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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.

Context of Exodus 21:4

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. 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. 5“But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant 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