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Exodus 21:1-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Exodus 21:1-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 21
Laws Regarding Slaves. 1 These are the ordinances[a] you shall lay before them. 2 (A)When you purchase a Hebrew slave,[b] he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he shall leave as a free person without any payment. 3 If he comes into service alone, he shall leave alone; if he comes with a wife, his wife shall leave with him. 4 But if his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children belong to her master and the man shall leave alone. 5 If, however, the slave declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I will not leave as a free person,’ 6 his master shall bring him to God[c] and there, at the door or doorpost, he shall pierce his ear with an awl, thus keeping him as his slave forever.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 21:1 Ordinances: judicial precedents to be used in settling questions of law and custom. More than half of the civil and religious laws in this collection (20:22–23:33), designated in 24:7 as “the book of the covenant,” have parallels in the cuneiform laws of the ancient Near East. It is clear that Israel participated in a common legal culture with its neighbors.
- 21:2 Slave: an Israelite could become a slave of another Israelite as a means of paying a debt, or an Israelite could be born into slavery due to a parent’s status as a slave. Here a time limit is prescribed for such slavery; other stipulations (vv. 20–21, 26–27) tried to reduce the evils of slavery, but slavery itself is not condemned in the Old Testament.
- 21:6 To God: the ritual of the piercing of the slave’s ear, which signified a lifetime commitment to the master, probably took place at the door of the household, where God as protector of the household was called upon as a witness. Another possible location for the ritual would have been the door of the sanctuary, where God or judges would have witnessed the slave’s promise of lifetime obedience to his master.
Exodus 21:1-6
New International Version
Exodus 21:1-6
New International Version
21 “These are the laws(A) you are to set before them:
Hebrew Servants(B)(C)
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant,(D) he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free,(E) without paying anything. 3 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. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’(F) 6 then his master must take him before the judges.[a](G) He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce(H) his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.(I)
Footnotes
- Exodus 21:6 Or before God
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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