New International Version
Exodus 21:1
1“These are the laws you are to set before them:
Exodus 21:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Now these are the rules that you shall set before them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them:
- New Living Translation (NLT)“These are the regulations you must present to Israel.
Context of Exodus 21:1
“These are the laws you are to set before them: 2“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. 3If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.
Read all of Exodus 21Exodus 21:1 word by word
וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 21:1
- Leviticus 18:5Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.
- Leviticus 19:37“ ‘Keep all my decrees and all my laws and follow them. I am the Lord.’ ”
- Leviticus 20:22“ ‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
- Numbers 35:24the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.
- Deuteronomy 5:1Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
- Deuteronomy 6:20In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?”
- 1 Kings 6:12“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.
- 2 Chronicles 19:10In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations—you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin.
- Nehemiah 9:13“You came down on Mount Sinai; you spoke to them from heaven. You gave them regulations and laws that are just and right, and decrees and commands that are good.
- Nehemiah 10:29all these now join their fellow Israelites the nobles, and bind themselves with a curse and an oath to follow the Law of God given through Moses the servant of God and to obey carefully all the commands, regulations and decrees of the Lord our Lord.
- Psalms 147:19He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel.
- Ezekiel 20:11I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live.
- Malachi 4:4“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
- Exodus 19:7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.
- Exodus 24:3When Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the Lord has said we will do.”
- Deuteronomy 4:5See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.
Commentaries on Exodus 21:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Now these are the judgments - There is so much good sense, feeling, humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little comment. The laws in this chapter are termed political, those in the succeeding chapter judicial, laws; and are supposed to have been delivered to Moses alone, in consequence of the request of the people, Exodus 20:19, that…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Judgments - i. e. decisions of the law.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Laws respecting servants. (1-11) Judicial laws. (12-21) Judicial laws. (22-36) Verses 1-11 The laws in this chapter relate to the fifth and sixth commandments; and though they differ from our times and customs, nor are they binding on us, yet they explain the moral law, and the rules of natural justice. The servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin, Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by robbing God of his…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1The terms of the covenant are now expanded. The first section in 21:1–23:19 gives specific examples of the general principles stated in 20:3–17. The commitments to which God bound himself if the Israelites kept their side of the covenant are stated in 23:20–33. This passage also includes the blessings for obedience.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-61. judgments--rules for regulating the procedure of judges and magistrates in the decision of cases and the trial of criminals. The government of the Israelites being a theocracy, those public authorities were the servants of the Divine Sovereign, and subject to His direction. Most of these laws here noticed were primitive usages, founded on principles of natural equity, and incorporated, with modifications and improvements, in the Mosaic code.Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 21:1
In the dictionaries
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
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