Exodus 21 · Verse 9

Exodus 21:9

And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
Exodus 21:9, King James Version

Exodus 21:9 in other translations

BSBAnd if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.
WEBIf he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.
ASVAnd if he espouse her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
YLT‘And if to his son he betroth her, according to the right of daughters he doth to her.
DARBYAnd if he have appointed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the law of daughters.
BBEAnd if he gives her to his son, he is to do everything for her as if she was his daughter.
WebsterAnd if he hath betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

What does Exodus 21:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 21:7-11

Ex 21:7-36. Laws for Maidservants. 7-11. if a man sell his daughter--Hebrew girls might be redeemed for a reasonable sum. But in the event of her parents or friends being unable to pay the redemption money, her owner was not at liberty to sell her elsewhere. Should she have been betrothed to him or his son, and either change their minds, a maintenance must be provided for her suitable to her condition as his…

Read the full comment on Exodus 21:7-11 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 Betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her - He shall give her the same dowry he would give to one of his own daughters. From these laws we learn, that if a man's son married his servant, by his father's consent, the father was obliged to treat her in every respect as a daughter; and if the son married another woman, as it appears he might do, Exo 21:10, he was obliged to make no abatement in the privileges of the first wife, either in her food, raiment, or duty of marriage. The word ענתה onathah, here, is the same with St. Paul's οφειλομενην ευνοιαν, the marriage debt, and with the ὁμιλιαν of the Septuagint, which signifies the cohabitation of man and wife.

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…

Read the full comment on Exodus 21:1-11 →

Exodus 21:9 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.

וְאִם\־ve.'im-and ifH518
לִבְנ֖וֹliv.Nofor son hisH1121
יִֽיעָדֶ֑נָּהyi.'a.De.nahhe will designate herH3259
כְּמִשְׁפַּ֥טke.mish.Pataccording to [the] custom ofH4941
הַבָּנ֖וֹתha.ba.Not<the> daughtersH1323
יַעֲשֶׂה\־ya.'a.seh-he will doH6213
לָּֽהּ\׃Lahto <the> her

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Context

  • Exodus 21:8

    If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

  • Exodus 21:9

    And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

  • Exodus 21:10

    If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.

Read all of Exodus 21

Exodus 21:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mas si la hubiere desposado con su hijo, hará con ella según la costumbre de las hijas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et s’il l’a fiancée à son fils, il agira envers elle selon le droit des filles.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und wenn er sie seinem Sohne bestimmt, so soll er ihr tun nach dem Rechte der Töchter.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Sin autem filio suo desponderit eam, juxta morem filiarum faciet illi.