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

1“These are the ordinances that you are to set before them: “When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man without paying anything. 3If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.

Exodus 21:2 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• If thou buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
• an Hebrewעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
• servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• he shall serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• and in the seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• he shall go outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670
• for nothingחִנָּםchinnâm · for nothingH2600

Cross-references for Exodus 21:2

• Exodus 12:44But any slave a man has purchased may eat it, after you have circumcised him.
• Exodus 22:3But if this happens after sunrise, the householder is guilty of bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution. If he is unable, he is to be sold because of his theft.
• Genesis 27:28May God give to you — from the dew of the sky and from the richness of the land — an abundance of grain and new wine.
• Leviticus 25:39“If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor.
• 2 Kings 4:1One of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, has died. You know that your servant feared the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take my two children as his slaves.”
• Nehemiah 5:1There was a widespread outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish countrymen.
• Matthew 18:25Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
• Leviticus 25:40Let him stay with you as a hired worker or temporary resident; he may work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
• Deuteronomy 15:1“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
• Deuteronomy 31:10Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of debt cancellation, during the Festival of Shelters,
• Jeremiah 34:8This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to 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