Gill, "ow these are the judgments,.... The judicial laws respecting the civil state of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and are according to the judgment of God, whose judgment is according to truth; and because they are such by which the commonwealth of Israel was to be judged or governed, and were to be the rule of their conduct to one another, and a rule of judgment to their judges in the execution of judgment and justice among them:

1. EXODUS 21 COMME TARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
I have searched the internet and collected all I could find on this chapter. I quote
both old and new authors, and if some do not wish their wisdom shared in this
way, they can let me know, and I will remove their comments. My e-mail is
gdpease1@gmail.com
1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:
1. Clarke, " ow these are the judgments - There is so much good sense, feeling,
humanity, equity, and justice in the following laws, that they cannot but be admired
by every intelligent reader; and they are so very plain as to require very little
comment. The laws in this chapter are termed political, those in the succeeding
chapter judicial, laws; and are supposed to have been delivered to Moses alone, in
consequence of the request of the people, Exo_20:19, that God should communicate
his will to Moses, and that Moses should, as mediator, convey it to them.
2. Gill, " ow these are the judgments,.... The judicial laws respecting the civil state
of the people of Israel, so called because they are founded on justice and equity, and
are according to the judgment of God, whose judgment is according to truth; and
because they are such by which the commonwealth of Israel was to be judged or
governed, and were to be the rule of their conduct to one another, and a rule of
judgment to their judges in the execution of judgment and justice among them:
which thou shall set before them; besides the ten commands before delivered. They
were spoken by God himself in the hearing of the people; these were delivered to
Moses after he went up to the mount again, at the request of the people, to be their
mediator, to be by him set before them as the rule of their behaviour, and to enjoin
them the observance of them; in order to which he was not only to rehearse them,
but to write them out, and set them in a plain and easy light before them: and
though they did not hear these with their own ears from God himself, as the ten
commands; yet, as they had the utmost reason to believe they came from him, and it
was at their own request that he, and not God, might speak unto them what was
further to be said, with a promise they would obey it, as if they had immediately
heard it from him; it became them to receive these laws as of God, and yield a
cheerful obedience to them; nor do we find they ever questioned the authority of
them; and as their government was a Theocracy, and God was more immediately
their King than he was of any other people, it was but right, and what might be
expected, that they should have their civil laws from him, and which was their

2. privilege, and gave them the preference to all other nations, Deu_4:5.
3. Henry, "The first verse is the general title of the laws contained in this and the
two following chapters, some of them relating to the religious worship of God, but
most of them relating to matters between man and man. Their government being
purely a Theocracy, that which in other states is to be settled by human prudence
was directed among them by a divine appointment, so that the constitution of their
government was peculiarly adapted to make them happy. These laws are called
judgments, because they are framed in infinite wisdom and equity, and because their
magistrates were to give judgment according to the people. In the doubtful cases
that had hitherto occurred, Moses had particularly enquired of God for them, as
appeared, Exo_18:15; but now God gave him statutes in general by which to
determine particular cases, which likewise he must apply to other like cases that
might happen, which, falling under the same reason, fell under the same rule. He
begins with the laws concerning servants, commanding mercy and moderation
towards them. The Israelites had lately been servants themselves; and now that they
had become, not only their own masters, but masters of servants too, lest they
should abuse their servants, as they themselves had been abused and ruled with
rigour by the Egyptian task-masters, provision was made by these laws for the mild
and gentle usage of servants. ote, If those who have had power over us have been
injurious to us this will not in the least excuse us if we be in like manner injurious to
those who are under our power, but will rather aggravate our crime, because, in
that case, we may the more easily put our souls into their soul's stead.
4. Jamison, "judgments — rules for regulating the procedure of judges and
magistrates in the decision of cases and the trial of criminals. The government of the
Israelites being a theocracy, those public authorities were the servants of the Divine
Sovereign, and subject to His direction. Most of these laws here noticed were
primitive usages, founded on principles of natural equity, and incorporated, with
modifications and improvements, in the Mosaic code.
5. K&D, "The mishpatim (Exo_21:1) are not the “laws, which were to be in force
and serve as rules of action,” as Knobel affirms, but the rights, by which the national
life was formed into a civil commonwealth and the political order secured. These
rights had reference first of all to the relation in which the individuals stood one
towards another. The personal rights of dependants are placed at the head (Exo_
21:2-11); and first those of slaves (Exo_21:2-6), which are still more minutely
explained in Deu_15:12-18, where the observance of them is urged upon the hearts
of the people on subjective grounds.
Hebrew Servants

3. 2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you
for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go
free, without paying anything.
1. Barnes, "A Hebrew might be sold as a bondman in consequence either of debt
Lev_25:39 or of the commission of theft Exo_22:3. But his servitude could not be
enforced for more than six full years. Compare the marginal references.
2. Clarke, "If thou buy a Hebrew servant - Calmet enumerates six different ways in
which a Hebrew might lose his liberty:
1. In extreme poverty they might sell their liberty. Lev_25:39 : If thy brother be
waxen poor, and be sold unto thee, etc.
2. A father might sell his children. If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant;
see Exo_21:7.
3. Insolvent debtors became the slaves of their creditors. My husband is dead -
and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen, 2Ki_
4:1.
4. A thief, if he had not money to pay the fine laid on him by the law, was to be
sold for his profit whom he had robbed. If he have nothing, then he shall be
sold for his theft; Exo_22:3, Exo_22:4.
5. A Hebrew was liable to be taken prisoner in war, and so sold for a slave.
6. A Hebrew slave who had been ransomed from a Gentile by a Hebrew might be
sold by him who ransomed him, to one of his own nation.
Six years he shall serve - It was an excellent provision in these laws, that no man
could finally injure himself by any rash, foolish, or precipitate act. o man could
make himself a servant or slave for more than seven years; and if he mortgaged the
family inheritance, it must return to the family at the jubilee, which returned every
fiftieth year.
It is supposed that the term six years is to be understood as referring to the
sabbatical years; for let a man come into servitude at whatever part of the interim
between two sabbatical years, he could not be detained in bondage beyond a
sabbatical year; so that if he fell into bondage the third year after a sabbatical year,
he had but three years to serve; if the fifth, but one. See Clarke’s note on Exo_23:11,
etc. Others suppose that this privilege belonged only to the year of jubilee, beyond
which no man could be detained in bondage, though he had been sold only one year
before.
3. Gill, "If thou buy an Hebrew servant,.... Who sells himself either through poverty,
or rather is sold because of his theft, see Exo_22:3 and so the Targum of Jonathan
paraphrases it,"when ye shall buy for his theft, a servant, a son of an
Israelite;''agreeably to which Aben Ezra observes, this servant is a servant that is

4. sold for his theft; and he says, it is a tradition with them, that a male is sold for his
theft, but not a female; and the persons who had the selling of such were the civil
magistrates, the Sanhedrim, or court of judicature; so Jarchi, on the text, says, "if
thou buy", &c. that is, of the hand of the sanhedrim who sells him for his theft:
six years he shall serve; and no longer; and the Jewish doctors say (d), if his master
dies within the six years he must serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother,
nor any other heirs:
and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing; without paying any money for
his freedom, as it is explained Exo_21:11, nay, on the other hand, his master was not
to send him away empty, but furnish him liberally out of his flock, floor, and wine
press, since his six years' servitude was worth double that of an hired servant, Deu_
15:13, and his freedom was to take place as soon as the six years were ended, and
the seventh began, in which the Jewish writers agree: the Targum of Jonathan is, at
the entrance of the seventh; and Aben Ezra's explanation is, at the beginning of the
seventh year of his being sold; and Maimonides (e) observes the same. ow as this
servant, in the state of servitude, was an emblem of that state of bondage to sin,
Satan, and the law, which man is brought into by his theft, his robbing God of his
glory by the transgression of his precepts; so likewise, in his being made free, he was
an emblem of that liberty wherewith Christ, the Son of God, makes his people free
from the said bondage, and who are free indeed, and made so freely without money,
and without price, of pure free grace, without any merit or desert of theirs; and
which freedom is attended with many bountiful and liberal blessings of grace.
4. Henry, "A law concerning men-servants, sold, either by themselves or their
parents, through poverty, or by the judges, for their crimes; even those of the latter
sort (if Hebrews) were to continue in slavery but seven years at the most, in which
time it was taken for granted that they would sufficiently have smarted for their
folly or offence. At the seven years' end the servant should either go out free (Exo_
21:2, Exo_21:3), or his servitude should thenceforward be his choice, Exo_21:5,
Exo_21:6. If he had a wife given him by his master, and children, he might either
leave them and go out free himself, or, if he had such a kindness for them that he
would rather tarry with them in bondage than go out at liberty without them, he
was to have his ear bored through to the doorpost and serve till the death of his
master, or the year of jubilee.
1. By this law God taught, (1.) The Hebrew servants generosity, and a noble love
of liberty, for they were the Lord's freemen; a mark of disgrace must be put upon
him who refused liberty when he might have it, though he refused it upon
considerations otherwise laudable enough. Thus Christians, being bought with a
price, and called unto liberty, must not be the servants of men, nor of the lusts of
men, 1Co_7:23. There is a free and princely spirit that much helps to uphold a
Christian, Psa_51:12. He likewise taught, (2.) The Hebrew masters not to trample
upon their poor servants, knowing, not only that they had been by birth upon a level
with them, but that, in a few years, they would be so again. Thus Christian masters
must look with respect on believing servants, Phm_1:16.

5. 2. This law will be further useful to us, (1.) To illustrate the right God has to the
children of believing parents, as such, and the place they have in his church. They
are by baptism enrolled among his servants, because they are born in his house, for
they are therefore born unto him, Eze_16:20. David owns himself God's servant, as
he was the son of his handmaid (Psa_116:16), and therefore entitled to protection,
Psa_86:16. (2.) To explain the obligation which the great Redeemer laid upon
himself to prosecute the work of our salvation, for he says (Psa_40:6), My ears hast
thou opened, which seems to allude to this law. He loved his Father, and his captive
spouse, and the children that were given him, and would not go out free from his
undertaking, but engaged to serve in it for ever, Isa_42:1, Isa_42:4. Much more
reason have we thus to engage ourselves to serve God for ever; we have all the
reason in the world to love our Master and his work, and to have our ears bored to
his door-posts, as those who desire not to go out free from his service, but to be
found more and more free to it, and in it, Psa_84:10.
5. Jamison, "If thou buy an Hebrew servant — Every Israelite was free-born; but
slavery was permitted under certain restrictions. An Hebrew might be made a slave
through poverty, debt, or crime; but at the end of six years he was entitled to
freedom, and his wife, if she had voluntarily shared his state of bondage, also
obtained release. Should he, however, have married a female slave, she and the
children, after the husband’s liberation, remained the master’s property; and if,
through attachment to his family, the Hebrew chose to forfeit his privilege and abide
as he was, a formal process was gone through in a public court, and a brand of
servitude stamped on his ear (Psa_40:6) for life, or at least till the Jubilee (Deu_
15:17).
6. K&D, "The Hebrew servant was to obtain his freedom without paying
compensation, after six years of service. According to Deu_15:12, this rule applied to
the Hebrew maid-servant as well. The predicate ‫י‬ ִ‫ְר‬‫ב‬ִ‫ע‬ limits the rule to Israelitish
servants, in distinction from slaves of foreign extraction, to whom this law did not
apply (cf. Deu_15:12, “thy brother”).
( ote: Saalschütz is quite wrong in his supposition, that ‫י‬ ִ‫ְר‬‫ב‬ִ‫ע‬ relates not to
Israelites, but to relations of the Israelites who had come over to them from their
original native land. (See my Archδologie, §112, ote 2.))
An Israelite might buy his own countryman, either when he was sold by a court of
justice on account of theft (Exo_22:1), or when he was poor and sold himself (Lev_
25:39). The emancipation in the seventh year of service was intimately connected
with the sabbatical year, though we are not to understand it as taking place in that
particular year. “He shall go out free,” sc., from his master's house, i.e., be set at
liberty. ‫ָם‬‫נּ‬ִ‫ח‬: without compensation. In Deuteronomy the master is also commanded
not to let him go out empty, but to load him (‫ִיק‬‫נ‬ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫ח‬ to put upon his neck) from his
flock, his threshing-floor, and his wine-press (i.e., with corn and wine); that is to say,
to give him as much as he could carry away with him. The motive for this command
is drawn from their recollection of their own deliverance by Jehovah from the
bondage of Egypt. And in Exo_21:18 an additional reason is supplied, to incline the
heart of the master to this emancipation, viz., that “he has served thee for six years

6. the double of a labourer's wages,” - that is to say, “he has served and worked so
much, that it would have cost twice as much, if it had been necessary to hire a
labourer in his place” (Schultz), - and “Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all that
thou doest,” sc., through his service."
7. Ron Daniel, "21:1-6 Bondslaves
God is not establishing, validating, or instituting slavery. These laws that He's
giving are merely regulating the practice, which is already a part of their culture. A
person could end up a slave as a result of poverty, debt, or crime.
ow as we read this section of Exodus, we see that sometimes the slave came to the
conclusion that he had a way better deal in slavery than he did out in the world.
Upon proper consideration, he realized that his master treated him well, was always
fair, and faithfully provided for all of his needs. In that case, being set free from his
master would have been a bad choice - the world's a rough place, you know?
So if he decided to stay,
Exod. 21:6 then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the
door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall
serve him permanently.
And practical as these things are for the Israelites, there are deeper spiritual
connotations for us. The Bible tells us that every human being is a slave to one of
two things: a slave of sin, or a slave to righteousness.
Rom. 6:16-18 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone {as}
slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting
in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that
though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of
teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became
slaves of righteousness.
o wonder we read that many of the writers of the ew Testament said,
Rom. 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus...
Phil. 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus...
Col. 1:7 ...Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant
Col. 4:7 ...Tychicus, {our} beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-
servant in the Lord
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ
2Pet. 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ...
Jude 1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ...
They all proclaimed themselves to be bondservants - willingly committing to serve
their Master for life. Since we're always going to be a slave to something, so let's be
slaves to righteousness, bond-servants of Christ."

7. 8. Dave Guzik, "(2-4) The general law concerning Hebrew slaves (indentured
servants).
a. "The first words of God from Sinai had declared that He was Jehovah Who
brought them out of slavery. And in this remarkable code, the first person whose
rights are dealt with is the slave." (Chadwick).
b. There were four basic ways a Hebrew might become a slave to another Hebrew:
in extreme poverty, they might sell their liberty (Leviticus 25:39); a father might sell
his children into servitude (Exodus 21:7); in the case of bankruptcy, a man might
become servant to his creditors (2 Kings 4:1); if a thief had nothing with which to
pay proper restitution (Exodus 22:3-4).
c. In such cases, the servitude was never obligated to be life-long; the Hebrew
servant would work for six years and then be set free. At the end of the six years, he
only goes out with what he came in with - if the master had provided a wife (and
therefore children), the wife and children had to stay with the master or be
redeemed.
9. Arthur W. Pink, "Exodus 21:1-6
The law of Moses had three grand divisions: the moral the civil, and the ceremonial.
The first is to be found in the Ten Commandments; the second (mainly) in Exodus
21-23; the third (principally) in the book of Leviticus. The first defined God’s claims
upon Israel as human creatures; the second was for the social regulation of the
Hebrew commonwealth; the third respected Israel’s religious life. In the first we
may see the governmental authority of God the Father; in the second, the sphere
and activities of God the Holy Spirit—maintaining order among God’s people: in
the third, we have a series of types concerning God the Son.
" ow these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. If thou buy an
Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for
nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married,
then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she have
borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he
shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my
wife, and my children. I will not go out free: 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 forever" (Ex. 21:1-6).
This passage begins the series of "judgments" or statutes which God gave unto
Israel for the regulation of their social and civil life. Its chief value for us today lies
in its spiritual application to the Lord Jesus Christ. We have here a most beautiful
and blessed foreshadowment of His person and work: Psalm 40:6 compared with
Exodus 21:6 proves this conclusively. In that great Messianic Psalm the Lord Jesus,
speaking in the spirit of prophecy, said, "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not
desire; Mine ears hast Thou digged." The passage before us pertained to the servant

8. or slave. It brings out, in type, the Perfect Servant. Messianic prophecy frequently
viewed Him in this character: "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold" (Isa. 42:1).
"Behold, I will bring forth My Servant, the Branch" (Zech. 3:8). "Behold, My
Servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high"
(Isa. 52:13). "By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many for He
shall bear their iniquities" (Isa. 53:11).
In Philippians 2 we are exhorted, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus" (v. 5). This is enforced as follows: "Who, being in the form of God thought it
not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took
upon Him the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of man: And being
found in fashion as a man He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Marvelous stoop was this: from the place of highest
authority, to that of utmost dependency; from honor and glory, to suffering and
shame. The Maker of heaven and earth entering the place of subjection. The One
before whom the seraphim veiled their faces being made lower than the angels. May
we never lose our sense of wonderment at such amazing condescension; rather may
we delight in reverently contemplating it with ever-deepening awe and adoration.
One whole book in the ew Testament is devoted exclusively to setting before us the
service of the perfect Servant. The design of Mark’s Gospel is to show us how He
served: the spirit which actuated Him, the motives and principles which regulated
Him, the excellency of all that He did. (This has been treated of in our book, "Why
Four Gospels".)
"Lo, I come, to do Thy will, O God" (Heb. 10:9), was His utterance when He took
the Servant form. "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business" (Luke
2:49) are His first recorded words after He came here. "I came down from heaven,
not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me" (John 6:38) summed up
the whole of His perfect life while He tabernacled among men. As the perfect
Servant. He was dependent upon the pleasure of His Master. He "pleased not
Himself" (Rom. 15:3). "I am among you as He that serveth" (Luke 22:27) were His
words to the apostles.
The servanthood of Christ was perfectly voluntary. The passages cited above prove
that. And herein we behold the uniqueness of it. Who naturally chooses to be a
servant? How different from the first Adam! He was given the place of a servant,
but he forsook it. He was required to be in subjection to his Maker, but he revolted.
And what was it that lured him from the place of submission? "Ye shall be as God"
was the appealing lie which caused his downfall. With the Lord Jesus it was the very
reverse. He was "as God." yea. He was God; yet did He make Himself of " o
reputation." He voluntarily laid aside His eternal glory, divested Himself of all the
insignia of Divine majesty, and took the servant form. And when the Tempter
approached Him and sought to induce Him to repudiate His dependency on God,
"make these stones bread," He announced His unfaltering purple to live in
subjection to the Father of spirits. ever for a moment did He deviate from the path
of complete submission to the Father’s will.

