Laws About Slaves
Exo 21:1 "Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.
These are the civil rules, the judgments, the laws by which you will be judged. They were to know the laws and the judges and magistrates were to enforce them.
Exo 21:2 When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.
These are rules concerning Hebrew slaves. There was to be a sabbath of years. A male slave would serve for six years and on the seventh he shall go out free.
Exo 21:3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.
If he was single he would leave as single. If he had a Hebrew wife then both would go out. They would be be given compemsation beyond any debt owed.
Exo 21:4 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 alone.
The commentaries say that this applies to a canaanite woman and her children for an Hebrew woman went out at the sixth year, and even before the sixth, if she produced the signs, of puberty:(John Gill)
Exo 21:5 But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'
Exo 21:6 then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
When one willingly becomes a servant to his master he is a bondslave. Piercing of the ear was the mark of a bondslave. Jesus was as a servant to his Father, submitting to his will. Those who follow Jesus sometimes refer to themslves as bondslaves to Jesus our master.
Php 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Php 2:7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Php 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The apostle Paul was a willing bondslave of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
Exo 21:7 "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
They were not to be sold, but are released at the signs of puberty or after serving six years. It was the custom to be a slave to pay off a debt that was owed. We were slaves to sin until Jesus took our sins to the cross. We must receive him as Lord and savior to be released from sin. The devil was our owner. Jesus paid the ransom to set us free.
Exo 21:8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her.
If the master found some evil in her who was espoused to him, then she could be redeemed, bought back for the value of the remaining years of servitude. If she was bought for sixty pence and had served five years, she may be bought back for ten pence, the price of the remaining year. She was not to be sold to someone not of her tribe. She would be the property of a kinsman redeemer.
Exo 21:9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter.
She would be given the same dowery as if she were one of his daughters, or the son was to provide for her as his own wife.
Exo 21:10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
If the son takes another wife, he is to care for them both in food clothing and their marital rights.
Exo 21:11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
If the son does not care for his first wife, then she is to be released free without her making a payment of money. She would be given a decree of divorce.
Mat 5:31 "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'
Mat 5:32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Exo 21:12 "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
Exo 21:13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.
The law says that if you kill someone you shall die. It is the responsability of the judges to decide if they are guilty or not. If the killing was an accident then a place will be provided to be safe until a judgment is made. These were called cities of refuge.
Exo 21:14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
If a man murders another from anger or malice, they cannot seek refuge at an altar of God, which was a custom..
Exo 21:15 "Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
Death is required for striking a parent. This would curb rebellious children.
Exo 21:16 "Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.
Kidnappers were to be killed.
Exo 21:17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
God is not giving any mercy to those who curse their parents, even if the parents were bad parents. Vengeance belongs to the LORD.
Exo 21:18 "When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed,
Exo 21:19 then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.
This applies to two men who from anger fought each other. Here, the winner must pay the loser for any wages lost and shall have him thoroughly healed.
Exo 21:20 "When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.
Exo 21:21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.
If a slave owner strikes his Canaanite slave with a rod and he dies, He himself may die as a murderer. If the slave lives a day or two he is not to be avenged. They were his money, he bought them and they worked for him.
Exo 21:22 "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
If a pregnant woman is hit in a brawl, and l her baby is born early, but there is no death, then the one who hit the woman must pay a fine asked of her husband, and the judges shall determine the amount. The judgment should not exceed the loss. The law seeks equity and fair judgments.
Exo 21:23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
Exo 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exo 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
This was to curb excess in avenging a crime.
Exo 21:26 "When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye.
Exo 21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.
Cruelty of an owner would result in setting the slave free.
Exo 21:28 "When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
If an ox gores a person, it shall be killed and not eaten. The owner is not liable if this is the first time this has happened.
Exo 21:29 But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.
The owner was to be responsible for restraining the animal who had shown that he was prone to attack a person. If it kills a man or woman the ox shall be stoned, and it's owner too would be subject to a death sentence.
Exo 21:30 If a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed on him.
Exo 21:31 If it gores a man's son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.
The owner of the ox may have a fine to pay for the redemption of his life. Jesus Christ is our redeemer. He paid the price for our guilt and punishment.
Exo 21:32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price for a slave. Jesus was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver.
Laws About Restitution
Exo 21:33 "When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
Exo 21:34 the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.
Restitution should be made to the owner. The owner of the beast shall receive the dead animal.
Exo 21:35 "When one man's ox butts another's, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and share its price, and the dead beast also they shall share.
The owner of the live ox must sell the ox and share in the price received. The dead ox would be shared.
Exo 21:36 Or if it is known that the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall repay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.
The owner must pay for the dead ox with the live ox and the dead ox will be his to keep. The LORD cares for man and beast.
Exodus 22
Exodus 20
Exodus 1 Table of Contents
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