“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.
Parallel Translations
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“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.
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And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
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And if a man smite the eye of his bondman, or the eye of his bondwoman, and destroy it, he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.
And if he smite out his bondman's tooth, or his bondwoman's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
Cross-references (11)
- Exodus 21:20 (v26) “If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.
- Deuteronomy 16:19 (v26) You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and…
- Nehemiah 5:5 (v26) Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children as their children. Behold, we bring our sons and our daughters into bondage…
- Job 31:13-15 (v26) “If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me, what then will I do when God rises…
- Psalms 9:12 (v26) For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
Show all 11 cross-references
- Psalms 10:14 (v26) But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.
- Psalms 10:18 (v26) to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
- Psalms 72:12-14 (v26) For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper. He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls…
- Proverbs 22:22-23 (v26) Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court; for Yahweh will plead their case, and plunder the life of…
- Ephesians 6:9 (v26) You masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and…
- Colossians 4:1 (v26) Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v27 So God revengeth cruelty in the most least things.
So God revengeth cruelty in the most least things.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On v26 Exo 21:26 And if a man smite the eye…
Exo 21:26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
Ver. 26. And if a man smite the eye of his servant.] Think the same, saith Aben Ezra, of the other principal members, which the Jews call capita membrorum: these are the ten fingers, the ten toes, the two ears, the nose, and the yard.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v27 Some confine this to the Israelitish servants, but the…
Some confine this to the Israelitish servants, but the text doth not so limit it; and the reason of the law seems to reach to Gentile servants, this being a just punishment to unmerciful masters, (who ought to be merciful to their beasts, much more to such servants,) and a fit recompence to a servant for such a loss. And this law reacheth the loss of any other member, these two being instanced in, the one as the chief, and the other as the meanest, to intimate that other parts of a like or middle nature are included.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–27 If a man smite the eye of his servant,....…
If a man smite the eye of his servant,.... Give him a blow on the eye in a passion, as a correction for some fault he has committed:
or the eye of his maid, that it perish; strike her on that part in like manner, so that the eye is beaten or drops out, or however loses its sight, and "is blinded", as the Septuagint version; or "corrupts" it (k), it turns black and blue, and gathers corrupt matter, and becomes a sore eye; yet if the sight is not lost, or corrupts so as to perish, this law does not take place; the Targum of Jonathan, and to Jarchi restrain this to a Canaanitish servant or maid:
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he shall let him go free for his eye's sake; or "them", as the Septuagint; his right to them as a servant was hereby forfeited, and he was obliged to give them their freedom, let the time of servitude, that was to come, be what it would. This law was made to deter masters from using their servants with cruelty, since though humanity and goodness would not restrain them from ill usage of them, their own profit and advantage by them might.
(k) "et corruperit eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; so Ainsworth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv26–27 Verse 26. If a man smite the eye, &c.]…
Verse 26. If a man smite the eye, &c.] See the following verse.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v26 Exo 21:26-28. He shall let him go free —…
Exo 21:26-28. He shall let him go free — A very fit recompense to a servant for such a loss, and certainly meant to be extended to every other material personal injury. If an ox — Or any other creature.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v26 Freedom was the proper equivalent for permanent injury.
Freedom was the proper equivalent for permanent injury.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v26
CHAPTER XXI.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v26 26, 27. Eye of his servant — Here again…
26, 27. Eye of his servant — Here again we note that the male or female servant was reckoned as not enjoying the same natural rights as freemen. The lex talionis did not apply to them, but they were allowed their freedom as a compensation. But we should observe how the provisions of this statute, as well as those of Exo_21:20-21, must have tended to mitigate the wrongs of slavery, and protect the lives and persons of slaves, in a way unknown to the laws and customs of other ancient nations.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v26 26, 27. Striking out the eye or tooth of…
26, 27. Striking out the eye or tooth of a slave. The person of slave being not as valuable as that of a free man, the lex talionis (vv. 23–25) is not applicable in his case (cf. Ḥamm. § 199, as compared with § 196): the slave, however, receives his freedom as compensation for his injury, and his master pays for his maltreatment of him by the loss of his services.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v26 (26, 27) The eye . . . Tooth.—An exception…
(26, 27) The eye . . . Tooth.—An exception to the law of retaliation is here made. If the injurer is a free man and the injured person a slave, the marked social inequality of the parties would make exact retaliation an injustice. Is the slave, then, to be left without protection? By no means. As the legislation had already protected his life (Exo_21:20), so it now protects him from permanent damage to his person. The master who inflicts any such permanent damage—from the least to the greatest—loses all property in his slave, and is bound at once to emancipate him. The loss of an eye is viewed as the greatest permanent injury to the person; the loss of a tooth as the least.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On v26 Vers. 26, 27. Assaults on Slaves. The general law…
Vers. 26, 27. Assaults on Slaves. The general law of retaliation was not made to extend to slaves. For ordinary blows the slave was not thought entitled to compensation, any more than the child. They were natural incidents of his condition. In extremer cases, where he was permanently injured in an organ or a member, he was, however, considered to have ground of complaint and to deserve a recompense. But for him to revenge himself upon his master by inflicting the same on him was not to be thought of. It would have put the slave into a false position, have led to his prolonged ill-treatment, and have been an undue degradation of the master. Therefore, compulsory emancipation was made the penalty of all such aggravated assaults, even the slightest (ver. 27).
Vers. 26, 27. If a man smite the eye, etc. The "eye" seems to be selected as the most precious of our organs, the "tooth" as that the loss of which is of least consequence. The principle was that any permanent loss of any part of his frame entitled the slave to his liberty. A very considerable check must have been put on the brutality of masters by this enactment.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v26 If a man
If a man
Here "man" refers to the owner of a slave.
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in compensation
"as payment." Compensation is what someone does for another person or gives to another person to make up for what he has caused that person to lose.
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.