Exodus 21:1-6 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 21:1-11

The Exod. 21:1 is the general title of the laws contained in this and the two following chapters, some of them relating to the religious worship of God, but most of them relating to matters between man and man. Their government being purely a Theocracy, that which in other states is to be settled by human prudence was directed among them by a divine appointment, so that the constitution of their government was peculiarly adapted to make them happy. These laws are called judgments, because they... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:1

Now these are the judgments ,.... The judicial laws respecting the civil state of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and are according to the judgment of God, whose judgment is according to truth; and because they are such by which the commonwealth of Israel was to be judged or governed, and were to be the rule of their conduct to one another, and a rule of judgment to their judges in the execution of judgment and justice among them: which thou... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:2

If thou buy an Hebrew servant ,.... Who sells himself either through poverty, or rather is sold because of his theft, see Exodus 22:3 and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,"when ye shall buy for his theft, a servant, a son of an Israelite;'agreeably to which Aben Ezra observes, this servant is a servant that is sold for his theft; and he says, it is a tradition with them, that a male is sold for his theft, but not a female; and the persons who had the selling of such were the civil... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:3

If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself ,.... That is, if he came into his servitude "alone", as the Septuagint version has it, he should go out of it in like manner; the word for "by himself", some interpret with "his garment" F6 בגפו "cum quali veste", V. L. "cum veste sua"; some in Vatablus & Drusius. , or the skirt of one; and then the sense seems to be, that as he was clothed when he was sold, so he should be when made free: but rather the phrase literally is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:4

If his master have given him a wife ,.... One of his slaves, a Canaanitish woman, on purpose to beget slaves on her, since all born in his house were his own; this is supposed to be after he was come into his house, and into his service: and she have born him sons or daughters ; as she might have born him several of the one sort, or the other, if she was given to him quickly after his servitude began: the wife and her children shall be her master's : she being his slave, and bought... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:5

And if the servant shall plainly say ,.... Or, "in saying shall say" F9 אמר יאמר shall express himself in plain and full terms, and repeat his words, and abide by them, signifying it as his last will and determined resolution: I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I will not go out free ; but continue in his servitude, having a great affection for his master, and that he might enjoy his wife and children he dearly loved; and being animated with such a principle, his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:6

Then his master shall bring him unto the judges ,.... To Elohim, to God, to the judgment seat of God, according to the Septuagint; to some person or persons to inquire of God what is to be done in such a case; but this seems needless, since it is here declared: no doubt civil magistrates or judges are meant by Elohim, or the gods, as in Psalm 82:1 , and so Jarchi interprets it of the house of judgment, or sanhedrim, the court that had convicted the servant of theft, and had sold him to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:1

Now these are the judgments - There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little comment. The laws in this chapter are termed political, those in the succeeding chapter judicial, laws; and are supposed to have been delivered to Moses alone, in consequence of the request of the people, Exodus 20:19 , that God should communicate his will to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:2

If thou buy a Hebrew servant - Calmet enumerates six different ways in which a Hebrew might lose his liberty: In extreme poverty they might sell their liberty. Leviticus 25:39 ; : If thy brother be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, etc. A father might sell his children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant; see Exodus 21:7 . Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. My husband is dead - and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen, ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:3

If he came in by himself - If he and his wife came in together, they were to go out together: in all respects as he entered, so should he go out. This consideration seems to have induced St. Jerome to translate the passage thus: Cum quali veste intraverat, cum tali exeat . "He shall have the same coat in going out, as he had when he came in," i.e., if he came in with a new one, he shall go out with a new one, which was perfectly just, as the former coat must have been worn out in his... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 21:1-11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:1

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:3

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