ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Exodus 21.7-11

Book: Exodus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

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.

7. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do. 8. If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a foreign people he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. 9. And if he espouse her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. 11. And if he do not these three things unto her, then shall she go out for nothing, without money.

  1. He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death. 13. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. (Exodus 21:5-13, ASV)
WEB

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.

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.

  1. “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. (Exodus 21:5-13, WEB)
KJV

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.

7. And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. 8. If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. please: Heb. be evil in the eyes of, etc 9. And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 10. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. 11. And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.

  1. He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. 13. And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. (Exodus 21:5-13, KJV)
YLT

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.

7. 'And when a man selleth his daughter for a handmaid, she doth not go out according to the going out of the men-servants; 8. if evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he hath not betrothed her, then he hath let her be ransomed; to a strange people he hath not power to sell her, in his dealing treacherously with her. 9. 'And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her. 10. 'If another [woman] he take for him, her food, her covering, and her habitation, he doth not withdraw; 11. and if these three he do not to her, then she hath gone out for nought, without money.

  1. 'He who smiteth a man so that he hath died, is certainly put to death; 13. as to him who hath not laid wait, and God hath brought to his hand, I have even set for thee a place whither he doth flee. (Exodus 21:5-13, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the LORD, giving case law through Moses
  • Audience: Israel
  • Location: Mount Sinai
  • Time period: the exodus generation; the date is disputed between a fifteenth- and a thirteenth-century BC exodus

Theological reading

The amah provisions: a man sells his daughter as a female servant, and the law then constrains what may be done with her.

The constraints are the content. She does not go out as the male servants do, which in context means she is not simply released destitute; if she does not please the master who designated her for himself, she must be redeemed; he may not sell her to a foreign people; if he designates her for his son, he must treat her as a daughter; and if he takes another wife, he may not diminish her food, clothing or conjugal rights, and if he fails in these three she goes free without payment.

The arrangement is a betrothal-track transfer in a poverty economy rather than chattel sale, and the exit conditions are what distinguish it. See OT Sexual-Violence Laws and Israelite Slavery Possession-vs-Ownership Defeater.

The residual difficulty is real and should be stated: a father is disposing of a daughter, and the law constrains rather than abolishes it.

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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

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.