Passage

Exodus 21.2-4

Book: Exodus · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

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

"2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3. If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4. If his master give him a wife, and she bear 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 unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever." (Exodus 21:1-6, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

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

"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." (Exodus 21:1-6, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

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

"2. If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. ^{by himself: Heb. with his body} 4. If 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."

"5. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: ^{shall: Heb. saying shall say} 6. Then 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." (Exodus 21:1-6, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. 'And these [are] the judgments which thou dost set before them:"

"2. 'When thou buyest a Hebrew servant, six years he doth serve, and in the seventh he goeth out as a freeman for nought; 3. if by himself he cometh in, by himself he goeth out; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife hath gone out with him; 4. if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters, the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself."

"5. 'And if the servant really say: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons, I do not go out free; 6. then hath his lord brought him nigh unto God, and hath brought him nigh unto the door, or unto the side-post, and his lord hath bored his ear with an awl, and he hath served him, to the age." (Exodus 21:1-6, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Israelite Slavery Possession-vs-Ownership Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.