More than 900 biblical chapters eliminated and severely edited to justify slavery, this is the «Slaves Bible»

A rare edition of the Bible was recently found that has drawn attention for being a heavily-edited version to validate slavery during its heyday for several decades.

More than 900 biblical chapters eliminated and severely edited to justify slavery, this is the «Slaves Bible».

The “Slave Bible” is on display by a Dutch gospel music exhibition called “Gospel: Musical Journey of Spirit and Hope” which shows the heavily edited piece with omitted references to anything that might promote or make freedom  in people who were slaves.

This is one of only three uniques copies of it, and which was used in 1807 under the name  “Select parts of the Holy Bible for the use of the Negro Slaves in the British West-India Islands”; the same one that is now exhibited at the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, Netherlands, known as the Dutch national museum for the art, culture and history of Christianity. 

The museum spokesman explained that these biblical texts were manipulated and used to make slavery legitimate, so they had to omit much of what the Bible said and place it out of the reach of slaves.

“However, these measurements did not prevent faith from taking root on the plantations. The passages about freedom that were omitted turned up in spirituals, the songs of enslaved people in the United States. We are very fortunate and proud that we can show this impressive object in our exhibition,” the spokesperson said, according to The Christian Post.

Such an object was used in the British West Indies as well, which they called “The Slave’s Bible”; which was donated among the 12,000 books owned by the University of Glasgow.

Julie Gardham, a senior assistant librarian at the University of Glasgow Library, said the “important and scarce” Bible is part of Scottish philanthropist William Euing’s renowned library and is «one of some 3,000 Bibles that he collected in many different editions and languages.»

The most outstanding detail is that of the 1189 chapters that a King James version Bible contains, the Bible of the slaves only has 282 of them, this being a reference to how the power of the most favored races in those times subdued the slaves with great capacity. 

«In omitting all references to freedom, it is a powerful and chilling reminder of how white Christians manipulated and misused even sacred texts to control the enslaved and legitimize slavery,» said Gardham, explaining that one of the big omissions was the book of Exodus, in which Moses leads the Israelites from captivity to freedom from Pharaoh’s Egyptian rule.

All references to forced labor and themes of the same kind, so the book of Jeremiah was also omitted.

Among the removed verses is Exodus 21:16, highlighting others such as Ephesians 6:5, where respect and fear of the authorities are spoken of, all this magnified in an indiscriminate context of slavery.

However, such a copy is indeed damaged, requiring a conservation team to treat it before being put on display.

“The Bible had detached boards, splits in the sewing, and extensive losses to the fragile paper covering material. This meant that the Bible’s condition could quickly worsen with very little handling,” Keira McKee, a book conservator at the University of Glasgow, said. 

According to Pastor Gavin Ortlund of the First Baptist Church of Ojai, California, it is important to know this type of text, in which it is evident in comparison that clearly God through his word highlighted that he condemned all forms of slavery.

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