Exodus 21:16
in Exodus 21Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
KJV
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
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This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
he that smiteth his father, or his mother
on Exodus 21:15-16
Striking a father or a mother carries the sentence murder carries, which puts a sanction under the fifth commandment of Exodus 20:12. Verse 16 makes stealing a man a capital crime whether he has been sold on or is still found in the thief's hand, and Deuteronomy 24:7 repeats it. Paul lists menstealers among the lawless at 1 Timothy 1:10, and Adam Clarke turned this verse on the slave trade of his own century in his Commentary on the Bible.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): He that steals a man (that is, a person, man, woman, or child), with design to sell him to the Gentiles (for no Israelite would buy him), was adjudged to death by this statute, which is ratified by the apostle ( 1 Tim. i. 10 ), where men-stealers are reckoned among those wicked ones against whom laws must be made by Christian princes.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He that stealeth a man - By this law every man-stealer, and every receiver of the stolen person, should lose his life; no matter whether the latter stole the man himself, or gave money to a slave captain or negro-dealer to steal him for him.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגֹנֵ֨ב | vegonev | and [one who] will steal | H1589 → | 40 times |
| אִ֧ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וּמְכָר֛וֹ | umekharo | and he will sell him | H4376 → | 80 times |
| וְנִמְצָ֥א | venimtza' | and he will be found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| בְיָד֖וֹ | veyado | in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מ֥וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| יוּמָֽת׃ ס | yumat | he will be put to death | H4191 → | 839 times |
וְגֹנֵ֨בand [one who] will steal
vegonevH1589 →40 times
אִ֧ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וּמְכָר֛וֹand he will sell him
umekharoH4376 →80 times
וְנִמְצָ֥אand he will be found
venimtza'H4672 →455 times
בְיָד֖וֹin hand his
veyadoH3027 →1618 times
מ֥וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
יוּמָֽת׃ סhe will be put to death
yumatH4191 →839 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Timothy 1:10for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual…
- Leviticus 18:22
You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.
- 2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- Romans 1:26
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
- Galatians 5:19–21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- 1 Corinthians 6:9–10
Through
Genesis 37:28So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
it leads to
- Acts 7:9
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
- Psalms 105:17
He sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.
- Genesis 45:4–5
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!
- Acts 7:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.