2 `When thou buyest a Hebrew servant -- six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought;
`When thy brother is sold to thee, a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, and he hath served thee six years -- then in the seventh year thou dost send him away free from thee. And when thou dost send him away free from thee, thou dost not send him away empty; thou dost certainly encircle him out of thy flock, and out of thy threshing-floor, and out of thy wine-vat; `of' that which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee thou dost give to him, and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee; therefore I am commanding thee this thing to-day.
`It is not hard in thine eyes, in thy sending him away free from thee; for the double of the hire of an hireling he hath served thee six years, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all that thou dost.
And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews, yea, there are who are saying, `Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.' And there are who are saying, `Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.' And there are who are saying, `We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, `on' our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren `is' our flesh, as their sons `are' our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards `are' to others.'
and say to them, `We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that `is' in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word.
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after the making by the king Zedekiah of a covenant with all the people who `are' in Jerusalem, to proclaim to them liberty, to send out each his man-servant, and each his maid-servant -- the Hebrew and the Hebrewess -- free, so as not to lay service on them, any on a Jew his brother; and hearken do all the heads, and all the people who have come in to the covenant to send forth each his man-servant and each his maid-servant free, so as not to lay service on them any more, yea, they hearken, and send them away; and they turn afterwards, and cause the men-servants and the maid-servants to return, whom they had sent forth free, and they subdue them for men-servants and for maid-servants. And there is a word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying: `Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I -- I made a covenant with your fathers in the day of My bringing them forth from the land of Egypt, from a house of servants, saying, At the end of seven years ye do send forth each his brother, the Hebrew, who is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, yea, thou hast sent him forth free from thee: and your fathers hearkened not unto Me, nor inclined their ear. `And ye turn back, ye to-day, and ye do that which is right in Mine eyes, to proclaim liberty each to his neighbour, and ye make a covenant before Me in the house over which My name is called. And -- ye turn back, and pollute My name, and ye cause each his man-servant and each his maid-servant, whom he had sent forth free, (at their pleasure,) to return, and ye subdue them to be to you for men-servants and for maid-servants. `Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto Me to proclaim freedom, each to his brother, and each to his neighbour; lo, I am proclaiming to you liberty -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- unto the sword, unto the pestilence, and unto the famine, and I have given you for a trembling to all kingdoms of the earth.
And he saith, `Is it because `one' called his name Jacob that he doth take me by the heel these two times? my birthright he hath taken; and lo, now, he hath taken my blessing;' he saith also, `Hast thou not kept back a blessing for me?'
and any man's servant, the purchase of money, when thou hast circumcised him -- then he doth eat of it;
`And when thy brother becometh poor with thee, and he hath been sold to thee, thou dost not lay on him servile service; as an hireling, as a settler, he is with thee, till the year of the jubilee he doth serve with thee, -- then he hath gone out from thee, he and his sons with him, and hath turned back unto his family; even unto the possession of his fathers he doth turn back. `For they `are' My servants, whom I have brought out from the land of Egypt: they are not sold `with' the sale of a servant; thou rulest not over him with rigour, and thou hast been afraid of thy God. `And thy man-servant and thy handmaid whom thou hast `are' of the nations who `are' round about you; of them ye buy man-servant and handmaid, and also of the sons of the settlers who are sojourning with you, of them ye buy, and of their families who `are' with you, which they have begotten in your land, and they have been to you for a possession;
`At the end of seven years thou dost make a release,
And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, `Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'
and he having nothing to pay, his lord did command him to be sold, and his wife, and the children, and all, whatever he had, and payment to be made.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 21
Commentary on Exodus 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Ex 21:1-6. Laws for Menservants.
1. judgments—rules for regulating the procedure of judges and magistrates in the decision of cases and the trial of criminals. The government of the Israelites being a theocracy, those public authorities were the servants of the Divine Sovereign, and subject to His direction. Most of these laws here noticed were primitive usages, founded on principles of natural equity, and incorporated, with modifications and improvements, in the Mosaic code.
2-6. If thou buy an Hebrew servant—Every Israelite was free-born; but slavery was permitted under certain restrictions. An Hebrew might be made a slave through poverty, debt, or crime; but at the end of six years he was entitled to freedom, and his wife, if she had voluntarily shared his state of bondage, also obtained release. Should he, however, have married a female slave, she and the children, after the husband's liberation, remained the master's property; and if, through attachment to his family, the Hebrew chose to forfeit his privilege and abide as he was, a formal process was gone through in a public court, and a brand of servitude stamped on his ear (Ps 40:6) for life, or at least till the Jubilee (De 15:17).
Ex 21:7-36. Laws for Maidservants.
7-11. if a man sell his daughter—Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere. Should she have been betrothed to him or his son, and either change their minds, a maintenance must be provided for her suitable to her condition as his intended wife, or her freedom instantly granted.
23-25. eye for eye—The law which authorized retaliation (a principle acted upon by all primitive people) was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge. The later Jews, however, mistook it for a moral precept, and were corrected by our Lord (Mt 5:38-42).
28-36. If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die—For the purpose of sanctifying human blood, and representing all injuries affecting life in a serious light, an animal that occasioned death was to be killed or suffer punishment proportioned to the degree of damage it had caused. Punishments are still inflicted on this principle in Persia and other countries of the East; and among a rude people greater effect is thus produced in inspiring caution, and making them keep noxious animals under restraint, than a penalty imposed on the owners.
30. If there be laid on him a sum of money, &c.—Blood fines are common among the Arabs as they were once general throughout the East. This is the only case where a money compensation, instead of capital punishment, was expressly allowed in the Mosaic law.