Exodus 21:4
If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
Exodus 21:4 in other translations
| BSB | 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. |
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| WEB | If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. |
| ASV | If his master give him a wife and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. |
| YLT | if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters--the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself. |
| DARBY | If his master have 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 alone. |
| BBE | If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself. |
| Webster | If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall depart by himself. |
What does Exodus 21:4 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:2-6
2-6. 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…
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 21:1-11
The laws in this chapter relate to the fifth and sixth commandments; and though they differ from our times and customs, nor are they binding on us, yet they explain the moral law, and the rules of natural justice. The 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 robbing God of his glory, by the transgression of his precepts…
Exodus 21:4 in the original Hebrew
Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.
Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Context
- Exodus 21:3
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
- Exodus 21:4
If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
- Exodus 21:5
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Exodus 21:4 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Si su amo le hubiere dado mujer, y ella le hubiere parido hijos ó hijas, la mujer y sus hijos serán de su amo, y él saldrá solo. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Si son maître lui a donné une femme, et qu’elle lui ait enfanté des fils ou des filles, la femme et ses enfants seront à son maître, et lui, il sortira seul. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Wenn sein Herr ihm ein Weib gegeben und sie ihm Söhne oder Töchter geboren hat, so sollen das Weib und ihre Kinder ihrem Herrn gehören, und er soll allein ausgehen. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Sin autem dominus dederit illi uxorem, et pepererit filios et filias: mulier et liberi ejus erunt domini sui, ipse vero exibit cum vestitu suo. |