9. "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve" (v. 2). The first thing to be
noted here is the service of the servant. His master had a certain definitely defined
claim upon him: "six years he shall serve him." Six is the number of man (Rev.
13:18), therefore what is in view here is the measure of human responsibility what
man owes to his lawful Owner. The Owner of man is God, what, then, does man owe
to his Maker? We answer, unqualified submission, complete subjection, implicit
obedience to His known will. ow the will of God for man is expressed in the Law,
conformity to which is all summed up in the words "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself." This every descendent of
fallen Adam has failed to do. The Law has brought in all the world guilty before
God. (Rom. 3:19).
ow the Lord Jesus came down to this world to honor God in the very place where
He had been universally dishonored. He came here to "magnify the Law and make
it honorable." Therefore was He "made under the Law" (Gal. 4:4). Therefore did
He formally announce, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). God’s Law was
within His heart (Ps. 40:8). In it He meditated day and night (Ps. 1:2). Prom
beginning to end, in thought, word, and deed, He kept the Law. Every demand of
God upon man was fully met by the Perfect Man: every claim of God completely
upheld. Christ is the only man who ever fully discharged human responsibility
Godwards and manwards.
"And in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing" (v. 2). After the Hebrew
servant had served for six years, his master had no further claim upon him. When
the seventh year arrived (which tells of service completed) he was at liberty to go
out, and serve no more. This was also true of the lord Jesus, the anti-type. The time
came in His life when, as Man, He had fulfilled every jot and tittle of human
responsibility, and when the Law had, therefore no further claim upon Him. We
believe that this point was reached when He stood upon the "holy mount," when in
the presence of His disciples He was transfigured, and when there came a voice from
the excellent glory proclaiming Him to be the One in whom the Father delighted
This, we believe, was the Father bearing witness to the fact that Christ was the
faithful "Hebrew Servant." Right then He could (so far as the Law was concerned)
have stepped from that mount to the Throne of Glory, He had perfectly fulfilled
every righteous claim that God had upon man: He had loved the Lord with all His
heart and His neighbor as Himself.
"If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his
wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife. and she have borne
him sons and daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s and he shall
go out by himself" (vv. 3, 4). We shall confine our remarks on these verses to the
anti-type. The lord Jesus had no wife when He entered upon "His service." for
Israel had been divorced (Isa. 50:1). ow although He was entitled by the Law to
"go out free," the same Law required that He should go out alone—"by himself."
This points us to something about which there has been much confusion. There was
no union possible with the Lord Jesus in the perfections of His human life: "Verily,

10. verily, I say unto you, Except a corn a wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone" (John 12:24). othing could be plainer than this. The very perfections of the
Servant of God only served to emphasize the more the distinction between Him and
sinful man. It is only on resurrection-ground that union with Christ is possible, and
for that death must intervene. It was on the resurrection-morning that He, for the
first time, called His disciples "brethren." Does, then, our type fail us here? o,
indeed. These typical pictures were drawn by the Divine Artist, and like Him. they
are perfect. The next two verses bring this out beautifully.
"And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I
will not go free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring
him to the door, or unto the door posts; and his master shall bore his ear through
with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever" (vv. 5, 6). Most blessed is this. It was
love which impelled him to forego the freedom to which He was fully entitled by the
Law—a threefold love: for His Master, his wife, and his children. But mark it well:
"if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master," etc. When was it that the perfect
Servant said this? Clearly it must have been just after the Transfiguration, for as we
have seen, it was then that He had fulfilled every requirement of the Law, and so
could have gone out free. Equally plain is it that we must turn to the fourth Gospel
for the avowal of His love for it is there, as nowhere else, His love is told forth by the
apostle of love. ow in John’s Gospel there is no account of the Transfiguration, but
there is that which closely corresponds to it: John 12 gives us the parallel and the
sequel to Matthew 17. It is here that we find Him saying, "The hour is come that the
Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily: I say unto you, Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone" (John 12:23, 24), and then He
added "But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Mark carefully what follows:
" ow is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save Me from this hour?"
Ah, He answered His own question: "But for this cause came I unto this hour:
Father, glorify Thy name" (vv. 27, 28). "What led Him to say that? Love! Love that
thinks not of self at all; love that places itself entirely at the disposal of the loved
ones. o matter what that terrible ‘hour’ contained, and He knew it all, He would
go through it in His love to His Father and to us" (J. T. Mawson). Love led Him to
undertake a service that the Law did not lay upon Him, a service that involved
suffering (as the "bored" ear intimates) a service which was to last forever.
Every detail in this truly wondrous type calls for separate consideration. "If the
servant shall plainly say, I love my master." This, be it noted, comes before the
avowal of his love for his wife and children. This, of itself, is sufficient to establish
the fact that what we have here must be of more than local application, for when
and where was there ever a servant who put the love of his "master" before that of
his wife and children? Clearly we are obliged to look for someone who is "Fairer
than the children of men." And how perfectly the type answers to the anti-type!
There is no difficulty here when we see that the Holy Spirit had the Lord Jesus in
view. Love to His Father, His "Master;" was ever the controlling motive in the life
of the perfect Servant. His first recorded utterance demonstrated this. Subject to
Mary and Joseph He was as a child, yet even then the claims of His Father’s
"business" were paramount. So too, in John 11, where we read of the sisters of

11. Lazarus (whom He loved) sending Him a message that their brother was sick.
Instead of hastening at once to their side, He "abode two days still in the same place
where He was!" And why, "For the glory of God" (v. 4). It was not the affection of
His human heart, but the will of His Father that moved Him. So, once more, in John
12, when He contemplated that awful ‘hour’ which troubled His soul. He said,
"Father, glorify Thy name." The Father’s glory was His first concern. At once, the
answer came, "I have both glorified (Thee) and will glorify (Thee) again" (v. 28).
What is meant by the "again"? The Father’s name had already been glorified
through the perfect fulfillment of His Law in the life of the Lord Jesus, as well as in
that which was infinitely greater—the revelation of Himself to men. But He would
also glorify Himself in the death and resurrection of His Son, and in the fruits
thereof.
"I love . . . my wife." In the type this was said prospectively. The Lord Jesus is to
have a Bride. The "wife" is here carefully distinguished from His "children." The
"wife," we believe, is redeemed millennial Israel Both the "wife" and the "children"
are the fruit of His death. The two are carefully distinguished again in John 11:
"But being high priest that year, he (Caiaphas) prophesied that Jesus should die for
(1) that nation; and not for that nation only, but that (2) also He should gather
together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad" (vv. 51:52).
Looking forward to the time when Christ shall see of the travail of His soul and be
satisfied, the Holy Spirit says to Israel, "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed:
neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget
the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any
more. For thy Maker is thine Husband: the Lord of hosts is His name; and thy
Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For
the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of
youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment, have I forsaken
thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from
thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the
Lord, thy Redeemer" (Isa. 54:4-8).
"I love . . . My children." Christ’s love was not limited to Israel, even though here.
as ever, it is the Jew first. o; not only was He to die for "that ation" not "this
ation." the then present nation of Israel, but "that" future ation. which shall be
born "at once," (Isa. 66:8), but also He should "gather together in one (family) the
children of God that were scattered abroad." "Children of God" is never applied in
Scripture to Israel. These "children" were to be the fruit of His dying travail.
Blessed is it to hear Him say, "Behold I and the children which God hath given Me"
(Heb. 2:13).
"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"
(v. 6). The boring of the ear marked the entire devotedness of the servant to do His
Master’s wilt. "The door-post was the sign of personal limits: by it the family
entered, and none else had the right. It was not therefore a thing that might pertain
to a stranger, but pre-eminently that which belonged to that household. This too was

12. the reason why it was on the door-post that the blood of the paschal lamb was
sprinkled; it was staving the hand of God. so far as that house was concerned, on the
first-born there, but on no one else. So here" (Mr. W Kelly). Important truth is this.
Christ died not for the human race why should He when half of it was already in
Hell! He died for the Household of God, His "wife" and "children," and for none
(else: John 11:51. 52 proves that cf., also Matthew 1:21: John 10:11; Hebrews 2: 17,
9:28, etc. Significant too is this: when his master took his servant and bored his ear.
So long as he lived that servant carried about in his body the mark of his servitude.
So, too, the Lord Jesus wears forever in His body the marks of the Cross! After He
had risen from the dead, He said to doubting Thomas. "Reach hither thy finger, and
behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into My side" (John
20:27). So, too, in Revelation 5 the Lamb is seen, "as it had been slain" (v. 6).
"And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him
forever" (v. 6). Very wonderful is this in its application to the Antitype. The service
of the Lord Jesus did not terminate when He left this earth. Though He has
ascended on high, He is still ministering to His own. A beautiful picture of this is
found in John 13, though we cannot now discuss it at any length. What is there in
view is a parabolic sample of His work for His people since He returned to the
Father. The opening verse of that chapter supplies the key to what follows: "When
Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the
Father." So, too, in the fourth verse: "He riseth from supper (which spoke of His
death) and laid aside His garments," which is literally what He did when He left the
sepulcher. In John 13, then, from v. 4 onwards, we are on this side of the
resurrection. The washing of the disciples feet tells of Christ’s present work of
maintaining the walk of His own as they pass through this defiling scene. The towel
and the basin speak of the love of the Servant—Savior in ministering to the needs of
His own. Even now that lie has returned to the glory He is still serving us.
"But "he shall serve him forever." Will this be true of the Lord Jesus? It certainly
will. There is a remarkable passage in Luke 12 which brings this out: "Blessed are
those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily I say
unto you that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will
come forth and serve them" (v. 37). Even in the Kingdom He will still serve us. But
how can that be? Our feet will not require washing; we shall no longer have any
need to be met. True, gloriously true. But, if there is no need on our part. there is
love on His. and love ever delights to minister unto its beloved. Surpassingly
wonderful is this: "He will come forth and serve them." How great the
condescension! In the kingdom He will be seated upon the Throne of His Glory,
holding the reigns of government: acknowledged as the King of kings and Lord of
lords; and yet He will delight to minister unto our enjoyment. And too, He will serve
"forever": it will be the eternal activity of Divine love delighting to minister to
others.
Thus in this wondrous type we have shown forth the love of God’s, faithful Servant
ministering to His Master. His wife, and His children, in His life. His death, His
resurrection, and in His kingdom, The character of His service was perfect, denoted

