Exodus 21:1

Exodus 21:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
• New International Version (NIV)“These are the laws you are to set before them:
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:

Context of Exodus 21:1

“Now these are the ordinances (laws) which you shall set before the Israelites: 2“If you purchase a Hebrew servant [because of his debt or poverty], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh [year] he shall leave as a free man, paying nothing. 3If he came [to you] alone, he shall leave alone; if he came married, then his wife shall leave with him.

Exodus 21:1 word by word

וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• the judgmentsמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justice: judgementH4941
• which thou shalt setשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440

Cross-references for Exodus 21:1

• Leviticus 18:5So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which, if a person keeps them, he shall live; I am the Lord.
• Leviticus 19:37You shall observe and keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them. I am the Lord.’ ”
• Leviticus 20:22‘Therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out [as it did those before you].
• Numbers 35:24then the congregation shall judge between the offender and the blood avenger according to these ordinances.
• Deuteronomy 5:1Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments (legal decisions) which I am speaking today in your hearing, so that you may learn them and observe them carefully.
• Deuteronomy 6:20“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and judgments (precepts) which the Lord our God has commanded you?’
• 1 Kings 6:12“Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My precepts and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will carry out My word (promises) with you which I made to David your father.
• 2 Chronicles 19:10Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers (relatives) who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, or between statutes and judgments, you are to warn [and instruct] them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord; otherwise [God’s] wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this and you will not be guilty.
• Nehemiah 9:13Then You came down on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven; And You gave them fair ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
• Nehemiah 10:29are joining with their fellow Israelites, their nobles, and are taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given through Moses the servant of God, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of God our Lord, and His ordinances and statutes:
• Psalms 147:19He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
• Ezekiel 20:11I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them, which, if a man keeps, he will live.
• Malachi 4:4“Remember [with thoughtful concern] the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and the ordinances which I commanded him on [Mount] Horeb [to give] to all Israel.
• Exodus 19:7So Moses called for the elders of the people, and told them all these words which the Lord commanded him.
• Exodus 24:3Then Moses came and told the people everything that the Lord had said and all the ordinances. And all the people answered with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”
• Deuteronomy 4:5“Look, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may do them in the land which you are entering to possess.

Commentaries on Exodus 21:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Now these are the judgments - There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little comment. The laws in this chapter are termed political, those in the succeeding chapter judicial, laws; and are supposed to have been delivered to Moses alone, in consequence of the request of the people, Exodus 20:19, that…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Judgments - i. e. decisions of the law.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Laws respecting servants. (1-11) Judicial laws. (12-21) Judicial laws. (22-36) Verses 1-11 The laws in this chapter relate to the fifth and sixth commandments; and though they differ from our times and customs, nor are they binding on us, yet they explain the moral law, and the rules of natural justice. The servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by robbing God of his…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The terms of the covenant are now expanded. The first section in 21:1–23:19 gives specific examples of the general principles stated in 20:3–17. The commitments to which God bound himself if the Israelites kept their side of the covenant are stated in 23:20–33. This passage also includes the blessings for obedience.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-61. judgments--rules for regulating the procedure of judges and magistrates in the decision of cases and the trial of criminals. The government of the Israelites being a theocracy, those public authorities were the servants of the Divine Sovereign, and subject to His direction. Most of these laws here noticed were primitive usages, founded on principles of natural equity, and incorporated, with modifications and improvements, in the Mosaic code.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 21:1

• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Gore
• Judgments of God
• Push
• Quit
• Ransom
• Wont
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Exodus 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings