Exodus 21:4

Exodus 21:4 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.

Context of Exodus 21:4

2“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. If 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. 5“But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’ 6his master is to bring him to the judges and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.

Exodus 21:4 word by word

אִם־אֲדֹנָיו֙ יִתֶּן־ל֣וֹ אִשָּׁ֔ה וְיָלְדָה־ל֥וֹ בָנִ֖ים א֣וֹ בָנ֑וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֣ה וִילָדֶ֗יהָ תִּהְיֶה֙ לַֽאדֹנֶ֔יהָ וְה֖וּא יֵצֵ֥א בְגַפּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If his masterאָדוֹן'âdôn 'âdôn · lordH113
• have givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: give(marriage)H5414
• him a wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• and she have bornיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• him sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• or daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• and her childrenיֶ֫לֶדyeled · youthH3206
• and he shall go outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• by himselfגַּףgaph · single/heightH1610

Commentaries on Exodus 21:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4The 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.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-6The master was not required to provide a slave with a wife who would then be freed with him. The slave in such a situation had to either abandon the family he began while he was a slave or become a permanent slave.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 21:4

• Contracts
• Creditor
• Debtor
• Property
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Freedom
• Gore
• 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