If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Exodus 21:2 belongs to the additional laws, statutes, judgments and commandments given at Sinai through Moses for him to communicate to Israel, distinct from the Ten Commandments which were not delivered in that private way. They were given by God in Christ and their observance was plainly enjoined, so that to keep them in truth and righteousness is part of obeying every command of God. They illustrate, explain and apply the principles of the Ten Commandments to duties between people, so that the obligations of the Decalogue could be better understood and enforced. This fuller explanation was necessary because the people's experience of slavery had left them unprepared, with minds blinded and debased, to grasp the full reach and far-reaching principles of the ten precepts. By thus defining practical duty the directions guarded the sacredness of the Ten Commandments and left no room for error.
The statutes and judgments guide and regulate dealings with one another and guard against injustice. They contain special directions concerning the poor, protecting the rights of the poor and oppressed and showing impartiality and exalted requirements. Strict observance of them is enjoined.
A Hebrew servant bought into service was to serve six years, and in the seventh year was to go out free for nothing, without payment, so that a Hebrew could not be held as a slave for life. A servant who chose could remain with the master. Israel was to remember its own bitter servitude and bondage in Egypt and its own freedom, and therefore to treat servants with kindness and compassion, putting themselves in the servant's place.
Exodus 21:2 belongs to the additional laws, statutes, judgments and commandments given at Sinai through Moses for him to communicate to Israel, distinct from the Ten Commandments which were not delivered in that private way. They were given by God in Christ and their observance was plainly enjoined, so that to keep them in truth and righteousness is part of obeying every command of God. They illustrate, explain and apply the principles of the Ten Commandments to duties between people, so that the obligations of the Decalogue could be better understood and enforced. This fuller explanation was necessary because the people's experience of slavery had left them unprepared, with minds blinded and debased, to grasp the full reach and far-reaching principles of the ten precepts. By thus defining practical duty the directions guarded the sacredness of the Ten Commandments and left no room for error.
The statutes and judgments guide and regulate dealings with one another and guard against injustice. They contain special directions concerning the poor, protecting the rights of the poor and oppressed and showing impartiality and exalted requirements. Strict observance of them is enjoined.
A Hebrew servant bought into service was to serve six years, and in the seventh year was to go out free for nothing, without payment, so that a Hebrew could not be held as a slave for life. A servant who chose could remain with the master. Israel was to remember its own bitter servitude and bondage in Egypt and its own freedom, and therefore to treat servants with kindness and compassion, putting themselves in the servant's place.