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“Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. 3If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone.

Exodus 21:2 word by word

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

• Ifכִּיkîy · forH3588
• you buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
• a Hebrewעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
• slaveעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• he shall serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• but on the seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• he shall goיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• out as a freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670
• withoutחִנָּםchinnâm · for nothingH2600

Cross-references for Exodus 21:2

• Exodus 12:44but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it.
• Exodus 22:3But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
• Genesis 27:28Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;
• Leviticus 25:39‘If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service.
• 2 Kings 4:1Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.”
• Nehemiah 5:1Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.
• Matthew 18:25But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
• Leviticus 25:40He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee.
• Deuteronomy 15:1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts.
• Deuteronomy 31:10Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of the year of remission of debts, at the Feast of Booths,
• Jeremiah 34:8The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim release 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