Exodus 21:5

Exodus 21:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
• New International Version (NIV)“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’
• English Standard Version (ESV)But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,'
• New King James Version (NKJV)But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’

Context of Exodus 21:5

3If he came to you alone, he is free to leave alone. If he came with a wife, she can also leave with him. 4But if the master has given a wife to the slave, she belongs to her master. If she has children, they also belong to her master. The slave must then leave by himself, without his wife and children. But perhaps the slave may say, “I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go away as a free man!” 6Then his master must take the slave to stand in front of the judges. He must lead the slave to stand beside the door, or the wood that holds the door. Then the master must push the sharp point of a tool through the slave's ear. After that, he will serve his master for all his life. 7Perhaps a man may sell his daughter to someone as a slave. She is not free to leave her master after six years, as the male slaves are.

Exodus 21:5 word by word

וְאִם־אָמֹ֤ר יֹאמַר֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֔י אֶת־אִשְׁתִּ֖י וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑י לֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א חָפְשִֽׁי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And if the servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• shall plainlyאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• I loveאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
• my masterאָדוֹן'âdôn 'âdôn · lordH113
• my wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• and my childrenבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• I will not go outיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670

Cross-references for Exodus 21:5

• Deuteronomy 15:16But perhaps your servant will say to you, ‘I do not want to leave you!’ He may say that because he loves you and your family. He enjoys his life with you.
• Isaiah 26:13Lord, our God, other lords have ruled over us. But you are the only one that we worship.
• 2 Corinthians 5:14Whatever we do, we do it because Christ loves us. We know that one man, Christ, died on behalf of all people. So we also know that all of us died with him.

Commentaries on Exodus 21:5

• 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 21:5

• Contracts
• Creditor
• Debtor
• Ear
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Gore
• Push
• Quit
• Ransom
• Wont
• Bible, the
• Blindness, Judicial

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