Exodus 21:27
in Exodus 21And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if he smite out his man-servant’s tooth, or his maid-servant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
KJV
And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
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This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseIf he smite out his - tooth - It was a noble law that obliged the unmerciful slaveholder to set the slave at liberty whose eye or tooth he had knocked out. If this did not teach them humanity, it taught them caution, as one rash blow might have deprived them of all right to the future services of the slave; and thus self-interest obliged them to be cautious and circumspect.
This site's exposition
smite the eye of his servant
on Exodus 21:26-27
The eye and the tooth of the talion list come back two verses later applied to a servant, and the outcome there is freedom rather than an answering injury. A master who destroys an eye or knocks out a tooth loses the servant altogether and gets nothing back. Adam Clarke observed that if the law failed to teach the slaveholder mercy it at least taught him caution, since one rash blow could cost him everything he had paid for.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth,....
The Israelites are here directed what to do, 1. In case of hurt done by oxen, or any other brute-creature; for the law, doubtless, was designed to extend to all parallel cases. (1.) As an instance of God's care of the life of man (though forfeited a thousand times into the hands of divine justice), and in token of his detestation of the sin of murder.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שֵׁ֥ן | shen | [the] tooth of | H8127 → | 55 times |
| עַבְדּ֛וֹ | avdo | [male] slave his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֽוֹ־ | ʾov- | or | H176 → | 321 times |
| שֵׁ֥ן | shen | [the] tooth of | H8127 → | 55 times |
| אֲמָת֖וֹ | ʾamato | female slave his | H519 → | 56 times |
| יַפִּ֑יל | yapil | he will knock out | H5307 → | 435 times |
| לַֽחָפְשִׁ֥י | lachafeshi | to <the> free [person] | H2670 → | 17 times |
| יְשַׁלְּחֶ֖נּוּ | yeshallechenu | he will set free him | H7971 → | 845 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| שִׁנּֽוֹ׃ פ | shino | tooth his | H8127 → | 55 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
שֵׁ֥ן[the] tooth of
shenH8127 →55 times
עַבְדּ֛וֹ[male] slave his
avdoH5650 →799 times
אֽוֹ־or
ʾov-H176 →321 times
שֵׁ֥ן[the] tooth of
shenH8127 →55 times
אֲמָת֖וֹfemale slave his
ʾamatoH519 →56 times
יַפִּ֑ילhe will knock out
yapilH5307 →435 times
לַֽחָפְשִׁ֥יto <the> free [person]
lachafeshiH2670 →17 times
יְשַׁלְּחֶ֖נּוּhe will set free him
yeshallechenuH7971 →845 times
תַּ֥חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
שִׁנּֽוֹ׃ פtooth his
shinoH8127 →55 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.