Exodus 21:2

Exodus 21:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
• New International Version (NIV)“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.
• English Standard Version (ESV)When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years; and in the seventh he shall go out free and pay nothing.

Context of Exodus 21:2

1Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If 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.

Exodus 21:2 word by word

כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחָפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃Read the interlinear

• buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
• Hebrewעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
• servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• goיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670
• nothingחִנָּםchinnâm · for nothingH2600

Cross-references for Exodus 21:2

• Exodus 12:44but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
• Exodus 22:3If the sun be risen upon him, there shall be bloodguiltiness for him; he shall make restitution: if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
• Genesis 27:28And God give thee of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and new wine:
• Leviticus 25:39And if thy brother be waxed poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee; thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant.
• 2 Kings 4:1Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear Jehovah: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen.
• Nehemiah 5:1Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
• Matthew 18:25But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body.
• Leviticus 25:40As a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee:
• Deuteronomy 15:1At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
• Deuteronomy 31:10And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
• Jeremiah 34:8The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;

Commentaries on Exodus 21:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2If thou buy a Hebrew servant - Calmet enumerates six different ways in which a Hebrew might lose his liberty: In extreme poverty they might sell their liberty. Leviticus 25:39; : If thy brother be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, etc. A father might sell his children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant; see Exodus 21:7. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. My husband is dead - and the creditor is come to take unto him my…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in consequence either of debt Leviticus 25:39 or of the commission of theft Exodus 22:3. But his servitude could not be enforced for more than six full years. Compare the marginal references.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2A man might sell himself into slavery in order to get money to pay his debts. This law states that the man was never to become the permanent property of the master.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-62-6. 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. Should he, however, have married a female slave, she and the children, after the husband's liberation, remained the master's…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 21:2

• Contracts
• Creditor
• Debtor
• Israel
• Sabbatic Year
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Freedom
• Gore
• Loan
• Push
• Quit
• Ransom
• Wont

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