# Exodus 21 đ: Laws About Servants and Injury
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> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đ Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#đ§ Chapter Summary]]
> [[#âď¸ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#đ Key Principles / đ Life Application]]
> [[#đŹ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#âď¸ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đ Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#đ Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đ Internal Notes]]
## đ Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
## The Ordinances
[[#Overall.]]
[[#Verse 01.]]Â âThese are the ordinances that you will set before them:
## Hebrew Servants
[[#Verse 02.]] âIf you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything.Â
[[#Verse 03.]] If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him.Â
[[#Verse 04.]] If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] But if the servant should declare, âI love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,âÂ
[[#Verse 06.]] then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
[[#Verse 07.]] âIf a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do.Â
[[#Verse 08.]] If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her.
[[#Verse 09.]] If he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first oneâs food, her clothing, or her marital rights.
[[#Verse 11.]]Â If he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.
## Personal Injuries
[[#Verse 12.]] âWhoever strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death.
[[#Verse 13.]] But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.
[[#Verse 15.]] âWhoever strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death.
[[#Verse 16.]] âWhoever kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death.
[[#Verse 17.]] âWhoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death.
[[#Verse 18.]]Â âIf men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,Â
[[#Verse 19.]] and then if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay for the injured personâs loss of time and see to it that he is fully healed.
[[#Verse 20.]] âIf a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished.
[[#Verse 21.]] However, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.
[[#Verse 22.]] âIf men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the one who hit her will surely be punished in accordance with what the womanâs husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides.Â
[[#Verse 23.]]Â But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,Â
[[#Verse 24.]]Â eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,Â
[[#Verse 25.]]Â burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
[[#Verse 26.]] âIf a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.Â
[[#Verse 27.]] If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
## Laws about Animals
[[#Verse 28.]] âIf an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted.Â
[[#Verse 29.]] But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned but he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death.Â
[[#Verse 30.]] If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatever amount was set for him.Â
[[#Verse 31.]] If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule.Â
[[#Verse 32.]] If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.
[[#Verse 33.]]Â âIf a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,Â
[[#Verse 34.]] the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his.Â
[[#Verse 35.]] If the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, and they will also divide the dead ox.Â
[[#Verse 36.]] Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his.
## đ Verse-by-Verse Commentary
##### Overall.
- It is important to realize that these people only had slave laws or whatever laws passed down from the Egyptians. God is establishing dignity toward all, both free and slave.
- God is giving laws so the slave nation can STAY free. Otherwise, they could descend into anarchy.
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###### Verse 35.
###### Verse 36.
## đ¤ Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Chapters 21-23 are often called the "Book of the Covenant," after 24:7.
2. A Hebrew servant served six years and went free in the seventh (21:2).
3. A servant who chose to stay had his ear pierced with an awl at the door (21:6).
4. Kidnapping a person was punishable by death (21:16).
5. A servant who lost an eye or a tooth because of his master went free (21:26-27), a protection uncommon in the ancient world.
6. The principle of "eye for eye" (21:23-25) set a limit on revenge and guided judges toward fair punishment.
7. Laws about a goring ox (21:28-32) also appear in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, but Exodus gives greater value to human life.
8. An owner who knew his ox was dangerous was held responsible (21:29), separating accident from negligence.
9. The price paid for a slave killed by an ox was thirty shekels of silver (21:32).
10. Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:15), and Zechariah 11:12-13 speaks of the same price.
## đ§ Chapter Summary
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## âď¸ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the willing servant who chose to serve out of love (21:5-6). He took the form of a slave (Philippians 2:7) and was valued at thirty pieces of silver, the price set for a slave (21:32; Matthew 26:15).
## đ Key Principles / đ Life Application
> [!note] đą Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đŹ Discussion Questions
1. Hebrew servants were set free in the seventh year (21:2). What does this law reveal about God's heart for people in hard circumstances?
2. "Eye for eye" (21:23-25) limited revenge to fair justice. How does Jesus build on this in Matthew 5:38-39?
3. Owners were held responsible if they knew their ox was dangerous (21:29). What does this teach about responsibility for what we could prevent?
## âď¸ Key Verses to Remember
- đ verse 2: A Hebrew servant serves six years and goes free in the seventh.
- đ verses 5-6: The servant who loves his master may choose to serve him for life.
- đ verses 23-25: Justice must fit the harm done: life for life, eye for eye.
## đ Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đ [[Philippians 02#Verse 05.|Philippians 2:5-7]] - Christ took the form of a slave.
- đ [[Matthew 26#Verse 14.|Matthew 26:14-15]] - Judas is paid thirty pieces of silver.
- đ [[Matthew 05#Verse 38.|Matthew 5:38-39]] - Jesus on eye for eye.
- đ [[Deuteronomy 15#Verse 12.|Deuteronomy 15:12-17]] - The release of Hebrew servants.
- đ [[Psalm 40#Verse 06.|Psalm 40:6-8]] - Ears You have opened for Me.
## đ Devotional Reflection
đ SOAP: [[Exodus 21- SOAP|God Requires Radical Kindness]]
## đ Internal Notes