Physical Labor

The Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.  If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate someone to the Lord by paying the value of that person, here is the scale of values to be used.  A man between the ages of twenty and sixty is valued at fifty shekels of silver, as measured by the sanctuary shekel.  A woman of that age is valued at thirty shekels of silver.  A boy between the ages of five and twenty is valued at twenty shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at ten shekels of silver.  A boy between the ages of one month and five years is valued at five shekels of silver; a girl of that age is valued at three shekels of silver.  A man older than sixty is valued at fifteen shekels of silver; a woman of that age is valued at ten shekels of silver. [Leviticus 27.1-7]

I know it it tempting here to engage in a discrimination discussion.  It is a touchy subject to discuss anything gender-related - particularly because there is no neutral stance from which to be objective!  The observer of any gender-related will always be one of either gender! (I suppose there may exist truly gender neutral occasions in the human race, but one must concede that this exception, if even truly possible, would be rare to say the very least).

So, I speak as a male.  And, as a male, I wish to make every effort to put aside my gender in order to be objective, but alas, regardless of what I think in my heart, no one else can truly know what I feel just because of what I say.  That being said, I will just make my statements here and be done with it.

The valuation placed on people in the scripture reference above had everything to do with the ability to do physical work.  The capacity for manual labor was the overriding determining factor.  There is no point arguing whether a man is better suited for physically demanding labor than a woman.  Even though exceptions do exist, by and large, the male human is generally, larger, heavier, and more muscular than the female human.  thus, he was valued in biblical times higher simply because he could accomplish more physical labor.  

There were no computers or office work.  There were no factories requiring skilled operators as opposed to physically strong operators.  There was a very plain and uncomplicated culture, usually not separated from farming or ranching, that required lots of physical labor from the man - but even then, only slightly more strenuous than the physical labors the woman faced herself in rearing children, and maintaining a household with all it duties - some of which were quite physical as well.

It just came down to the man being able to accomplish the most physical of tasks.  The value was based on work - the more work (specifically tied to the most physical effort), the more value.

I would hope we could all view the Bible practically taking into consideration the times in which it was written.  However, I know at times, that is difficult to do!

Father, help me, help us all, to resist the temptation to reject the Bible for things found in it that are hard for our modern society to accept!