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

1Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou shalt buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall depart free for nothing. 3If he came in by himself, he shall depart by himself: if he was married, then his wife shall depart with him. 4If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall depart by himself.

Exodus 21:2 word by word

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

• buyקָנָהqânâh · to buyH7069
• Hebrewעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
• servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• sixשֵׁשׁshêsh shishshâh · sixH8337
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• serveעָבַד‛âbad · to serveH5647
• seventhשְׁבִיעִיshebîy‛îy shebi‛îy · seventhH7637
• departיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: comeH3318
• freeחׇפְשִׁיchophshîy · freeH2670
• nothingחִנָּםchinnâm · for nothingH2600

Cross-references for Exodus 21:2

• Exodus 12:44But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat of it.
• Exodus 22:3If the sun shall have risen upon him, there shall be blood shed for him; for he should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
• Genesis 27:28Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine:
• Leviticus 25:39And if thy brotherthat dwelleth by thee shall have become poor, and be sold to thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a slave:
• 2 Kings 4:1Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant feared the LORD: and the creditor hath come to take to my two sons to be his slaves.
• Nehemiah 5:1And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
• Matthew 18:25But as he had nothing with which to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
• 1 Corinthians 6:20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
• Leviticus 25:40But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee to the year of jubilee:
• Deuteronomy 15:1At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.
• Deuteronomy 31:10And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
• Jeremiah 34:8This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty 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