Exodus 21:3 - Forerunner Commentary

Exodus 21:3

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.

Verse Comparison: Exodus 21:3

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American Standard Version
If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.

Amplified® Bible
If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him.

Contemporary English Version
If he was single at the time you bought him, he alone must be set free. But if he was married at the time, both he and his wife must be given their freedom.

Darby English Version
If he came in alone, he shall go out alone: if he had a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.

Good News Bible
If he was unmarried when he became your slave, he is not to take a wife with him when he leaves; but if he was married when he became your slave, he may take his wife with him.

King James Version
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

New American Standard Bible
"If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.

New International Version
If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.

New King James Version
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.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
"If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he has a wife or she has a husband, then his wife shall go out with him.

Revised Standard Version
If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.

Young's Literal Translation
if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he `is' owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him;

New English Translation
If he came¹ in by himself² he will go out by himself; if he had³ a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.

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