Exodus 21:2

The Law Concerning Servants

1 “Now these are the¹ judgments which you shall ^aset before them:

2 ^aIf you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.

3 If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4 If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

5 ^aBut if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’

6 then his master shall bring him to the ^ajudges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

7 “And if a man ^asells his daughter to be a female slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.

8 If she does not please her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.

9 And if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters.

10 If he takes another wife, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, ^aand her marriage rights.

11 And if he does not do these three for her, then she shall go out free, without paying money.

The Law Concerning Violence

12 ^a“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

13 However, ^aif he did not lie in wait, but God ^bdelivered him into his hand, then ^cI will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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Exodus 21:3 >>

Exodus 21:2

A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in consequence either of debt Leviticus 25:39 or of the commission of theft Exodus 22:3. But his servitude could not be enforced for more than six full years. Compare the marginal references.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Exodus 21:2:**

Leviticus 22:11
Leviticus 25:39-40
Leviticus 25:47-54
Deuteronomy 15:15-18
Psalms 88:5
Proverbs 6:1

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Exodus 21:3 >>

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