Skeptic's Annotated Bible
21:1 Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
21:2 If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Wow, actual rules about owning other human beings as slaves!
21:3 If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
21:4 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.
Well, that seems fair. After all, the wife was the master's property, why should the emancipated slave get to take them away from the master? That would be SO UNFAIR to the slave owner.
21:5 And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
21:6 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 awl; and he shall serve him for ever.
At least the slave has a choice; he can not go free, and remain a slave forever in order to stay with his wife and children. But he gets his ear impaled by an awl, I guess as a brand of his enslavement?
Wow, this is so helpful! I had no idea there were such clear instructions on how to treat slaves in the bible!
21:7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
Ok, the part above about how a male Hebrew slave is to be freed after 7 years does not apply to the women. Once they're sold, they're slaves forever.
21:8 If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
If she doesn't please her master, too bad; her master is stuck with her. He can't sell her.
21:9 And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
I guess this means that she would no longer be a slave if she married the master's son?
21:10 If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
Okay, if he enters into multiple marriages (more endorsement of polygamy here), then she gets to keep all her stuff. Don't ever say the bible isn't fair to women!
21:11 And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
Okay, interesting. If the slave owner does not abide by these rules, then he can emancipate the slave girl, but he doesn't have to give her any money; she's on her own. I guess the loss of the slave is loss enough? So there are two ways a slave girl can be free: marry the son of the master, or have the master give her an article of clothing, thus setting her free. Oh wait, that's house elves, sorry.
21:12 He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.
Sounds like a rephrasing of the rule in the last chapter against killing.
21:13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
21:14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
This is a little hard to follow, but it sounds like a loophole for crimes of passion. Premeditated murder == bad, impulsive murder == okay.
21:15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Well now, that seems extreme. And what parent could possibly murder their child as punishment for hitting?
21:16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
So don't steal someone else's slaves. I would have thought the general proscription against stealing would have covered this, but here we make a special mention of the case involving slaves.
21:17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Okay, really? Just saying something bad about your mother or father is enough to get you killed? (And why do I continuously allow myself to be shocked by these things?)
21:18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
21:19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.
Yeah, sometimes accidents happen. Be grateful God didn't call for your death.
21:20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
21:21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
Of course, these consequences for striking don't apply to your slaves; they're just property. The message here is, if you're going to beat your slaves to death, do it slowly. Make sure they suffer for at least a day or two before they die, or else you'll be punished. (No word on what that punishment is, though.)
21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
If you hurt a pregnant woman and the fetus dies, then the woman's husband gets to decide the punishment, in accordance with the ruling of judges. Basically, you pay a fine. So much for the sanctity of life! (Note to pro-lifers: God doesn't really care about the unborn child here.) Compare to 21:12, in which you get put to death for killing another man. Here, if you kill an unborn baby, you just pay a fine.
21:23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
21:25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
So much for compassion. This is horrendous.
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.
21:27 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.
So when you're beating your slaves, be very careful not to hurt them in the eye or knock out a tooth.
21:28 If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.
21:29 But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.
Keep your oxen from hurting others. Okay, I guess this makes sense, though it's a shame they wouldn't at least get to eat the meat. Oh wait, except for the part about how you have to put the owner of the ox to death too! I'm starting to think that owning an ox is too high of a risk!
21:30 If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.
If you still owe money on the ox, then now you have to pay it.
21:31 Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.
Since everybody is somebody's son or daughter, this rule always applies. Though to be honest I'm not sure what the punishment actually is here. Oh, I guess this is to distinguish harm caused by the ox to a Hebrew, vs. harm done by the ox to a slave; see the next verse.
21:32 If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
If the ox hurts someone else's slave, the owner of the ox has to pay the owner of the slave. So keep a close eye on your oxen!
To compare: if the ox kills a Hebrew, the ox is put to death (as well as the owner of the ox, if it's a repeat offender). If the ox kills a slave, then the owner just has to pay 30 shekels of silver. In both cases the ox is killed. But clearly, hurting a Hebrew is a more serious offense than hurting a slave.
21:33 And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;
21:34 The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.
I guess they can eat the ox in this case? Otherwise, what good is it?
21:35 And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.
21:36 Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.
An ox for an ox!
Well, thank goodness these rules are spelled out here, otherwise we wouldn't have known how to treat our slaves. Okay, to recap:
- A male slave must be freed after seven years
- If the male slave married another slave, then the wife and kids are still slaves
- The male slave can choose to stay with his wife and children, but then he's a slave forever; he gets branded on his ear
- A female slave is a slave forever (not free after seven years), unless she marries your son
- If you beat your slaves, don't hurt them in the eye or teeth, or you'll have to set them free
- If you hurt a pregnant woman and the fetus dies, you'll have to pay a fine
- Keep your oxen from hurting others, or else you may be killed
- Special rules for when an ox hurts a slave or another ox
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