13. by the six years and seventh "go out free." The spring of His service was love, seen
in His declining to go out free. The duration of His service, is "for ever"! The Lord
enable us to heed that searching and needful word, "Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5)."
10. G. A Chadwick, "The first words of God from Sinai had declared that He was
Jehovah Who
brought them out of slavery. And in this remarkable code, the first
person whose rights are dealt with is the slave. We saw that a
denunciation of all slavery would have been premature, and therefore
unwise; but assuredly the germs of emancipation were already planted by
this giving of the foremost place to the rights of the least of all and
the servant of all.
As regards the Hebrew slave, the effect was to reduce his utmost bondage
to a comparatively mild apprenticeship. At the worst he should go free
in the seventh year; and if the year of jubilee intervened, it brought a
still speedier emancipation. If his debt or misconduct had involved a
family in his disgrace, they should also share his emancipation, but if
while in bondage his master had provided for his marriage with a slave,
then his family must await their own appointed period of release. It
followed that if he had contracted a degrading alliance with a foreign
slave, his freedom would inflict upon him the pang of final severance
from his dear ones. He might, indeed, escape this pain, but only by a
deliberate and humiliating act, by formally renouncing before the judges
his liberty, the birthright of his nation (“they are My servants, whom I
brought forth out of Egypt, they shall not be sold as
bondservants”—Lev. xxv. 42), and submitting to have his ear pierced, at
the doorpost of his master’s house, as if, like that, his body were
become his master’s property. It is uncertain, after this decisive step,
whether even the year of jubilee brought him release; and the contrary
seems to be implied in his always bearing about in his body an indelible
and degrading mark. It will be remembered that St. Paul rejoiced to
think that his choice of Christ was practically beyond recall, for the
scars on his body marked the tenacity of his decision (Gal. vi. 17). He
wrote this to Gentiles, and used the Gentile phrase for the branding of
a slave. But beyond question this Hebrew of Hebrews remembered, as he
wrote, that one of his race could incur lifelong subjection only by a
voluntary wound, endured because he loved his master, such as he had
received for love of Jesus.
When the law came to deal with assaults it was impossible to place the
slave upon quite the same level as the freeman. But Moses excelled the
legislators of Greece and Rome, by making an assault or chastisement
which killed him upon the spot as worthy of death as if a freeman had
been slain. It was only the victim who lingered that died comparatively

14. unavenged (20, 21). After all, chastisement was a natural right of the
master, because he owned him (“he is his money”); and it would be hard
to treat an excess of what was permissible, inflicted perhaps under
provocation which made some punishment necessary, on the same lines with
an assault that was entirely lawless. But there was this grave restraint
upon bad temper,—that the loss of any member, and even of the tooth of
a slave, involved his instant manumission. And this carried with it the
principle of moral responsibility for every hurt (26, 27).
It was not quite plain that these enactments extended to the Gentile
slave. But in accordance with the assertion that the whole spirit of the
statutes was elevating, the conclusion arrived at by the later
authorities was the generous one.
When it is added that man-stealing (upon which all our modern systems of
slavery were founded) was a capital offence, without power of
commutation for a fine (xxi. 16), it becomes clear that the advocates of
slavery appeal to Moses against the outraged conscience of humanity
without any shadow of warrant either from the letter or the spirit of
the code."
11. J. Ligon Duncan, "If you have your Bibles I’d invite you to turn with me to
Exodus chapter 21. We’re continuing our study through the Book of the Covenant,
that is that section of Scripture that runs from towards the end of Exodus chapter
20 through Exodus chapter 24. The introduction of the Book of the Covenant we
studied the last time when we looked at Exodus 20, 22-26. It focuses on worship.
ot surprisingly, worship is the first matter dealt with at the conclusion of the
section in Exodus, chapter 20, giving us the Ten Commandments. The Book of the
Covenant is distinct from the ten words. The Book of the Covenant contains
applications of the principles of the Ten Commandments to the specific needs of
Israel as a society at the time, as well as general principles which are universally
applicable to all of life.
The very first word of Exodus 21:1 is actually a conjunction, which shows that
even though the Book of the Covenant is distinct from the Ten Commandments,
though it is a set of statute laws and case laws and category laws, nevertheless it is
intimately connected to what God has revealed in these Ten Commandments. And
so, what we will find in the Book of the Covenant is descriptive and applicatory and
illustrative of how God’s ten words ought to be applied in the daily life of Israel.
The ten words give the fundamental legal principles for Israel as a society. Of
course, they do more than that, but with regard to Israel as a society, the ten words
give the fundamental legal principles.
The covenant code, the Book of the Covenant, applies those principles to specific
social context. The covenant code is made up of negative commands, it’s made up of
case laws, that is, illustrations of how the general principles of the ten words might

15. be applied in a specific situation. It also contains, however, exhortations and
promises. And so it’s not like a typical modern legal code. In a modern legal code
you wouldn’t expect the code to pause and go into a series that recounts the
promises of the government to the people or to go through a series recounting or
exhorting the people to obedience, but that’s exactly what you find in this Book of
the Covenant. And it shows God’s concern that the principles of the ten words
would permeate the way society looked and worked and acted in Israel. So, let’s
turn to God’s Word in Exodus 21, beginning in verse 1.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this Word. It is a strange Word to our ears.
We do not live in a society that operates in these ways and yet we know that You
have meant all of Your Word for our edification. So, edify us tonight from this
Word of Scripture, and help us to apply it in our own daily lives in accordance with
Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ ame we pray. Amen.
How in the world can the study of Old Testament slavery laws be practical for
Christian life today? I mean, beyond arguing about the theoretical rights and
wrongs of slavery, or the values or demerits of reparations and all sorts of
theoretical and abstract discussions that we can get into today, how in the world can
a study of the Old Testament slavery laws help us live the Christian life? Well, I
hope to give you a hint at how they can, and to do that by stressing two or three
things.
In this passage I want you to see first, in verse 1, the ordinances. Then in verses
2 through 6, these laws on Hebrew slaves, and in verses 7 through 11, these laws on
female Hebrew slaves. And as we look at these things, I want us to learn something
about the function of these civil laws. Second, I want you to learn something about
the law of the bondservant in verses 2 through 6, and then, third, I want you to
learn something about how God wants us to care for those who are least in society,
and especially we will see this in verses 7 through 11.
I. Ordinances on slavery.
Let’s begin with verse 1, where we see the ordinances announced. This verse is
the title verse for the rest of the laws in this section. This section of the Book of the
Covenant will run all the way into Chapter 22, and we learn here, in verse 1, that
God’s norms for community life in Israel are derived from the ten words. In other
words, it’s the principles of the ten words which are being put into place in the
community life of Israel, and, we learn here that these norms are meant to be known
by all the people of Israel. ow, that may seem absolutely just intuitive, common
sense, doesn’t even need to be said, but you can see in a moment why that is so
significant.
First of all, let me remind you again that these chapters are known as the Book
of the Covenant. That title we said last time comes from Exodus, Chapter 24, verses
4 and 7, and title itself – The Book of the Covenant – underscores this truth. It
underscores that Israel’s law does not come from man. It does not come from
human convention. It doesn’t come from human tradition. It isn’t derived from

16. social contract. It comes from a divine source. Israel’s law comes from the
transcendent God who enters into covenant with His people. And so we have here
this code of practice called The Book of the Covenant.
This transcendent God is interested in the corporate welfare of His people, and
He’s also interested in community righteousness. He wants a community which acts
according to these eternal principles of justice. And in this Book of the Covenant we
find social rules and we find moral imperatives and ethical injunctions and civil and
criminal laws and ritual prescriptions about worship, and all of these things are
seen to be an expression of God’s will. They are not something Moses is making up,
they’re not just things that have been handed down in the tradition, they derive
from the principles of God’s law as He has set them forth in the Ten
Commandments.
ow, the striking thing about this book is, my friends, that it is written. In
Exodus 24, we’re told that Moses himself writes down these laws. ow, what’s the
big deal about that? In Egypt the law was not written down. Did you know that?
And you know what that meant? It meant that when you showed up before
Pharaoh and you had a complaint, you didn’t know what the law was. Because it
was all up here in Pharaoh’s mind, and you know what that meant? It meant
Pharaoh was law! And it meant there was no possibility of equal justice because
Pharaoh could make it up as he went. It was a classic example of the principle of
Lex Rex, the King is law. That’s not how it was to be in Israel. In Israel, law was
king, God’s law was king, and what did that do? It provided equal justice for the
whole of society. As long as the law is not written down, you don’t know where the
boundaries are. You don’t know what your rights are. You don’t know what you
can do and what you can’t do and an arbitrary despot can rule you. But once the
law is written down and it is pronounced to the people, and you notice in verse 1,
what is Moses explicitly told that he must do? Tell the ordinances to whom…. to all
the people. Suddenly you can have equal justice. What an enormous blessing!
They would have known this. We could miss this, you see. We live in a society
which benefits from these principles, but they did not take this for granted, for they
had been in a land where the law was unwritten.
ow, let me say another thing. There are four parts to this Book of the
Covenant. There is first the section we are in right now which covers civil and
criminal matters. It runs all the way to chapter 22, verse 16. Then, there are
category laws, and derivative laws, which are listed from 22:17, all the way to 23:19.
Then, in chapter 23: 20 to 33, God repeats His promises to the people. And in
chapter 24 the covenant relationship between God and His people is ratified. It’s
confirmed. It’s established. And a covenant ceremony is held in order to confirm it.
ow, let’s look at verse 1, and I’d like you to see 3 parts to verse 1. You notice
the first words: “ ow these are…” This verse is the heading for this entire section
of the Book of the Covenant and “now these are”, which could be read “and these
are” connects the following laws to the Ten Commandments that God has already
given. In other words, Moses is reminding us, even by the language there, that these

