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Exodus 21:4

in Exodus 21

If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

If his master give him a wife and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

KJV

If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

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This verse in Exodus 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The wife and her children shall be her master’s - It was a law among the Hebrews, that if a Hebrew had children by a Canannitish woman, those children must be considered as Canaanitish only, and might be sold and bought, and serve for ever. The law here refers to such a case only.

This site's exposition

If you buy a Hebrew servant

on Exodus 21:2-4

The week of days is laid over a working life, and in the seventh year he goes “free without paying anything”. Deuteronomy 15:13 and 15:14 add that the master supplies him from flock and floor.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

If his master have given him a wife,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

If thou buy an Hebrew servant--Every Israelite was free-born; but slavery was permitted under certain restrictions. An Hebrew might be made a slave through poverty, debt, or crime; but at the end of six years he was entitled to freedom, and his wife, if she had voluntarily shared his state of bondage, also obtained release.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • אֲדֹנָיו֙master<s> his

    ʾadonavH113 →333 times

  • יִתֶּן־he will give

    yiten-H5414 →2011 times

  • ל֣וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • אִשָּׁ֔הa wife

    ʾishahH802 →781 times

  • וְיָלְדָה־and she will bear

    veyaldah-H3205 →496 times

  • ל֥וֹto <the> him

    lo

  • בָנִ֖יםsons

    vanimH1121 →4930 times

  • א֣וֹor

    ʾoH176 →321 times

  • בָנ֑וֹתdaughters

    vanotH1323 →588 times

  • הָאִשָּׁ֣הthe woman

    haishahH802 →781 times

  • וִילָדֶ֗יהָand children her

    viladeihaH3206 →89 times

  • תִּהְיֶה֙she will belong

    tihyehH1961 →3559 times

  • לַֽאדֹנֶ֔יהָto master<s> her

    ladoneihaH113 →333 times

  • וְה֖וּאand he

    vehu'H1931 →1879 times

  • יֵצֵ֥אhe will go out

    yetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • בְגַפּֽוֹ׃with body his

    vegapoH1610 →4 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

2 in all, six open

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.

Read on in Exodus 21 →