from whose house he escaped twice. Taken the second time, he instituted an action in order that he might be recognised as a free-born citizen, of the family of Bel-rimanni; and to prove that he was of noble origin he pretended that he had performed the matrimonial solemnities at the marriage of his master's daughter, Qudasa, with a certain Samas-mudammiq. Such a performance, doubtless, implied that the officiating priest was of free birth, and no slave or freed-man was qualified to take part in it.
The name Barachiel, says Dr Oppert, is evidently that of a Jew. He is called "a slave of ransom;" that is to say, not a slave who has already purchased his freedom, but a slave who was allowed by special laws to employ his private fortune in the work of liberating himself. He professes to have been the "joiner" of the hands of bride and bridegroom at a wedding which must have taken place before the thirty-fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, when he still belonged to the house of Akhi-nuri, "the seller of the slave," as he is called at the end of the text.
The judges, after perusing all the evidence, do not find any proofs that Barachiel was a man of free birth, and accordingly say to him:—"Prove to us that you are the descendant of a noble ancestor." Thereupon Barachiel confesses that he is not free-born, but has twice run away from the house of his master; as, however, the act was seen by many people, he was afraid, and said he was the son of a noble ancestor. "But I am not free-born," he confesses, and then gives an account of the events of his life. The judges decided that Barachiel should be restored to his condition as a slave of ransom.[1]
Such a story as this serves to show what the life of many an Israelite may have been during the Captivity.
- ↑ "Records of the Past." New Series, Vol. i.
