The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 21 -

(Deuteronomy 15:12–18)

“These are the judgments which you shall place before them:

If you buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve you; in the seventh, he shall depart freely, without charge.

With whatever clothing he arrived, with the like let him depart. If he has a wife, his wife also shall depart, at the same time.

But if his lord gave him a wife, and she has borne sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her lord. Yet still, he himself will go out with his clothing.

And if the servant will say, ‘I love my lord, and my wife and children, I will not depart freely,’

then his lord shall make an offering for him to the heavens, and it shall be applied to the door and the posts, and he will pierce his ear with an awl. And he shall be his servant in perpetuity.(a)

(b)

If anyone sells his daughter to be a servant, she shall not depart as a female servant is accustomed to go out.

If she displeases the eyes of her lord, to whom she had been delivered, he shall dismiss her. But he shall have no authority to sell her to a foreign people, even if he despises her.

But if he has betrothed her to his son, he shall treat her according to the custom with daughters.

And if he takes another for him, he shall provide to the maiden a marriage, and clothing, and he shall not refuse the price of her chastity.

If he does not do these three things, she shall depart freely, without money.

Personal Injury Laws

Whoever strikes a man, intending to murder, shall be put to death.(c)

But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him into his hands, then I will appoint for you a place to which he must flee.

If someone murders his neighbor with deliberation, by lying in wait, you shall tear him away from my altar, so that he may die.

Whoever strikes his father or mother shall die a death.

Whoever will have stolen a man and sold him, having been convicted of the crime, shall be put to death.

Whoever speaks evil of his father or mother shall die a death.

If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck his neighbor with a stone or a fist, and he does not die, but lies in bed,

if he gets up again and can walk outside on his staff, he who struck him will be innocent, but only if he makes sufficient restitution for his deeds and for the cost of the physicians.

Whoever strikes his male or female servant with a staff, and if they have died by his hands, he shall be guilty of a crime.

But if he survives for one day or two, he shall not be subject to punishment, because it is his money.(d)

If men will have quarreled, and one of them has struck a pregnant woman, and as a result she miscarries, but she herself survives, he shall be subject to as much damage as the husband of the woman shall petition from him, or as arbitrators shall judge.

But if her death will have followed, he will repay a life for a life,

an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,

a scrape for a scrape, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.

If anyone will have struck the eye of his male or female servant, having left them with one eye, he shall release them freely, because of the eye that he has put out.

Likewise, if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female servant, he shall similarly release them freely.

If an ox has struck a man or a woman with his horn, and if they die, it shall be stoned. And its flesh shall not be eaten; also, the owner of the ox will be innocent.

But if the ox had been pushing with his horn, from yesterday and the day before, and they warned his owner, but he did not confine it, and it will have killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned, and his owner shall be killed.

But if they have imposed a price on him, he shall give, in exchange for his life, whatever is asked.

Likewise, if it has struck a son or a daughter with its horns, it shall be subject to a similar verdict.

If it attacks a male or female servant, he shall give thirty shekels of silver to their lord, yet truly the ox shall be stoned.

If a man digs or opens a cistern, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

then the owner of the cistern shall repay the price of the beasts, and what is dead will belong to him.

If the ox of a stranger wounds the ox of another, and it has died, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price, but the carcass of the dead one they shall distribute between them.

But if he knew that his ox had pushed with its horns, yesterday and the day before, and its owner did not confine it, then he shall repay an ox for an ox, and he will receive the whole carcass.”

Footnotes

(a)21:6 This verse is translated somewhat more loosely, so that the meaning is clearer. The master of the household makes an offering (animal sacrifice) on behalf of his servant, then he applies some of its blood (in the manner of the Passover) to the door posts. The offering cannot be understood as to ‘the gods’ because the previous verses forbid sacrifices to other gods. The word ‘diis’ has a broader meaning than the word ‘gods.’ It refers to things that are divine, i.e. to the heavens.(Conte)

(b)21:6 To the gods:Elohim. That is, to the judges, or magistrates, authorized by God.(Challoner)

(d)21:21 He is still guilty of the crime, as verse 20 states, but there will not be a financial penalty.(Conte)

(Deuteronomy 15:12–18)

“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:

“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.

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

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

But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’

then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.

“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.

If she doesn’t please her master, who has married 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.

If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.

If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.

If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

Personal Injury Laws

“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,

but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.

If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.

“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

“If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed;

if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.

“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.

Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.

“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.

But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,

eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.

“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.

“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible.

But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.

If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.

Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.

If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels

(a)

of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,

the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.

“If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.

Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Footnotes

(a)21:32 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 30 shekels is about 300 grams or about 10.6 ounces.