17. laws are the application of God’s ten words.
Secondly, look at the next phrase: “ ow these are the ordinances” or the next
word or description – the ordinances are called mishpatim or judicial rulings. They
are legal enactments in general. They are authoritative standards for conduct.
Third, look at verse 1 at the end, “which you are to set before them.”
Knowledge of the law is for all the people, it’s not just for a group of scholarly
specialists, it’s not just for the judges, certainly it’s not just for those who are
highest in the echelon of Israel’s ruling class. It is for all the people. And we see
even in this introductory title phrase that God wants to see His righteousness and
His standards reflected in the whole of the society of Israel. He wants to see the
community, the society, reflecting these eternal principles of rightness and of justice
which He has set forth in the Ten Commandments. That’s the first thing we see
when we look at this passage tonight.
II. Laws for Hebrew slaves.
Secondly, however, I’d like you to look at verses 2 through 6. These are the laws
on the Hebrew slaves. ow, before we get into this passage we need to pause and say
just a couple of things. There have been varying approaches to understanding what
the Bible says on slavery over the years. And let me give you a short synopsis of
those different views.
It seems to me there have been at least three approaches to the Bible on slavery.
One says that the Bible allows or justifies or even sanctions slavery. And you can
find both Christians arguing that and liking it, and non-Christians arguing that and
not liking it. In other words, you’ll find Christians saying, “Well, the Bible allows
for it, sanctions slavery, and that’s a good thing.” Or you can find non-Christians
saying, “Yes, the Bible allows or sanctions slavery and that shows that the Bible is
sub-standard, immoral and outmoded and it’s not God’s Word.” So, that’s one
approach, the Bible allows for it, sanctions slavery.
The second approach comes to the Bible and says “ o, the Bible deplores slavery
and in fact, the Bible abolishes slavery.” And again, usually that view comes from
Christians. Christians amongst the evangelicals in Britain two centuries ago, when
William Wilberforce and the various members of the Clapham sect began to argue
against slavery in the British Empire. They went to the Bible and they attempted to
argue from the Bible that the Bible deplores slavery and actually works toward the
abolition of slavery.
Then, there’s been a third approach. And this approach basically says that the
Bible is irrelevant on this issue or that the Bible is outmoded on this issue and we
need to move past the Bible on this matter and move forward into our higher
modern sense of right and wrong. And believe it or not, you can find both
Christians, or at least those who claim to be Christians, and non-Christians arguing
that. Interestingly enough, in the United States in the 19th Century, many in the
abolition movement took that position about the Bible, that the Bible was outmoded

18. and we needed to move beyond these rudimentary and old-fashioned and irrelevant
commands and come to a higher consciousness. On the other hand, you can find
non-Christians saying this again as a charge against the Bible in order to reject it.
ow, that’s one thing I wanted to say. There are lots of different views on what the
Bible says about slavery.
The second thing I want to say before we look at these passages is to remind you
of the difference between the kind of slavery that is mentioned in the Bible in this
specific passage, and the kind of slavery that existed in ancient near-eastern
cultures, and the kind of slavery which existed in ante-bellum America and through
the African slave trade. We need to be very careful about how we draw parallels
between those two things.
The point that I want you to see in verses 2 through 6, and this may surprise you
after having heard these things read out loud, but the point that I want to drive
home is that these laws show irrefutably that God is concerned for the rights and
the well-being of the very least in society. Isn’t it mind boggling, my friends, isn’t it
mind boggling that the very first thing dealt with in the Book of the Covenant after
worship is the rights of slaves. ow think about that for a minute. Israel was a
nation of slaves or, to be more accurate, a nation of freed slaves. The Ten
Commandments were introduced with a word from God which said, what? “I’m
the God who brought you out of slavery.” ow think about that for a minute. God
never wanted Israel to forget that she was a nation of slaves and that He brought
her out of that. And, He never wanted Israel to forget His mercy to slaves in the
way they treated slaves. That’s one thing I want you to see.
But, in addition to that I want to tell you this: you can look at all the near-
Eastern law codes and you will not find one that starts with laws protecting the
rights of slaves, except the code that God wrote. ow we are told in this passage
that God gave this code to Moses. Moses wrote it down but God gave this code to
Moses.
The only law code in the ancient world that started with the rights of slaves was
Israel’s. If you look at the code of Hammurabi, and some of you have heard of
Hammurabi’s Code, which contains 282 sections. Guess when the Code of
Hammurabi gets to its corresponding treatment on slaves? Section 278-282. Right at
the bottom of the list. And then when he gets there the laws aren’t nearly as
protective of the slaves’ rights and interests. But God starts with the rights of
slaves. God did not want His people to forget His mercy to slaves in the way they
treated slaves."
ow, you may say to me, why didn’t God just abolish slavery in Israel? And
here’s the answer: I don’t know. And you know what? You don’t either! And if
somebody tells you that they know, they don’t, because God didn’t tell us. But I can
tell you this: Jesus does tell us that some of Moses’ legislation was concessionary.
One of the places He tells you that has to do with Moses’ divorce law. And I can
make an argument from the passage we’re going to study tonight that we can see

19. concessionary examples in this code. So, it may be that God in His love and in His
mercy acts here, by treating these things, not putting His stamp of approval on this
social arrangement, but by way of concession doing that which was good for His
people in their particular circumstance.
By the way, this points up several major problems with the view that we are
simply supposed to take these laws and then bring them into our society and apply
them as God’s universal norms for social justice and righteousness. Such a view
does not realize the uniqueness of the Decalogue. The Decalogue is utterly unique
and it’s distinct in its permanence and in its universality from the covenant code.
We’ve already seen one of the covenant codes that’s changed – the code on the altar
– originally there could be many altars. Eventually, in Deuteronomy, there’s one
altar. In this passage tonight we’ve already seen a law that will be changed. What’s
the first word in the word of the laws in verse 2? It’s about Hebrew slaves. By the
time you get to Deuteronomy, you’re not supposed to have Hebrew slaves.
So, the law even within the law, is changing in the covenant code. Ten
Commandments aren’t changing. You don’t find a revision of the Ten
Commandments. You don’t get to Isaiah’s time and “Oh yeah, by the way, we’re
down to 8 commandments now.” The Ten Commandments are still in place. You
don’t get to Paul’s time in 1 Timothy, chapter 1, and find ‘no more Ten
Commandments.’ They are still there, the Ten Commandments are universal,
unchanging. The covenant code changes.
Secondly, the view that we’re supposed to just take these codes and plop them
down in our society doesn’t appreciate the changes and developments within the law
of Moses’. We’ve just mentioned even within this law there are changes. In Moses
time, children of Israel are in the wilderness now. When they get into the land, all
sorts of new laws pop up. And certain old laws are changed.
Thirdly, this view that we’re just supposed to take these over into our time
doesn’t appreciate the concessionary nature of some of this legislation, which God is
doing by ways of constraining sin without necessarily condoning some of the things
He’s constraining. He’s going to deal with laws, for instance, in just a few verses, on
how to deal with murderers and manslaughters. That doesn’t mean He condones
murder and manslaughter. But He is going to put in places things which are
designed to mitigate some of the worst excesses which come out of such behavior.
Fourth, such a view that we take this law into our society and plop it down
doesn’t appreciate that God can appoint something for one time and not mean it for
all times, as He clearly does with the very first law about Hebrew slaves in verse 2,
which is changed by the time we get to Deuteronomy. ow, look at me, I’ve got two
minutes to finish this thing.
Let me zero in on the slave law here. Israel, we’ve already said, was a nation of
slaves. But there is no evidence that slavery was ever of major economic importance
in Israel, as it had been in Egypt. In Egypt you had a huge slave class, and having

20. those slaves was important to the economics of the society as it was to the American
South. Apparently there was never a significant slave economy in Israel, which
makes it all the more striking that God would start with laws on slaves. Why?
Because He’s concerned about the least in society. He’s concerned about a social
and legal standing for the ultimate dispossessed group. ow, there are many ways
that you could have become a Hebrew slave. You could have become a Hebrew
slave through committing a crime. If you stole and couldn’t pay it back with
restitution, guess what? The judge could sentence you to indentured servitude.
Poverty could lead you into slavery. Insolvency could lead you into slavery. There
were about eleven ways that a Hebrew could have gotten into slavery at this
particular time. But whatever the case, it’s obviously tragic when someone finds
himself in this circumstance, and yet, notice that all of the laws except one, all of the
laws that are mentioned from verses 2 to 11, protect who? The master? o. The
slave! All of these slave laws are about the slave. They’re not about protecting the
master’s right. This is mind-boggling. By the way, that in and of itself reminds you
how incomplete this code is. If you’re looking for a complete code that’s going to
cover every circumstance, you don’t find it here. What you find is illustrations on
how the Word of God in the Ten Commandments might look as applied to a specific
situation in society. Look, you get past verse 11, guess how many more slave laws
there are in the Book of Exodus. Zippo! one. This is the slave code. It clearly
shows you that this is not everything that could be said about righteousness
regarding slaves. This is a divinely provided illustration of how the principles of the
Ten Commandments are to be applied in society. That’s another rabbit trail that I
can’t go down now.
otice in verse 2, how is the slave protected? First of all, he can’t be kept
beyond the duration of any more than 6 years, because every 7th year Jubilee,
whenever along the way that you’ve been taken as a slave, you’ve got to be set free.
ot only do you have to be set free, but your master cannot require you to pay a
redemption price to him. You go free - free! Your master cannot say, “We’ll,
you’ve been a laborer for me, it’s going to cost me for you to leave as a laborer, you
need to pay me compensation.” o, the slave, every six years, goes free - free!
In verse 3, if he came single, he left single. But if he came married, even though
the master had had the responsibility for caring for your wife and children while
you served him, he went with wife and children. Again, it protects the slave’s right.
The 4th verse shows you something of the concessionary nature of this
legislation. We’re told here that if the master had given him a wife (and what this is
referring to is the common near-eastern practice of a master giving a wife to a slave
for the purpose of siring house-bred servants), and we’re told here that if that is the
case then the master gets to keep his wife and children. This is a concubine
relationship, really. By the way, this is the only piece of legislation protecting the
master’s rights listed in the whole section. Even then, immediately we’re told the
man can remain in servitude and keep his family, or, later on we’ll find out, he can
pay a redemption price and bring them out with him. So, there are other ways in
which the family can be kept together.

