Exo 21:1 | Clarke | STEP | Laws concerning servants. They shall serve for only seven years, , . If a servant brought a wife to servitude with him, both should go out free on the seventh year, . If his master had given him a wife, and she bore him children, he might go out free an the seventh year, but his wife and children must remain, as the property of the master, . If, through love to his master, wife, and children, he did not choose to avail himself of the privilege granted by the law, of going out free on the seventh year, his ear was to be bored to the door post with an awl, as an emblem of his being attached to the family for ever, , . Laws concerning maid-servants, betrothed to their masters or to the sons of their masters, . Laws concerning battery and murder, . Concerning men-stealing, . Concerning him that curses his parents, . Of strife between man and man, , ; between a master and his servants, , . Of injuries done to women in pregnancy, . The Lex Talionis, or law of like, . Of injuries done to servants, by which they gain the right of freedom, , . Laws concerning the ox which has gored men, . Of the pit left uncovered, into which a man or a beast has fallen, , . Laws concerning the ox that kills another, , . Verse 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, , that God should communicate his will to Moses, and that Moses should, as mediator, convey it to them.

‏ Exodus 21:1

Introduction

Laws concerning servants. They shall serve for only seven years, Exo 21:1, Exo 21:2. If a servant brought a wife to servitude with him, both should go out free on the seventh year, Exo 21:3. If his master had given him a wife, and she bore him children, he might go out free an the seventh year, but his wife and children must remain, as the property of the master, Exo 21:4. If, through love to his master, wife, and children, he did not choose to avail himself of the privilege granted by the law, of going out free on the seventh year, his ear was to be bored to the door post with an awl, as an emblem of his being attached to the family for ever, Exo 21:5, Exo 21:6. Laws concerning maid-servants, betrothed to their masters or to the sons of their masters, Exo 21:7-11. Laws concerning battery and murder, Exo 21:12-15. Concerning men-stealing, Exo 21:16. Concerning him that curses his parents, Exo 21:17. Of strife between man and man, Exo 21:18, Exo 21:19; between a master and his servants, Exo 21:20, Exo 21:21. Of injuries done to women in pregnancy, Exo 21:22. The Lex Talionis, or law of like, Exo 21:23-25. Of injuries done to servants, by which they gain the right of freedom, Exo 21:26, Exo 21:27. Laws concerning the ox which has gored men, Exo 21:28-32. Of the pit left uncovered, into which a man or a beast has fallen, Exo 21:33, Exo 21:34. Laws concerning the ox that kills another, Exo 21:35, Exo 21:36.

Verse 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, Exo 20:19, that God should communicate his will to Moses, and that Moses should, as mediator, convey it to them.