Hide the Outcasts: Isaiah 16:3-4 and Fugitive Slave Laws
Isaiah 16:3-4, part of an obscure prophecy about ancient Moab, appeared frequently in nineteenth-century writings about slavery in the United States, particularly in the context of opposition to fugitive slave laws. The verses were linked with other biblical passages to create a network of proof tex...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
2022
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 2022, Volume: 115, Issue: 4, Pages: 519-537 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Jesaja 16,3-4
/ Bible. Deuteronomium 23,15-16
/ Reception
/ USA
/ Abolitionists
/ History 1810-1870
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| IxTheo Classification: | CG Christianity and Politics HB Old Testament KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KBQ North America |
| Further subjects: | B
Underground Railroad
B George Bourne B Moab B William Lloyd Garrison B fugitive slave laws B Isaiah B Abolitionism B Moses Stuart |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Isaiah 16:3-4, part of an obscure prophecy about ancient Moab, appeared frequently in nineteenth-century writings about slavery in the United States, particularly in the context of opposition to fugitive slave laws. The verses were linked with other biblical passages to create a network of proof texts to justify assisting persons who escaped slavery. Eventually, the line "hide the outcast" from verse 3 took on a life of its own as an abolitionist slogan, largely independently of its biblical context. Rebuttals of these uses of the texts by anti-abolitionist writers, which began to appear in the 1850s, criticized the decontextualization of the verses, and one novel response attempted to link the text to interracial intimacy. Despite these rebuttals, the use of the text continued apace throughout the 1850s-1860s in response to the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act and the execution of John Brown. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S001781602200030X |