Exodus 21:2

Authorized King James Version (1611)

If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד וּבַשְּׁבִעִת יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי חִנָּם

Transliteration

kî tiqneh ʿebed ʿibrî six shānîm yaʿabōd û-ba-shĕbîʿit yēṣēʾ la-chophshî chinnām

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - when/if
• *tiqneh*: qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular - you buy/acquire
• *ʿebed*: masculine singular noun - servant/slave
• *ʿibrî*: masculine singular adjective - Hebrew
• *shānîm*: feminine plural noun - years
• *yaʿabōd*: qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he shall serve
• *û-ba-shĕbîʿit*: conjunction *wə* + preposition *bə* + definite article + feminine singular noun - and in the seventh
• *yēṣēʾ*: qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he shall go out/depart
• *la-chophshî*: preposition *lə* + masculine singular noun - to freedom/as a free man
• *chinnām*: adverb - without payment/freely/for nothing

Word Meanings

• *ʿebed*: servant/slave/bondman
• *yēṣēʾ*: he shall go out/depart/be released
• *chinnām*: without payment/freely/gratuitously/for nothing

Referenced Verses

• Deut 15:12-15 : 12 ¶ [And] if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. 13 And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: 14 Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: [of that] wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him. 15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee this thing to day.
• Deut 15:18 : 18 It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for he hath been worth a double hired servant [to thee], in serving thee six years: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest.
• Neh 5:1-5 : 1 ¶ And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. 2 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, [are] many: therefore we take up corn [for them], that we may eat, and live. 3 [Some] also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. 4 There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, [and that upon] our lands and vineyards. 5 Yet now our flesh [is] as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and [some] of our daughters are brought unto bondage [already]: neither [is it] in our power [to redeem them]; for other men have our lands and vineyards.
• Neh 5:8 : 8 And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen; and will ye even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing [to answer].
• Jer 34:8-9 : 8 ¶ [This is] the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which [were] at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, [being] an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, [to wit], of a Jew his brother. 10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let [them] go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: 16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
• Matt 18:25 : 25 ‹But forasmuch as he had not 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 Cor 6:20 : 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
• Deut 31:10 : 10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of [every] seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,
• 2 Kgs 4:1 : 1 ¶ Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
• Gen 27:28 : 28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
• Gen 27:36 : 36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
• Exod 12:44 : 44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.
• Exod 22:3 : 3 If the sun be 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.
• Lev 25:39-45 : 39 ¶ And if thy brother [that dwelleth] by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40 [But] as an hired servant, [and] as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, [and] shall serve thee unto the year of jubile: 41 And [then] shall he depart from thee, [both] he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 42 For they [are] my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. 44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, [shall be] of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that [are] with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
• Deut 15:1 : 1 ¶ At the end of [every] seven years thou shalt make a release.