21. In verse 5, we have a backdrop to the bond-slave law. Here the man, if he is
loyal to his master and to his family, can pledge himself into public service of the
master. The vow has to be made in public, and it has to be made at the sanctuary
before God, and he then becomes the master’s servant for life. This is the
background for the ew Testament language of bondservant. Remember how often
Paul calls himself a bondservant, a permanent servant of Jesus Christ. This is
where it comes from, right here. Here is the bondservant law. And what does Jesus
continue to stress in His teaching to us about His role? What is He? He’s God’s
bondservant for our sakes. “I came not to be served,” He said, “but to serve.” “It is
my meat to do the will of Him who sent Me.” Jesus emphasizes that He is God’s
bond-slave for our sakes.
Our time is up, but I want to emphasize this: it is very clear from this slave law
that God is concerned for the rights and the well-being of the very least in society
and so should we. We should be concerned for the rights, for the welfare, for the
justice of those who are the very least able to protect themselves. That’s one of the
great moral, universal principles that comes out of this passage on Old Testament
Hebrew slaves. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, give us a generous heart towards those who are weakest and
least and over-looked and taken advantage of. And remind us again of how Your
Dear Son, Your Only Begotten Son, the Lord of Glory, became a bond-slave for our
sakes. And then teach us His mercy. In Jesus’ ame. Amen.
3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he
has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him.
1. Barnes, "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.
2. Clarke, "If he came in by himself - If he and his wife came in together, they were
to go out together: in all respects as he entered, so should he go out. This
consideration seems to have induced St. Jerome to translate the passage thus: Cum
quali veste intraverat, cum tali exeat. “He shall have the same coat in going out, as he
had when he came in,” i.e., if he came in with a new one, he shall go out with a new

22. one, which was perfectly just, as the former coat must have been worn out in his
master’s service, and not his own.
3. Gill, "If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself,.... That is, if he came
into his servitude "alone", as the Septuagint version has it, he should go out of it in
like manner; the word for "by himself", some interpret with "his garment" (f), or
the skirt of one; and then the sense seems to be, that as he was clothed when he was
sold, so he should be when made free: but rather the phrase literally is "with his
body" (g); not his naked body, or as destitute of raiment, and the necessaries of life;
for, as before observed, his master was to furnish him liberally with good things:
but the plain meaning is, that if he was a single or unmarried man when he entered
his master's service, he should go out, so; or as a Jewish writer (h) expresses it, as if
he should say, with his body, without another body with him, who is his wife, as
appears by what follows; unless his master should give him a wife while in his
service, which is supposed in the next verse, and even then he was to go out alone, if
he chose to go out at all; though Jarchi says, if he was not married at first, his
master might not give him a Canaanitish woman to beget slaves of her:
if he were married, then his wife shall go with him; that is, if he had a wife, a
daughter of Israel, as the Targum of Jonathan; or an Israelitish woman, as Jarchi,
and had her at his coming; for otherwise, if it was one his master after gave him, she
might not go out, as appears by the following verse; but being his wife before his
servitude, and an Israelitish woman, was not the master's bondmaid, nor bought
with his money, and therefore might go out free with her husband.
4. K&D, "There were three different circumstances possible, under which
emancipation might take place. The servant might have been unmarried and
continued so (‫ֹו‬ ‫ַפּ‬‫ג‬ְ‫בּ‬: with his body, i.e., alone, single): in that case, of course, there was
no one else to set at liberty. Or he might have brought a wife with him; and in that
case his wife was to be set at liberty as well. Or his master might have given him a
wife in his bondage, and she might have borne him children: in that case the wife
and children were to continue the property of the master. This may appear
oppressive, but it was an equitable consequence of the possession of property in
slaves at all. At the same time, in order to modify the harshness of such a separation
of husband and wife, the option was given to the servant to remain in his master's
service, provided he was willing to renounce his liberty for ever (Exo_21:5, Exo_
21:6). This would very likely be the case as a general rule; for there were various
legal arrangements, which are mentioned in other places, by which the lot of
Hebrew slaves was greatly softened and placed almost on an equality with that of
hired labourers (cf. Exo_23:12; Lev_25:6, Lev_25:39, Lev_25:43, Lev_25:53; Deu_
12:18; Deu_16:11). In this case the master was to take his servant ‫ִים‬‫ה‬‫ֹל‬ֱ‫ָא‬‫ה‬ ‫ל‬ֶ‫,א‬ lit., to
God, i.e., according to the correct rendering of the lxx, πρὸς τὸ κριτήριον, to the
place where judgment was given in the name of God (Deu_1:17; cf. Exo_22:7-8, and
Deu_19:17), in order that he might make a declaration there that he gave up his
liberty. His ear was then to be bored with an awl against the door or lintel of the
house, and by this sign, which was customary in many of the nations of antiquity, to

23. be fastened as it were to the house for ever. That this was the meaning of the
piercing of the ear against the door of the house, is evident from the unusual
expression in Deu_15:17, “and put (the awl) into his ear and into the door, that he
may be thy servant for ever,” where the ear and the door are co-ordinates. “For
ever,” i.e., as long as he lives. Josephus and the Rabbins would restrict the service to
the time ending with the year of jubilee, but without sufficient reason, and contrary
to the usage of the language, as ‫ָם‬‫ל‬ֹ ‫ְע‬‫ל‬ is used in Lev_25:46 to denote service which
did not terminate with the year of jubilee. (See the remarks on Lev_25:10; also my
Archäologie.)
4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him
sons or daughters, the woman and her children
shall belong to her master, and only the man shall
go free.
1. Clarke, "The wife and her children shall be her master’s - It was a law among the
Hebrews, that if a Hebrew had children by a Canannitish woman, those children
must be considered as Canaanitish only, and might be sold and bought, and serve
for ever. The law here refers to such a case only.
2. Gill, "If his master have given him a wife,.... One of his slaves, a Canaanitish
woman, on purpose to beget slaves on her, since all born in his house were his own;
this is supposed to be after he was come into his house, and into his service:
and she have born him sons or daughters; as she might have born him several of the
one sort, or the other, if she was given to him quickly after his servitude began:
the wife and her children shall be her master's: she being his slave, and bought with
his money, he had a right unto her, and to the children belonging to her, the birth
following the belly; and being born in his house, they were also his. Jarchi here
observes, that the Scripture speaks of a Canaanitish woman, for an Hebrew woman
went out at the sixth year, and even before the sixth, if she produced the signs, that
is, of puberty:

24. and he shall go out by himself; without his wife and children: if it be objected to this
law, that it is contrary to the law of marriage, which is indissoluble, but by this
dissolved; it may be replied, that the servant was not obliged by it to leave his wife,
unless he chose it; on complying with certain conditions after mentioned, he might
continue with her; besides, she was, according to Jarchi, but his secondary wife, and
not only so, the marriage was not lawful, being with a Canaanitish woman, and not
agreeable to the Lord; and being also her master's slave, to whom he had a right, he
could retain her if he pleased, having only given her to his servant to beget slaves on
for him.
3. 21:3-4Three cases are given: an unattached worker, a married worker and a
single worker whois given a wife by his employer and who has children during his
work tenure. The reason forthese particular rules is to protect the rights of both the
worker and the employer. Only the thirdcase is complex. In this case, the employer
had a female servant that was part of his family obligation;that is, the woman did
not have her own family to negotiate the marriage (all marriageswhere arranged).
The woman and her children where not obligated to her employer for life, justfor
the duration of the work tenure. So, the husband had three options: leave and wait
for hiswife’s tenure to be completed, buy out his wife’s obligations or voluntarily
become a permanent employee. (Stuart, Exodus, 479).
4. Exodus 21:4 is one of those scriptures that are very difficult to deal with. It
appears to be a very cruel law when looked at in view of our modern culture and
understanding of slavery. This is also one of the verses that the agnostics and
atheists use to attack Christianity and Judaism and on the surface it would seem
that they have a legitimate point. Many believers have found in their walk with God
that to see Him in a good light we must look through the eyes of faith in His
character and when they have done this, many times hard to understand things
began to make more sense in the light of God’s love and revelation.
The bible is a very unique book inspired by the very Awesome and eternal God who
is known to continually be testing the hearts of men. God literally hides himself
behind darkness throughout the Old Testament and yet the beloved Apostle John
tells us in John 1:5 that the message Jesus brought to the world was that in God
there is no darkness. Could it be that God has put such verses as Exodus 21:4 in the
scriptures to test the hearts of men with its appearance?
If we take a closer look at the context surrounding this unusual portion of scripture
we will find that it comes directly after the giving of the ten commandments. The
last six of those commandments had to do with treating other people with love,
respect and honor. After Moses delivers these commandments he begins to expound
on how to carry them out. In Exodus 21 Moses is actually dealing with how to love
people and treat them right. In context God was teaching them through Moses that
they should not enslave their neighbors for life against their will but should make
provisions for them to be set free after a period of six years of service to them.
If we read the rest of this chapter we see that Hebrew women could be sold to be

