What Does the Bible Say About Slavery 03 The Different types of Slavery in the Bible

How did people become slaves in Old Testament times?
Slavery caused by the inability to pay off debts or support ones family
In Old Testament times they did not have the ability to declare bankruptcy. The Hebrews could not pass the debt that they couldn't pay off, to their lenders or taxpayers. There were no social programs to save them. Believe it or not, they were actually responsible for their bad spending choices. If you put yourself in debt and could not pay, you had to work off your debt. This meant you had to sell yourself into slavery to the person you owed money to. It's similar to having to wash dishes at a restaurant because you were unable to pay the check. This punishment for bad borrowing or spending kept people in line economically. People knew that there was a real penalty for running up their debts.
Again, there were no social programs in Old Testament times. Sometimes someone would voluntarily sell themselves into servitude to a rich master to help themselves get through tough economic times. Whatever the reason, a family may have found themselves unable to cope with life's conditions and needed help. Whether it was food, shelter or whatever, they would seek out a wealthy land owner to take them in and help them get through. Sometimes a father would sell his children into slavery because he could not support them. This is not what any parent wants to do, but it definitely beat, seeing them starve to death.
Committing a crime that you could not pay back (restitution) may get you sold into slavery.
If you don't want to do the time, don't commit the crime. According to God's laws, a criminal must pay back (make restitution)to the perso