Exodus 21:3

"“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything."

Key Reflection

Exodus 21:3 establishes a six-year term for a Hebrew slave who is purchased, after which that individual gains their freedom without any payment required. This law reflects the broader context of ancient Near Eastern society where slavery was common but also regulated to prevent it from becoming permanent or inhumane. The six-year period and the requirement for release align with cultural practices aimed at ensuring slaves could regain their status as free individuals, embodying a form of social mobility that contrasted with the more rigid systems found elsewhere.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

If a married man became a bondman, his rights in regard to his wife were respected: but if a single bondman accepted at the hand of his master a bondwoman as his wife, the master did not lose his claim to the woman or her children, at the expiration of the husband’s term of service. Such wives, it may be presumed, were always foreign slaves.

More from Exodus 21

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