Exodus21

Exodus 21 presents a series of civil and criminal laws given to Israel, known as judgments. It begins with regulations concerning Hebrew servants, detailing their terms of service and conditions for freedom. The chapter then outlines capital offenses, including murder and striking or cursing parents, alongside laws for personal injury based on proportional retribution. Finally, it addresses liability for damages caused by animals and negligence.

Introduction to the Covenant Laws

1
“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them. ​

Laws Concerning Hebrew Servants

2
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. ​
3
If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4
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.
5
But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’
6
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 for ever. ​

Laws Concerning Female Servants

7
“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. ​
8
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.
9
If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.
10
If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. ​
11
If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

Laws of Capital Offenses

12
“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, ​
13
but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. ​
14
If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. ​
15
“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
16
“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. ​
17
“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. ​
18
“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;
19
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.
20
“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ​
21
Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property. ​

Laws Concerning Personal Injury

22
“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. ​
23
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, ​
24
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ​
25
burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
26
“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. ​
27
If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

Laws Concerning Animal Liability and Property

28
“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. ​
29
But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it 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. ​
30
If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him. ​
31
Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
32
If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned. ​
33
“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,
34
the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.
35
“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.
36
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.

Study Notes for Exodus 21

Verse 1

This verse marks the beginning of the 'Book of the Covenant' (Exodus 21-23), detailing specific civil and criminal laws that apply the principles of the Ten Commandments to daily life in Israel.

Verse 2

This law establishes a system of indentured servitude, not chattel slavery. The mandatory release after six years prevents permanent bondage and ties the social structure to the Sabbatical cycle, emphasizing the servant’s humanity.

Verse 6

The ceremony before the judges and the boring of the ear signifies a voluntary and permanent decision by the servant to remain bound to the master's household, prioritizing family ties over personal freedom.

Verse 7

A woman sold as a maidservant was often intended as a potential wife or concubine (for the master or his son). Because of this marital dimension, she is granted greater protection and cannot be simply released in the seventh year.

Verse 10

This protection ensures that the master, if taking another wife, must continue to provide the first wife (whether servant or free) with her necessary provisions and marital rights, safeguarding her dignity and status.

Verse 12

This is the first law concerning homicide, establishing the fundamental principle that intentional killing is a capital crime punishable by death, reflecting the sanctity of human life (Gen. 9:6).

Verse 13

This verse distinguishes between premeditated murder and accidental manslaughter. For the latter, God provides a place of asylum (later formalized as Cities of Refuge, Num. 35) where the offender could flee from the avenger of blood.

Verse 14

The law stresses that sanctuary (even the altar) does not protect a murderer plotting with malice aforethought. Justice for intentional bloodshed takes precedence over religious privilege.

Verse 16

Kidnapping ('man-stealing') is treated as a capital offense, equating the deprivation of a person's freedom with murder, reflecting the high value placed on human liberty within the Israelite covenant.

Verse 17

Cursing one's parents is viewed as an attack on the foundational social and covenantal structure of the community, undermining the Fifth Commandment, and is therefore a capital crime.

Verse 20

This law restricts the power of the master; if a servant dies immediately under punishment, the master is held criminally accountable. This differentiates Israelite practice from surrounding cultures where masters held absolute power.

Verse 21

If the servant survives for a period, the death is not necessarily ruled homicide, and the master faces no criminal penalty, having already suffered economic loss ('he is his money'). Scholars interpret this as either leniency or a recognition of difficulty in proving intent.

Verse 22

This law protects both the mother and the fetus. If the mother survives but loses the child, the punishment is financial compensation determined by the husband and the judges, indicating the value placed on the unborn.

Verse 23

This introduces the principle of proportionate justice (*lex talionis*), ensuring that punishment must fit the crime. If the mother is harmed ('mischief'), the penalty escalates to 'life for life.'

Verse 24

The famous 'eye for eye' principle was not generally enforced literally but served primarily as a legal standard to limit private vengeance and establish proportional compensation in civil courts.

Verse 26

This provision powerfully safeguards the physical integrity of servants. If a master causes permanent damage to a servant, the immediate freedom of the servant serves as the penalty and compensation.

Verse 28

If an ox causes death, the animal must be executed (stoned) to ritually purify the community and underscore the seriousness of the incident. The owner is acquitted only if he was unaware of the animal's danger.

Verse 29

This establishes criminal negligence. If the owner knew the ox was dangerous and failed to restrain it, he is held responsible for the death and is liable to the death penalty himself.

Verse 30

This verse allows for a financial ransom (a fine or compensation) to be paid in lieu of the death penalty for the negligent owner, provided the judges or the victim’s family agree to the settlement.

Verse 32

If the ox kills a slave, the required compensation is 30 shekels of silver, the standard price for a slave (cf. Lev. 27:3). This specific amount is tragically referenced when Judas betrays Jesus (Matt. 26:15).

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