25. wives of Hebrew men but we do not see them being sold just to be servants of other
Hebrew men. We can conclude by this and the historical culture that the female
slaves that were given to the Hebrew male slaves were in all likelihood foreign
women who had attached themselves to the Hebrews for one reason or another as
bond servants. These ladies could be the descendants of servants all the way back to
Abraham’s day or they could have been the spoils of past conflicts before the
Hebrews ever ended up in bondage in Egypt. These female slaves lives were possibly
spared, preserved or even rescued by the Hebrews and they were bond servants for
life.
If a master was to give a foreign female slave to a Hebrew male slave for the purpose
of producing offspring for the master or as a blessing to the Hebrew male slave so he
could have the pleasures of a woman while in bondage then the Hebrew male slave
had to understand that the foreign female slave and the children that came from her
still belonged to his temporary master. It does not insinuate that the Hebrew male
slave had to take a wife from his master while in bondage only that he could if the
master offered it to him. In some cases the Hebrew male slave would fall in love with
his temporary foreign mate and he would also love his master and he would decide
to stay with them forever. This was not an easy decision to be made and there was
clearly a very painful procedure to make it final.
We also need to remember that slaves could almost always be bought, sold or
redeemed and the Hebrew male slave, upon his release, could set out to procure the
freedom of his wife and children if he loved them but did not desire to stay a slave.
It is noteworthy to mention as well that generations earlier Abraham had been
worried that his servant was the only one to inherit his estate because he had no
sons. We see that lifetime bond servants were at least sometimes like family
members in many ways. It appears that the “slavery” that was practiced among the
Hebrews was nothing like the slavery our modern culture is familiar with. God
never allowed the kidnapping of people or stealing from anyone at anytime in the
scriptures. He also did not approve of cruelty and mistreatment. The slave trade we
are familiar with today is one of vulgar immorality, cruelty, covetousness and
wickedness. God never approved of such in any way.
CommentaryBy Jeff Hemley
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master
and my wife and children and do not want to go
free,’

26. 1. Gill, "And if the servant shall plainly say,.... Or, "in saying shall say" (i) shall
express himself in plain and full terms, and repeat his words, and abide by them,
signifying it as his last will and determined resolution:
I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I will not go out free; but continue
in his servitude, having a great affection for his master, and that he might enjoy his
wife and children he dearly loved; and being animated with such a principle, his
servitude was a pleasure to him: and when our obedience to God springs from love
to him, and to his cause and interest, which should be as dear to us as our families, it
is then acceptable to God and delightful to ourselves; in Deu_15:16,
it is, because he loveth thee, and thine house, because he is well with thee; hence the
Jewish writers say (k), understanding by "house" a family, if a servant has a wife
and children and his master not, his ear is not to be bored; and if his master has a
wife and children and he has not, his ear is not to be bored; if he loves his master
and his master do not love him, or his master loves him and he do not love his
master, or if he is sick, &c. his ear is not to be bored.
2. Dave Guzik, "(5-6) The bond-slave: a willing slave for life.
a. If, after the six years of servitude, a servant wished to make a life-long
commitment to his master - in light of the master's goodness and his blessings for
the servant - he could, through this ceremony, make a life-long commitment to his
master.
i. This was a commitment not motivated by debt or obligation, only love for the
master.
b. In the ceremony, the servant's ear would be pierced - opened - with an awl, in the
presence of witnesses - then, he shall serve him for ever.
i. Psalms 40:6 speaks of this ceremony taking place between the Father and the Son,
where the Psalmist speaks prophetically for the Messiah: Sacrifice and offering You
did not desire; my ears You have opened. Jesus was a perfect bond-slave to the
Father (Philippians 2:7).
c. Jesus gave us the right to be called friends instead of servants (John 15:15); yet
the writers of the ew Testament found plenty of glory in simply being considered
bondservants of Jesus (Romans 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1:1).
i. Pagans had a custom of branding the slave with the name or the sign of the owner;
Paul refers to himself as just such a slave in Galatians 6:17: From now on, let no one
trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Paul was a slave for
life to Jesus!

27. 3. Henry Law, ""But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and
my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him
before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear
with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever." Exodus 21:5-6
As in nature's field, so in Israel's story, almost every object reflects Christ. Happy
the hand which holds a key to open the rich treasure's door! Happy the soul which
learns the art of feasting at the hallowed table! To see Christ now by faith is heaven
begun. To see Christ soon in glory will be heaven complete.
The narrative before us seems at first glance to tell but a simple incident of domestic
life. A Hebrew slave is the subject of the story. His period of servitude is past. All
claims have therefore ceased. He has now the option to breathe freedom's air. But
freedom has no charms for him. Attachment binds him to his master's home. His
dearest joys are there. His hearty language is, 'I love my master, my wife, and my
children. I would rather not go free.' A new ordinance is appointed to sanctify this
willing offer of perpetual service. The judges must bear witness. An inflicted wound
must also be a visible and enduring seal: 'Then his master must take him to the door
and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his
master forever.' Willing consent is thus proclaimed. The testifying brand is fixed.
And a beloved work, while life shall last, is grasped by self-devoting hands.
It may perhaps come as a new thought to some, that in this servant's choice, and in
this constant love, Jesus reveals Himself. But doubts are worse than folly, when the
Spirit speaks from His high seat. Read, then, the 40th Psalm. There faith ascends in
heaven-high flight. It hears the eternal Son in close communion with the eternal
Father. It catches these wondrous notes. 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire
but my ears you have pierced.' Jesus announces the amazing fact. Father, My ears
are pierced by Your hand.
Here is a grand truth. Read it, O sons of men. Read it, my soul. Hell sees it and turns
pale. Heaven sees it and resounds with praise. These words state at once, that Jesus
becomes man. They speak of 'ears.' one can have these, except they wear the
garments of our flesh. We have the Spirit's comment. He writes in after pages, as a
co-equal clause, 'a body You have prepared Me.'
But more than this is taught. The ears are 'pierced.' Here a clear finger points to the
Willing Servant's pledge. We see the God-man stooping to the lowest grade. He
seeks a servant's office, and a servant's toil. Jehovah's Fellow is Jehovah's workman
in the labor-field of grace. For God to take us into heaven, and on the throne of
worlds, would be grace beyond all thought. But for God to become man in lowest
bonds of servitude, is grace which none but Jesus' heart can know.
We have, then, in this abject state, a speaking portrait of Christ's love. This image is
the sweetest fountain of His people's peace. It is the deepest mystery set forth in

28. simplest terms. Hence Scripture, laboring to reveal the Lord, presents the Servant's
motif in repeated terms. The Father's voice announces, 'Behold My Servant, whom I
uphold.' And again, 'Behold I will bring forth My Servant the Branch.' Jesus
meekly adds, 'I am among you as he that serves.' The Spirit echoes, 'Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God—but made Himself of
no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a Servant.' He is a servant, whose
time and toil are not his own. Strong obligations bind Him to execute another's will.
Reader! come now and mark THE SERVICE to which God calls His Son. It is to
build the fabric of salvation. What strength, what zeal, what might, what wisdom,
what patience, what endurance, what self-sacrifice, are needed! Survey the
hindrances. In depth they reach to hell. In height they mount to heaven. Their
breadth and length extend illimitable arms. A countless multitude of immortal
beings lie in the vile quarry of vile sin. They must be rescued from this misery's cell.
They must be made fit with all-beauteous grace. Each soul is black with stains more
countless than the ocean's sands. These stains must disappear. Each owes a debt of
infinite amount. This must be cancelled. Each is most justly sentenced to eternal
woe. This sum of wrath must be endured. Each is weighed down beneath the Law's
stern curse. This burden must be borne away. Satan has riveted his iron chains
around each. These fetters must be broken off. The walls of his dark prison-house
enclose them. The mighty barrier must be leveled. They are all loathsome in most
filthy rags. White clothing must be wrought for them. In each the nature is
estranged from God. This must be changed in every pulse and every feeling. A new
heart must be implanted. Old things must pass away. Grace must commence its
new-born reign. They are as scattered outcasts in a wide world's wilderness. All
must be brought to hear one Shepherd's voice, and feed in one most holy fold. All
must be set before the Father's throne, clear of all guilt, free from all charge, as pure
as God, as blameless as heaven, as bright as eternal day.
Such is Jehovah's gracious will. ot all the hosts of angels or of men can render aid.
Deity's whole might is needed to subserve this cause. There is a train, also, of
revealing types. They must be accurately answered. There is a volume of prophetic
promise. All must be fulfilled. There is a fearful catalogue of righteous threatenings.
All must be executed. Each holy attribute presents strong claims. Each must be fully
satisfied. God would be cast down, His empire would be a broken reed, His
sovereignty would be a shadow's shade, unless justice remains just, and truth
continues true, and holiness shines forth inviolate. It is no easy task to render these
attributes their due honor. But such is the service which must be performed.
O my soul, rejoice, be glad, give thanks, shout praises; a willing Servant undertakes
to do it! O my soul, rejoice, be glad, give thanks, shout praises, while you draw
nearer and behold the fulfillment. The time to work arrives. Will Jesus now draw
back? It cannot be. 'Lo, I come,' is still the language of His willing heart. He must,
then, stoop to put on human flesh. He must be one in lowly nature with our race. He
shrinks not. He lies a babe of Adam's stock. He takes our kinsman's place. He, for
whom heaven is no worthy home, is cradled, as the lowest child of earth. Jehovah's
service, man's redemption, demands descent to depths thus low. Salvation's Servant

29. must go slowly on through every stage of suffering life. Be it so. It is His food and
drink to do His Father's will. We find not one reluctant pause. He dwells unknown
in a despised town. He toils, as workman, with a workman's tools. Each cup of
degradation is wrung out. The final scene, the bitterest effort, comes. Will Jesus
flinch? He hastens forward to meet all.
Go with Him to the garden of woe. There torturing agonies collect, which human
thought is far too weak to grasp. The sufferer stands laden with His people's guilt.
He is not spared. Wrath rushes down with outpouring fury. He meekly bows before
the just infliction. The Willing Servant pays the whole debt, bears the whole curse,
receives each crushing load, exhausts each vial of wrath. All heaven hears the voice,
'I have glorified You on the earth—I have finished the work which You gave Me to
do.'
And now the cross is upraised. The scaffold stands. Will Jesus hesitate? He is the
Willing Servant to the end. Man's bitter hate drives in the nails. Hell makes its
direct assault. The Father hides His smile. All earth, all heaven, desert Him. But
Jesus willingly serves on, until the mightiest of all mighty words sounds forth, 'It is
finished.' Yes! Salvation is accomplished! Redemption is secured! Each type is
answered! Every payment is paid! Each penalty is thoroughly endured! The curse is
drained! Satan is vanquished! Hell's borders are broken down! His people are all
free! The Father's will is done, the holy service is performed, Jehovah's Servant has
acted out the glorious work! 'It is finished!'
O my soul, you may indeed stand fearless on the rock of this completed service. The
work is done, is fully done, is done forever. The heavens again receive Him. The
Servant enters with a Victor's crown. There He still serves. Salvation's building
consists of countless stones. All must be found, and fitly framed together. They lie on
many a mountain's brow, in many a hidden valley, on many a distant plain. Each is
a precious soul. Each must abhor the loathsomeness of self, and rejoice in Jesus's
blood, and cling with sincere faith to His saving arms.
By day, by night, without one moment's pause, Jesus pursues the work of winning
souls. He sends His Spirit on the wings of love. He calls and qualifies ministering
pastors. At His command they raise the beacon of the cross. Devoted missionaries
break all endearing ties, and seek the outcasts beneath tropic suns, in ice-clad rocks,
and amid tribes which Satan holds in death-cold bonds. Thus Christ still serves the
purposes of grace. A mighty voice cries, Come! And all who are ordained to life
obey. Onward the healing waves will roll until the blessed company is complete.
Then comes the end. The glorious plan is gloriously finished. The kingdom is
delivered to the Father. The Willing Servant shows the collected mass all gathered
in, all saved. ot one is lost. ot one is absent. Each member of the mystic body fills
its place.
Reader! at that day where will be your place? Oh! pause. Put not the question away
from you. Perhaps you sigh, I would like to be numbered with the saved, but how
can I have hope? Tell me. Where is your fear? Is it lest the tremendous billows of

30. your sins should swell above His willingness to save? If all the guilt of all the lost
multiplied and magnified beyond all power to count or measure, weighed heavily
upon your conscience, still venture to His feet. The willing Jesus will not cast you
out. His heart, His love, His zeal, His pity, His bleeding wounds, His undertaken
office, all forbid it. Let not His acts on earth, let not His voice from heaven, be in
vain.
Did misery ever seek relief from Him, and not receive more than a ready welcome?
Fly forth in spirit to the bright saints in light. The testimony from each rejoicing
heart is one. They all give glory to a willing Jesus. With united voice they tell, that
when they cast their ruined souls upon Him, He tenderly embraced, and sweetly
cheered, and fully pardoned, and entirely saved. Hear now His voice. Throughout
the Bible, and from faithful lips, it still is sounding—Will you? Will you be made
whole?
Be persuaded then. Tarry not. Let this accepted moment find you a willing
suppliant at a willing Savior's cross. one ever perished because Christ would not
hear. one ever fell into the burning lake because He turned from the beseeching
cry.
But stay, there is another word. It seals perdition on all who stand apart. Take heed,
lest it enclose you in its hopeless doom. 'You will not come to me, that you might
have life.'
6. McGhee, "This remarkable law states that if a man is a slave, after seven years he can go free. If
he
was married when he became a slave, he can take his wife with him. If he married while a
slave, that is, if he married a woman who was already a slave of his master, at the end of
seven years he could go free, but his wife would still belong to the master. He could,
however, if he loved his wife and master, decide to stay on his own free will. If he
decides to stay, his master is to bore his earlobe through with an awl signifying that he
will serve his master forever.
This is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to this earth and took upon
Himself our humanity. And we were all slaves of sin. He could have gone out free. He
could have returned to heaven, to His position in the Godhead, without going through the
doorway of death. He did not have to die upon the Cross. But He willingly came down to
earth and took upon Himself our humanity. "And being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" ( Phil.
2i8).
Psalm 40:6-8 goes on to say, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast
thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I
come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God:
yea, thy law is within my heart." This passage refers to Christ, because Hebrews 10:5-9
tells us that it does. It was fulfilled when our Lord came to this earth. "Wherefore when
he cometh into the world [speaking of Christ], he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me [it was not only his ear that was "digged,"
or bored through with an awl, but God gave Him a body which He will have throughout
eternity]: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I,
Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God. Above
when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou

31. wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the
second." Christ was "made like unto His brethren." He chose not to go out free without
us. He could have left this earth without dying, but He said, "I love My Bride. I love the
sinner." So He became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross so that He could
redeem us from the slavery of sin. What a picture this is of Christ — placed right here
after the giving of the Ten Commandments.
7. Edward Dennett, " We have in this Hebrew servant a beautiful and ex-
pressive type of Christ. The point to be observed is, that
having served six years, he should "go out free for
nothing." But if his master should have given him a
wife during the time of his servitude, and sons and
daughters were born to him, then his wife and children
should belong to his master, but he should go out by him-
self ; and the only way by which he could retain his wife
and family was by becoming a servant for ever. The
typical application of this to Christ is most interesting.
He took the form of a servant (Phil, ii) ; He came to do
God's will (Heb. x.) ; not to do His own will, but the will
of Him that sent Him. (John vi. 38.) He served perfectly
His full allotted period, and might therefore have gone out
free. As He said to Peter, " Thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give Me
more than twelve legions of angels ? But how then
shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"
(Matt. xxvi. 53, 54.) There was no necessity, as far as
He was concerned, that He shotild go to the cross ; no
necessity whatever, excepting from the constraint of His
own heart, and from His desire to accomplish the glory
of God, and to obtain His bride, the pearl of great price.
Why, then, did He permit Himself to be nailed to that
shameful cross? to be led as a lamb to the slaughter?
He was free before God and man. one could convince
Him of sin. He stood absolutely free; and hence we
ask again. Why did He "not go out free"? Because,
we reply. He loved His Master, His wife, and His chil-
dren, and therefore would become a servant for ever.
His "Master" had the supreme place in His soul, and
He burned with a holy desire to glorify Him on the
earth, and to finish the work which He gave Him to
do ; He loved His wife — ^the Church — and gave Himself
for it ; and He was bound by the same ties of immutable
aflfection to His children — His own, considered individually
— and therefore He would not go out free, but presented
Himself to His Master that He might serve Him for ever.
His ear was thus bored — sign of service (compare Ps. xL

32. 6 with Heb. x. 5) — in token of His abiding position. He
will consequently never cease to be the Servant. He serves
His people now at the right hand of God (see John xiiL) ;
and He will serve them in the glory itself. He Himself
says, " Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when
He Cometh, shcdl find watching : verily I say unto you,
that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to
meat, and will come forth and serve them." (Luke xiL 37.)
This picture therefore combines the lowly service of Christ
on earth with the service He carries on, now that He is
glorified, at the right hand of God, and will for ever carry
on for His people throughout eternity. It reveals at the
same time the matchless grace and the unfathomable love
of His heart, which thus led Him to take and to retain this
position. And how wondrous it is that His affection should
'associate the Church with His "Master." "I love my •
master, my wife, and my children ; I will not go out free."
Blessed Lord, Thou hast thus linked Thine own, through the
might of Thy love, with Thy God and Thyself for ever !
6 then his master must take him before the judges.
[a] He shall take him to the door or the doorpost
and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his
servant for life.
1. Barnes, "Forever - That is, most probably, until the next Jubilee, when every
Hebrew was set free. See Lev_25:40, Lev_25:50. The custom of boring the ear as a
mark of slavery appears to have been a common one in ancient times, observed in
many nations.
Unto the judges - Literally, “before the gods ‫אלהים‬ 'ĕlohı̂ ym.” The word does not
denote “judges” in a direct way, but it is to be understood as the name of God, in its
ordinary plural form, God being the source of all justice. The name in this
connection always has the definite article prefixed. See the marginal references.
Compare Psa_82:1, Psa_82:6; Joh_10:34.
2. Clarke, "Shall bring him unto the judges - ‫האלהים‬ ‫אל‬ el haelohim, literally, to
God; or, as the Septuagint have it, προς το κριτηριον Θεου, to the judgment of God;
who condescended to dwell among his people; who determined all their differences
till he had given them laws for all cases, and who, by his omniscience, brought to
light the hidden things of dishonesty. See Exo_22:8.