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 decisions that you will set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free without paying anything. 3If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 4If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

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 everyone’s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it.
• Exodus 22:3If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft.
• Genesis 27:28May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.
• Leviticus 25:39“‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.
• 2 Kings 4:1Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the Lord. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.”
• Nehemiah 5:1Then there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.
• Matthew 18:25Because he was not able to repay it, the lord ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
• Leviticus 25:40He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; he must serve with you until the year of jubilee,
• Deuteronomy 15:1At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.
• Deuteronomy 31:10He commanded them: “At the end of seven years, at the appointed time of the cancellation of debts, at the Feast of Temporary Shelters,
• Jeremiah 34:8The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom.

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