If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. If a man strikesThe phrase "If a man strikes" introduces a conditional scenario, common in ancient legal codes, where specific actions and their consequences are outlined. The Hebrew word for "strikes" is "נכה" (nakah), which implies a deliberate act of violence. This reflects the broader biblical principle that human life is sacred and violence against another person is a serious matter. The use of "man" here is generic, indicating any person in a position of authority or power over another, emphasizing the responsibility that comes with such power. his servant or maidservant
The terms "servant" and "maidservant" refer to individuals in a position of servitude, often due to economic circumstances. In the ancient Near Eastern context, servitude was a common social structure, but the Bible consistently calls for the humane and just treatment of servants. The Hebrew words "עבד" (eved) for servant and "שפחה" (shiphchah) for maidservant highlight the gender-specific roles within this societal framework. This phrase underscores the biblical mandate for justice and compassion towards those who are vulnerable or in subordinate positions. with a rod
The "rod" symbolizes authority and discipline, but also the potential for abuse of power. In ancient times, a rod was a common tool for correction, yet the Bible sets boundaries on its use. The Hebrew word "שבט" (shevet) can mean both a physical rod and a symbol of authority. This dual meaning serves as a reminder that authority must be exercised with care and restraint, aligning with the biblical call for leaders to shepherd their people with justice and mercy. and the servant dies by his hand
This phrase indicates the severity of the action, where the consequence of the strike is death. The Hebrew "מות" (muth) for "dies" conveys the finality and seriousness of taking a life. The phrase "by his hand" emphasizes personal responsibility and culpability. In the biblical worldview, life is a gift from God, and taking a life unjustly is a grave sin. This underscores the principle that those in authority are accountable for their actions, especially when they result in harm to others. he shall surely be punished
The phrase "he shall surely be punished" reflects the biblical principle of justice and retribution. The Hebrew "נקם" (naqam) implies a divine or legal retribution, ensuring that justice is served. This serves as a deterrent against abuse and a reminder that God upholds justice for the oppressed. The certainty of punishment highlights the seriousness with which God views the mistreatment of others, especially those who are vulnerable, and reinforces the call for righteousness and accountability in all human relationships. Persons / Places / Events 1. Hebrew ServantsIn ancient Israel, servants or slaves were often fellow Hebrews who had sold themselves into servitude due to debt or poverty. They were to be treated with dignity and respect, as they were part of the covenant community. 2. MasterThe person who owns or has authority over the servant. In this context, the master is responsible for the well-being of the servant and is held accountable for any harm caused. 3. RodA tool or instrument used for discipline or punishment. In this context, it symbolizes authority but also the potential for abuse. 4. DeathThe event of the servant dying as a result of the master's actions. This is a critical point in the law, emphasizing the sanctity of life. 5. PunishmentThe consequence prescribed by the law for the master if the servant dies. This reflects the justice system in place to protect the vulnerable. Teaching Points Sanctity of LifeThe passage underscores the value of human life, regardless of social status. Every person is precious in God's sight and deserves protection. Accountability and JusticeThe law holds individuals accountable for their actions, emphasizing that authority comes with responsibility. Justice is a key component of God's character. Ethical Treatment of OthersThe passage calls for humane and ethical treatment of those under our authority. This principle applies to modern relationships, such as employers and employees. God's Concern for the VulnerableGod’s laws often protect the marginalized and vulnerable, reflecting His heart for justice and mercy. Reflection of God's CharacterAs believers, our actions should reflect God's character, including His justice, mercy, and love for all people. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the principle of the sanctity of life in Exodus 21:20 apply to modern-day issues of justice and human rights? 2. In what ways can we ensure that we are treating those under our authority with dignity and respect, as outlined in this passage? 3. How does the accountability of the master in Exodus 21:20 reflect God's justice, and how can we apply this principle in our own lives? 4. What are some practical ways we can demonstrate God's concern for the vulnerable in our communities today? 5. How do the teachings in Exodus 21:20 connect with the New Testament instructions for masters and servants, and what can we learn from these connections? Connections to Other Scriptures Genesis 1:27This verse highlights the inherent dignity of all human beings, created in the image of God, which underpins the ethical treatment of servants. Leviticus 19:18The command to love your neighbor as yourself extends to all relationships, including those between masters and servants. Matthew 7:12The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," reinforces the ethical treatment of others, including servants. Ephesians 6:9Paul instructs masters to treat their servants well, knowing that they too have a Master in heaven. Colossians 4:1This verse calls for fairness and justice in the treatment of servants, reflecting the principles found in Exodus 21:20. People MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Avenged, Beats, Blows, Bondman, Bondwoman, Causing, Certainly, Death, Die, Died, Dies, Direct, Female, Gives, Handmaid, Maid, Male, Man-servant, Punished, Punishment, Result, Rod, Servant, Slave, Smite, Smiteth, Staff, Strike, Strikes, Surely, Undergo, Woman-servantDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 21:20 5313 flogging Exodus 21:12-20 5214 attack Exodus 21:15-25 6206 offence Exodus 21:20-21 5404 masters
7447 slavery, in OT Library The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws
[Sidenote: First the principle, and then the detailed laws] If the canon of the New Testament had remained open as long as did that of the Old, there is little doubt that it also would have contained many laws, legal precedents, and ecclesiastical histories. From the writings of the Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic Church it is possible to conjecture what these in general would have been. The early history of Christianity illustrates the universal fact that the broad principles are …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old TestamentThe Kinsman Redeemer
'After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him.'--LEV. xxv. 48. There are several of the institutions and precepts of the Mosaic legislation which, though not prophetic, nor typical, have yet remarkable correspondences with lofty Christian truth. They may be used as symbols, if only we remember that we are diverting them from their original purpose. How singularly these words lend themselves to the statement of the very central truths of Christianity--a slavery …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Non-Resistance
'Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.'--MATT. v. 38-42. The old law …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture A Discourse of the Building, Nature, Excellency, and Government of the House of God; with Counsels and Directions to the Inhabitants Thereof.
BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'--Psalm 26:8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Beautiful in its simplicity is this treatise on the Church of Christ, by John Bunyan. He opens, with profound knowledge and eminent skill, all those portions of sacred writ which illustrate the nature, excellency, and government of the house of God, with the personal and relative duties of its inhabitants. It was originally published in …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
BY A.E. GRIMKE. "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go in unto the king, …
Angelina Emily Grimke—An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South The Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force Has Been Professed by a Minority of Men from the Very Foundation of Christianity. Of the Book "What
CHAPTER I. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. Of the Book "What I Believe"--The Correspondence Evoked by it-- Letters from Quakers--Garrison's Declaration--Adin Ballou, his Works, his Catechism--Helchitsky's "Net of Faith"--The Attitude of the World to Works Elucidating Christ's Teaching--Dymond's Book "On War"--Musser's "Non-resistance Asserted"--Attitude of the Government in 1818 to Men who Refused to …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you The Sermon on the Mount - the Kingdom of Christ and Rabbinic Teaching.
It was probably on one of those mountain-ranges, which stretch to the north of Capernaum, that Jesus had spent the night of lonely prayer, which preceded the designation of the twelve to the Apostolate. As the soft spring morning broke, He called up those who had learned to follow Him, and from among them chose the twelve, who were to be His Ambassadors and Representatives. [2500] [2501] But already the early light had guided the eager multitude which, from all parts, had come to the broad level …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Deputation from Jerusalem - the Three Sects of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes - Examination of their Distinctive Doctrines.
APART from the repulsively carnal form which it had taken, there is something absolutely sublime in the continuance and intensity of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah. It outlived not only the delay of long centuries, but the persecutions and scattering of the people; it continued under the disappointment of the Maccabees, the rule of a Herod, the administration of a corrupt and contemptible Priesthood, and, finally, the government of Rome as represented by a Pilate; nay, it grew in intensity …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.' Exod 20: 13. In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, Thou shalt not kill,' and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others. The sin forbidden is murder: Thou shalt not kill.' Here two things are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves. I. The not injuring another. [1] We must not injure another in his name. A good name is a precious balsam.' It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others in …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments That Deep Things Ought not to be Preached at all to Weak Souls.
But the preacher should know how to avoid drawing the mind of his hearer beyond its strength, lest, so to speak, the string of the soul, when stretched more than it can bear, should be broken. For all deep things should be covered up before a multitude of hearers, and scarcely opened to a few. For hence the Truth in person says, Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord has appointed over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season? (Luke xii. 42). …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great In Death and after Death
A sadder picture could scarcely be drawn than that of the dying Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai, that "light of Israel" immediately before and after the destruction of the Temple, and for two years the president of the Sanhedrim. We read in the Talmud (Ber. 28 b) that, when his disciples came to see him on his death-bed, he burst into tears. To their astonished inquiry why he, "the light of Israel, the right pillar of the Temple, and its mighty hammer," betrayed such signs of fear, he replied: "If I were …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia.
Part I. History of the Councils. Reason why two Councils were called. Inconsistency and folly of calling any; and of the style of the Arian formularies; occasion of the Nicene Council; proceedings at Ariminum; Letter of the Council to Constantius; its decree. Proceedings at Seleucia; reflections on the conduct of the Arians. 1. Perhaps news has reached even yourselves concerning the Council, which is at this time the subject of general conversation; for letters both from the Emperor and the Prefects …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius The Section Chap. I. -iii.
The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most fully in Marckius's "Diatribe de uxore fornicationum," Leyden, 1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same author. The various views may be divided into three classes. 1. It is maintained by very many interpreters, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 21:20 NIVExodus 21:20 NLTExodus 21:20 ESVExodus 21:20 NASBExodus 21:20 KJV
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