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Exodus 21:4

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Exodus 21:4 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “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.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

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.
Exodus 21:4 — American Standard Version

Context — Exodus 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
1Now these are the ordinances which thou shalt set before them.
2If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
3If he come in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he be married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4If 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.
5But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
6then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall 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 for ever.
7And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not go out as the men-servants do.
← Exodus 21:3Exodus 21:5 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“If his master have given him a wife, etc.] 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…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“21:4-6 The master was not required to provide a slave with a wife who would then be freed with him. The slave in such a situation had to either abandon the family he began while he was a slave or become a permanent slave.”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“shall be her: Exo 4:22; Gen 14:14, Gen 15:3, Gen 17:13, Gen 17:27, Gen 18:19; Ecc 2:7; Jer 2:14 Exodus 21:5”
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Related study paths

Read Exodus 21 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification