Exodus 21

These are the legal rulings you are to set before the people.

1Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

NoteThese rulings follow the Ten Commandments and run through chapter 23. They are case law, framed the way legal collections across the ancient Near East were framed: "if such-and-such happens, this is the ruling." They deal with situations that actually came before local judges rather than laying down general principles.

2If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve six years. In the seventh year he goes free, and he pays nothing for it.

2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

Note"Servant" here translates a Hebrew word that covers everything from a hired worker to a slave. An Israelite normally entered this state through debt or poverty, selling his own labor, or being sold, to clear what he owed. The six-year limit and free release in the seventh apply to fellow Hebrews; the law elsewhere treats foreign slaves differently. "He pays nothing for it" means no redemption price is owed for his release.

3If he came in alone, he leaves alone. If he was married when he came, then his wife leaves with him.

3If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.

4If his master gave him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and he leaves alone.

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

NoteA wife given by the master was herself the master's slave, so she and any children remained his property. This is what sets up the choice in the next verses.

5But if the servant says clearly, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to go free,"

5And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

6then his master is to bring him to the judges. He is also to bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master is to pierce his ear through with an awl. Then he serves him for life.

6Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

Note"To the judges" translates a Hebrew word that literally means "God" or "the gods." It may mean the local judges acting as God's representatives, or it may mean the sanctuary where such cases were decided; the phrase is genuinely ambiguous. Piercing the ear against the door or doorpost of the household left a permanent, visible mark of attachment to that house. "For life" translates a word meaning "for the duration", how long that was is not spelled out here.

7If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she does not go free the way the male servants do.

7And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

NoteA daughter sold in this way was not simply a laborer; the following verses assume she was bought as a wife or secondary wife for the buyer or his son. That is why the six-year release does not apply to her, and why the verses that follow give her a different set of protections instead.

8If she does not please her master, who had set her apart for himself, he must let her be bought back. He has no right to sell her to a foreign people, because he has broken faith with her.

8If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

Note"Bought back" means her own family, or someone acting for them, pays a price to recover her. "Set her apart for himself" translates a word for designating her as his own wife. In the Hebrew there is a long-standing variant here: the consonants as written say "who has not designated her for himself," while the traditional reading is "who has designated her for himself." Selling her on to foreigners is barred because it would put her beyond the reach of her family's right to buy her back.

9And if he has set her apart for his son, he must treat her the way a daughter is treated.

9And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

10If he takes another wife for himself, he must not cut back the first wife's food, her clothing, or her marriage rights.

10If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

NoteThe first two items are food and clothing. The third is disputed: the Hebrew word occurs only here and has traditionally been taken as conjugal rights, though some read it as oil or ointment, or as shelter. What is clear is that taking a second wife may not reduce what the first is owed.

11And if he does not do these three things for her, then she goes free, and no money is paid.

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

12Anyone who strikes a man so that the man dies must be put to death.

12He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.

Note"Must be put to death" renders a fixed legal formula (a doubled Hebrew verb) marking an offense as capital. It appears again in verses 15, 16, 17 and 29.

13But if he did not lie in wait, and God let the man fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place where he can flee.

13And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

NoteThis is unintentional killing, no ambush, no plan. "God let the man fall into his hand" is the Hebrew way of describing an outcome nobody intended. The place of refuge referred to here is spelled out later as designated cities where such a killer could live safely from the dead man's avenging relatives.

14But if a man acts boldly against his neighbor, to kill him by a trick, you are to take him even from my altar, so that he dies.

14But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

NoteThe altar was a place of asylum: a man who grabbed its projecting corners (its "horns") could claim protection while his case was heard. This verse says that protection does not cover deliberate murder: he is dragged away from it.

15Anyone who strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.

15And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

16Anyone who steals a man and sells him, or is found still holding him, must be put to death.

16And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

NoteThis is kidnapping, in practice for the slave trade. The offense is complete whether the victim has already been sold on or is still being held.

17Anyone who curses his father or his mother must be put to death.

17And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

NoteThe Hebrew verb means to belittle, treat with contempt, or call down harm on someone, not merely to use foul language. It is the opposite of the "honour" commanded of children elsewhere.

18If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and the man does not die but stays in bed,

18And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:

19then if he gets up again and walks around outside leaning on his staff, the one who struck him is cleared. He only has to pay for the time the man lost, and see that he is fully healed.

19If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

NoteBeing able to get outside with a stick is the legal test that the injury was not fatal; once the man passes it, the assailant is not liable for a death. He still owes the victim's lost earnings and his medical costs.

20If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a rod, and the servant dies under his hand, he must be punished.

20And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

NoteThe Hebrew says the death "shall be avenged", a word normally used of blood vengeance, but the verse does not state what the penalty is, and it is not the standard capital formula used in verse 12. Ancient and modern readers have disagreed about how severe it was meant to be.

21But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the owner is not to be punished, since the servant is his property.

21Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

Note"The servant is his property" is literally "he is his silver": the owner has already lost the money he paid, and the law treats that loss as the consequence. The verse is stating the reasoning behind the ruling, not commenting on it.

22If men are fighting and they hurt a pregnant woman so that her child comes out of her, and yet no further harm follows, the man must be fined. The woman's husband sets the amount, and he pays what the judges decide.

22If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

NoteTwo things are disputed here. "Her child comes out of her" may mean a miscarriage or a premature but living birth, the Hebrew phrase does not decide it. And "further harm" may mean harm to the mother or harm to the child; that too is left open. The ruling is that without such harm the penalty is a fine, assessed by the husband and confirmed by the court, while with it the scale of verses 23–25 applies.

23But if further harm does follow, then you are to give life for life,

23And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

24Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

NoteThis matched list is a standard formula in ancient Near Eastern law. It fixes the penalty at the exact measure of the injury, which sets a ceiling as well as a floor: no more may be exacted than was inflicted. Whether it was carried out literally or settled in money was already argued over in antiquity, and later Jewish law read it as compensation.

25burn for burn, wound for wound, welt for welt.

25Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

NoteA "stripe" or welt is the mark left by a lash or a blow.

26If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or the eye of his female servant and destroys it, he must let the servant go free to pay for the eye.

26And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.

NoteThese two verses set a limit on how an owner may treat a slave: permanent injury cancels the ownership outright, and freedom is the compensation, paid to the slave rather than to anyone else.

27And if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he must let the servant go free to pay for the tooth.

27And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

28If an ox gores a man or a woman so that the person dies, the ox must be stoned, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the ox is cleared.

28If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.

NoteStoning the ox destroys it as a punishment rather than slaughtering it for food, and the ban on eating its meat means the owner recovers nothing from the carcass. He himself is not liable because the animal was not known to be dangerous.

29But if the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner was warned about it and did not keep it shut in, and it kills a man or a woman, then the ox is to be stoned and its owner is also to be put to death.

29But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.

Note"Was warned" is literally "it was testified to his owner", a formal warning given in front of witnesses, which is what makes him legally responsible the next time.

30If a sum of money is set for him instead, then he is to pay whatever is set on him to buy back his life.

30If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.

NoteA payment accepted in place of a life. Elsewhere the law refuses to let a deliberate murderer buy his way out; this case, where the man did not kill with his own hands, is the exception.

31Whether the ox has gored a son or gored a daughter, this same ruling is to be carried out for him.

31Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.

32If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner is to give thirty shekels of silver to their master, and the ox is to be stoned.

32If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

NoteA shekel was a weight of silver, roughly eleven or twelve grams; coins did not yet exist, so silver was weighed out. Thirty shekels is a fixed price paid to the slave's owner for the loss of his property, rather than a compensation to the victim's family.

33If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

33And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;

NotePits were dug as cisterns to store water or as storage for grain, and an uncovered one in open country was a real hazard to livestock. The dead animal goes to the man who pays for it, so he keeps the hide and whatever else it is worth.

34the owner of the pit must make it right. He is to pay money to the owner of the animal, and the dead animal will be his.

34The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.

35If one man's ox injures another man's ox so that it dies, then they are to sell the live ox and split the money from it, and they are also to split the dead ox.

35And if one man’s ox hurt another’s, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.

NoteWhere neither owner was at fault, both share the loss equally: the price of the surviving ox and the carcass of the dead one are split between them.

36But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring in the past, and its owner did not keep it shut in, he must pay in full, ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his own.

36Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.