Leviticus 25:45

45. Children of the strangers… shall ye buy It is very natural that the institution which originated in war, should be perpetuated in peace, and that the offspring of the first captives should follow the status of their parents, and that the system should embrace the children of foreigners who should offer them for sale. This often prevented the crime of infanticide, widely prevalent among the heathen. Thus was formed in the Hebrew state a sort of helot-class, mentioned especially under David (2 Chronicles 2:17, compare with 2 Samuel 20:24, note, and Solomon, 1 Kings 9:20; 2 Chronicles 8:7.) This class, which was employed on the public works, is estimated at one hundred and fifty-three thousand six hundred persons. As the Old Testament never mentions the importation of slaves as chattels, nor alludes to slave-markets, it is to be supposed that no slaves proper were bought in foreign lands. The Hebrews came in contact with the Phoenician slave-trade only as sufferers. Joel 3:4-6; Amos 1:9. Among the Jews the number of servants was comparatively much smaller than the number of slaves among other nations of antiquity. In Athens the proportion of slaves to citizens at one time was as high as four to one; but among the Israelites immediately after the Babylonian captivity the servants were to the masters as one to six. Ezra 2:64-65; Nehemiah 7:66-67. We have reason to believe that the number subsequently decreased, the influential sect of the Pharisees in particular being opposed to the system.