Exodus 21:7
in Exodus 21And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do.
KJV
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A man might, in accordance with existing custom, sell his daughter to another man with a view to her becoming an inferior wife, or concubine. In this case, she was not “to go out,” like the bondman; that is, she was not to be dismissed at the end of the sixth year. But women who were bound in any other way, would appear to have been under the same conditions as bondmen. See Deu 15:17.
This site's exposition
sell his daughter to be a maidservant
on Exodus 21:7-8
A daughter sold by her father does not go out as the menservants do, and the verses that follow explain why, since she is sold toward marriage rather than toward field work. If the master who betrothed her has no pleasure in her, he must let her be redeemed, and he is forbidden to sell her on to a strange nation. The ground the verse gives is that he hath dealt deceitfully with her, so a broken betrothal is treated as fraud rather than as a change of mind.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
if a man sell his daughter--Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
If a man sell his daughter - This the Jews allowed no man to do but in extreme distress - when he had no goods, either movable or immovable left, even to the clothes on his back; and he had this permission only while she was unmarriageable. It may appear at first view strange that such a law should have been given; but let it be remembered, that this servitude could extend, at the utmost, only to six years; and that it was nearly the same as in some cases of apprenticeship among us, where the parents bind the child for seven years, and have from the master so much per week during that period.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִֽי־ | vekhi- | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִמְכֹּ֥ר | yimkor | he will sell | H4376 → | 80 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּתּ֖וֹ | bito | daughter his | H1323 → | 588 times |
| לְאָמָ֑ה | leamah | to a female slave | H519 → | 56 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵצֵ֖א | tetze' | she will go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| כְּצֵ֥את | ketzet | when go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הָעֲבָדִֽים׃ | haavadim | the [male] slaves | H5650 → | 799 times |
וְכִֽי־and if
vekhi-H3588 →4482 times
יִמְכֹּ֥רhe will sell
yimkorH4376 →80 times
אִ֛ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בִּתּ֖וֹdaughter his
bitoH1323 →588 times
לְאָמָ֑הto a female slave
leamahH519 →56 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֵצֵ֖אshe will go out
tetze'H3318 →1067 times
כְּצֵ֥אתwhen go out
ketzetH3318 →1067 times
הָעֲבָדִֽים׃the [male] slaves
haavadimH5650 →799 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Nehemiah 5:5We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 4:1
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD. And now his creditor…
- Leviticus 25:39–43
If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.
- Genesis 37:27
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.
- Isaiah 58:7
Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own…
- Exodus 21:1–11
“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them:
- 2 Kings 4:1
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 (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.