Exodus 21:19
in Exodus 21then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
if he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
KJV
If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
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This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Quit - i. e. if one man injured another in a quarrel so as to oblige him to keep his bed, he was free from the liability to a criminal charge (such as might be based upon Exo 21:12): but he was required to compensate the latter for the loss of his time, and for the cost of his healing.
This site's exposition
If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist
on Exodus 21:18-19
This is the first injury in the book of the covenant settled by payment. Once the injured man can “walk around outside with his staff”, the striker pays for his lost work and sees him “completely healed”.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This servant must not be an Israelite, but a Gentile slave, as the negroes to our planters; and it is supposed that he smite him with a rod, and not with any thing that was likely to give a mortal wound; yet, if he died under his hand, he should be punished for his cruelty, at the discretion of the judges, upon consideration of circumstances,
quarantine:duplicate (2026-07-29) — dup:2 scholars / 2 anchors
If he rise again,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed - This was a wise and excellent institution, and most courts of justice still regulate their decisions on such cases by this Mosaic precept.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָק֞וּם | yakum | he will arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וְהִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ | vehithalekh | and he will walk about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בַּח֛וּץ | bachutz | on the outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִשְׁעַנְתּ֖וֹ | mishanto | staff his | H4938 → | |
| וְנִקָּ֣ה | venikah | and he will be free from guilt | H5352 → | 44 times |
| הַמַּכֶּ֑ה | hamakeh | the [one who] struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| רַ֥ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| שִׁבְתּ֛וֹ | shivto | sitting still his | H7674 → | |
| יִתֵּ֖ן | yiten | he will pay for | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| וְרַפֹּ֥א | verapo' | and certainly <to heal> | H7495 → | 67 times |
| יְרַפֵּֽא׃ ס | yerape' | he will have [him] healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָק֞וּםhe will arise
yakumH6965 →628 times
וְהִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְand he will walk about
vehithalekhH1980 →1546 times
בַּח֛וּץon the outside
bachutzH2351 →164 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִשְׁעַנְתּ֖וֹstaff his
mishantoH4938 →
וְנִקָּ֣הand he will be free from guilt
venikahH5352 →44 times
הַמַּכֶּ֑הthe [one who] struck
hamakehH5221 →499 times
רַ֥קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
שִׁבְתּ֛וֹsitting still his
shivtoH7674 →
יִתֵּ֖ןhe will pay for
yitenH5414 →2011 times
וְרַפֹּ֥אand certainly <to heal>
verapo'H7495 →67 times
יְרַפֵּֽא׃ סhe will have [him] healed
yerape'H7495 →67 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
Zechariah 8:4This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Old men and old women will again sit along the streets of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of great age.
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Job 42:17
And so Job died, old and full of years.
- Lamentations 5:11–15
Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.
- Isaiah 65:20–22
Through
2 Samuel 3:29May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 1:16
For David had said to the Amalekite, “Your blood be on your own head because your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I killed the LORD’s anointed.’”
- Psalms 109:8–19
May his days be few; may another take his position.
- 2 Kings 5:1
Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in his master’s sight and highly regarded, for through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. And…
- 2 Kings 5:27
Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
- Leviticus 13:44–46
the man is diseased; he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean because of the infection on his head.
- 2 Samuel 1:16
Where this verse is studied
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.