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Exodus 21
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Chapter 21
Laws concerning slaves
1
‘This is the ruling you are to lay before them:
2
“When you buy a Hebrew slave, his service shall be for six years. In the seventh year he may leave; he shall be free, with no compensation to pay.
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If he came single, he shall leave single; if he came married, his wife shall leave with him.
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If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons and daughters, wife and children shall belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.
5
But if the slave declares, “I love my master and my wife and children; I renounce my freedom”,
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then his master shall take him to God, leading him to the door or the door post. His master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall be in his service for all time.
7
If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not regain her liberty like male slaves.
8
If she does not please her master who intended her for himself, he must let her be bought back: he has not the right to sell her to foreigners, thus treating her unfairly.
9
If he intends her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the ruling for daughters.
10
If he takes another wife, he must not reduce the food of the first or her clothing or her conjugal rights.
11
Should he cheat her of these three things she may leave, freely, without having to pay any money.
Homicide
12
“Anyone who strikes a man and so causes his death, must die.
13
If he has not lain in wait for him but God has delivered him into his hands,[*a] then I will appoint you a place where he may seek refuge.
14
But should a man dare to kill his fellow by treacherous intent, you must take him even from my altar to be put to death.
15
“Anyone who strikes his father or mother must die.
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Anyone who abducts a man – whether he has sold him or is found in possession of him – must die.
17
Anyone who curses father or mother must die.
Blows and wounds
18
“If men quarrel and one strikes the other a blow with stone or fist so that the man, though he does not die, must keep his bed,
19
the one who struck the blow shall not be liable provided the other gets up and can go about, even with a stick. He must compensate him, however, for his enforced inactivity, and care for him until he is completely cured.
20
“If a man beats his slave, male or female, and the slave dies at his hands, he must pay the penalty.
21
But should the slave survive for one or two days, he shall pay no penalty because the slave is his by right of purchase.
22
“If, when men come to blows, they hurt a woman who is pregnant and she suffers a miscarriage, though she does not die of it, the man responsible must pay the compensation demanded of him by the woman’s master; he shall hand it over, after arbitration.
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But should she die, you shall give life for life,
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eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
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burn for burn, wound for wound, stroke for stroke.
26
“When a man strikes at the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys the use of it, he must give him his freedom to compensate for the eye.
27
If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he must give him his freedom to compensate for the tooth.
28
“When an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned. Its flesh shall not be eaten, and the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
29
But if the ox has been in the habit of goring before, and if its owner was warned but has not kept it under control, then should this ox kill a man or woman, the ox must be stoned and its owner put to death.
30
If a ransom is imposed on him, he must pay whatever is imposed, to redeem his life.
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If the ox gores a boy or a girl, he must be treated in accordance with this same rule.
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If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner must pay over to their master a sum of money – thirty shekels – and the ox must be stoned.
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“When a man leaves a pit uncovered, or when he digs one but does not cover it, should an ox, or donkey, fall into it,
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then the owner of the pit shall make up for the loss: he must pay its owner money, and the dead animal shall be his own.
35
If one man’s ox harms another’s so that it dies, the owners must sell the live ox and share the price of it; they shall also share the dead animal.
36
But if it is common knowledge that the ox has been in the habit of goring before, and its owner has not kept it under control, he must repay ox for ox; the dead animal shall be his own.
Theft of animals
37
“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and then slaughters or sells it, he must pay five oxen for the ox, four sheep for the sheep.
Chapters of Exodus
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