Exodus 21:6

Exodus 21:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
• English Standard Version (ESV)then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.
• New King James Version (NKJV)then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.
• New Living Translation (NLT)If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life.

Context of Exodus 21:6

4If 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,’ then 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. 7“If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.

Exodus 21:6 word by word

וְהִגִּישׁ֤וֹ אֲדֹנָיו֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְהִגִּישׁוֹ֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֔לֶת א֖וֹ אֶל־הַמְּזוּזָ֑ה וְרָצַ֨ע אֲדֹנָ֤יו אֶת־אָזְנוֹ֙ בַּמַּרְצֵ֔עַ וַעֲבָד֖וֹ לְעֹלָֽם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Then his masterאָדוֹן'âdôn 'âdôn · lordH113
• shall bringנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: bringH5066
• him unto the judgesאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• him to the doorדֶּ֫לֶתdeleth · doorH1817
• or unto the door postמְזוּזָהmezûzâh mezûzâh · doorpostH4201
• shall boreרָצַעrâtsa‛ · to boreH7527
• his earאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · earH241
• through with an aulמַרְצֵעַmartsêa‛ · awlH4836
• and he shall serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• him for everעוֹלָם‛ôlâm ‛ôlâm · forever: enduringH5769

Cross-references for Exodus 21:6

• Exodus 21:22“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows.
• Exodus 12:12“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
• Exodus 18:21But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
• Exodus 22:8But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges, and they must determine whether the owner of the house has laid hands on the other person’s property.
• Numbers 25:6Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
• Deuteronomy 1:16And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you.
• Deuteronomy 16:18Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
• Deuteronomy 19:17the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time.
• 1 Samuel 8:1When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.
• Isaiah 1:26I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
• Zephaniah 3:3Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning.
• Psalms 40:6Sacrifice and offering you did not desire— but my ears you have opened— burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
• Leviticus 25:23“ ‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.
• Deuteronomy 15:17then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.
• 1 Samuel 1:22Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”
• 1 Samuel 27:12Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”

Commentaries on Exodus 21:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6Shall bring him unto the judges - האלהים אל el haelohim, literally, to God; or, as the Septuagint have it, , to the judgment of God; who condescended to dwell among his people; who determined all their differences till he had given them laws for all cases, and who, by his omniscience, brought to light the hidden things of dishonesty. See Exodus 22:8. Bore his ear through with an awl - This was a ceremony sufficiently significant, as it implied, That he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6Forever - That is, most probably, until the next Jubilee, when every Hebrew was set free. See Leviticus 25:40, Leviticus 25:50. The custom of boring the ear as a mark of slavery appears to have been a common one in ancient times, observed in many nations. Unto the judges - Literally, “before the gods אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym The word does not denote “judges” in a direct way, but it is to be understood as the name of God, in its ordinary plural form, God being the…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 21:6

• Awl
• Boring the Ear
• Contracts
• Creditor
• Debtor
• Ear
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Awl
• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Ear
• Gore
• 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