Do Not Return an Escaped Slave

The rule Do Not Return an Escaped Slave makes refuge, rather than return to an enslaver, the prescribed response to escape: the fugitive may settle where they choose within an Israelite community and must not be wronged. Its brief, direct command distinguishes this protection from neighboring laws that regulate enslavement and the treatment of servants.

The Rule and Its Terms

The rule addresses the case of a slave who has escaped from an owner and arrived among the Israelites. It prohibits delivering the fugitive back to that owner. Instead, the person is to live among the Israelites, in the place within one of their towns that they choose and prefer; the community is expressly forbidden to wrong them. The provision therefore specifies both non-return and continued residence, rather than treating escape as grounds for renewed control by the former master.

Place in the Legal Code

The command appears among the laws concerning Israelite communal and camp life, following instructions about maintaining the camp’s holiness and before regulations concerning offerings and lending. Its setting frames refuge as a matter of communal responsibility: the escaped person is not to be surrendered, and their chosen place of residence is to be respected.

Contrast with Servitude Laws

Elsewhere, the Covenant Code regulates Hebrew servitude, including release after six years in specified circumstances, and sets out rules about harm to enslaved people and compensation for property loss. Against that broader legal treatment of servitude, this rule establishes a distinct limit: when an enslaved person escapes to the community, the text does not direct the community to enforce the claimant’s control. Its explicit ban on wrongdoing accompanies the guarantee of refuge, making protection—not merely non-return—part of the command.