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Exodus 21:5

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Exodus 21:5 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Exodus 21:5 — American Standard Version

Context — Exodus 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
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.
8If she please not her master, who hath espoused her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a foreign people he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
← Exodus 21:4Exodus 21:6 →
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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
“And if the servant shall plainly say, etc.] Or, “in saying shall say” f636 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;…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“And if: Deu 15:16, Deu 15:17; Isa 26:13; Co2 5:14, Co2 5:15 shall plainly say: Heb. saying shall say Exodus 21:6”
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Related study paths

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

Sources and verification