealing'—a grave offense equated with murder—distinguishing it from regulated forms of servitude like debt bondage, and affirming that individuals are not commodities to be trafficked but bearers of God's image deserving protection.