# Exodus 21.2 **Book:** [Exodus](/codex/exodus/) · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/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. (Exodus 21:1-4, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/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. (Exodus 21:1-4, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/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. (Exodus 21:1-4, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/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. (Exodus 21:1-4, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Moses (traditional) - **Audience:** Israelite congregation post-Exodus - **Location:** Egypt → Sinai wilderness - **Time period:** events c. 1446-1445 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC ## Theological reading ## Key words - [H5650 - ebed](/codex/h5650-ebed/), *ebed* (Strong's H5650). Also appears in: [Genesis 9.26](/codex/genesis-9-26/), [Genesis 12](/codex/genesis-12/), [Genesis 18.1-15](/codex/genesis-18-1-15/). ## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses. ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Isaiah 14 Reverse Slavery Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/isaiah-14-reverse-slavery-prophecy-objection-defeater/) - [Israelite Slavery Possession-vs-Ownership Defeater](/codex/israelite-slavery-possession-vs-ownership-defeater/), via [Exodus 21.2-4](/codex/exodus-21-2-4/), [Exodus 21.2-6](/codex/exodus-21-2-6/) **Concepts:** - [Biblical Slavery Objection](/codex/biblical-slavery-objection/) - [Chattel Slavery vs Biblical Servitude](/codex/chattel-slavery-vs-biblical-servitude/) - [Jubilee System](/codex/jubilee-system/) - [Slavery](/codex/slavery/)