וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תָּשִׂ֖ים לִפְנֵיהֶֽם׃

These are the ordinances pertaining to the establishment of a properly functioning society that you shall place before them. It is likely that Moses transmitted these laws to the people immediately after the giving of the Torah, before he ascended to Mount Sinai for an extended period of time (24:15–18). He did so because the overall structure of society, which is the crux of the laws in this section, is more pressing than other matters.

כִּ֤י תִקְנֶה֙ עֶ֣בֶד עִבְרִ֔י שֵׁ֥שׁ שָׁנִ֖ים יַעֲבֹ֑ד וּבַ֨שְּׁבִעִ֔ת יֵצֵ֥א לַֽחָפְשִׁ֖י חִנָּֽם׃

If you acquire a Hebrew slave, six years he shall work. His servitude is for a limited period, and he does not become the personal property of his master. The Hebrew slave is an Israelite who finds himself in such difficult financial straits that he cannot support himself, and has to sell himself as a slave in order to survive. Alternatively, he is an Israelite who stole an item that he cannot repay and is therefore sold by the court (see 22:2) in order to compensate the victim of the theft. According to a tradition of the Sages, the six-year term applies only to a slave who was sold by the court rather than one who sells himself. However, a simple reading of the text supports the possibility that the law applies to any Israelite slave. And in the seventh year he shall go free, without charge. He does not have to redeem himself at the conclusion of his term of servitude. Furthermore, the master is required to give his Hebrew slave gifts upon his release.

אִם־בְּגַפּ֥וֹ יָבֹ֖א בְּגַפּ֣וֹ יֵצֵ֑א אִם־בַּ֤עַל אִשָּׁה֙ ה֔וּא וְיָצְאָ֥ה אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ עִמּֽוֹ׃

If he shall come into his term of servitude by himself, without a wife and children, he shall leave when he completes his period of servitude by himself. If he is the husband of a wife when he becomes a slave, upon his release his wife shall leave with him.

אִם־אֲדֹנָיו֙ יִתֶּן־ל֣וֹ אִשָּׁ֔ה וְיָלְדָה־ל֥וֹ בָנִ֖ים א֣וֹ בָנ֑וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֣ה וִילָדֶ֗יהָ תִּהְיֶה֙ לַֽאדֹנֶ֔יהָ וְה֖וּא יֵצֵ֥א בְגַפּֽוֹ׃

However, if his master shall give him a gentile maidservant as a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master and he, the Hebrew slave, shall leave by himself.

וְאִם־אָמֹ֤ר יֹאמַר֙ הָעֶ֔בֶד אָהַ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־אֲדֹנִ֔י אֶת־אִשְׁתִּ֖י וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑י לֹ֥א אֵצֵ֖א חָפְשִֽׁי׃

But if, after six years in which the Hebrew slave has had children with the woman he received from his master, it is possible that when it is time for him to go free, the slave shall say: I love my master, as I have lived with him as a member of his family, as well as my wife, whom I received from my master, and my children that she has born to me. Consequently, I will not go free; I prefer to remain here as a Hebrew slave, despite the inherent limitations of that status.

וְהִגִּישׁ֤וֹ אֲדֹנָיו֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְהִגִּישׁוֹ֙ אֶל־הַדֶּ֔לֶת א֖וֹ אֶל־הַמְּזוּזָ֑ה וְרָצַ֨ע אֲדֹנָ֤יו אֶת־אָזְנוֹ֙ בַּמַּרְצֵ֔עַ וַעֲבָד֖וֹ לְעֹלָֽם׃ (ס)

Then his master shall ceremoniously bring him to the judges; he shall bring him to the door at the entrance to the house, or to the doorpost, the structure that frames the door on both sides, and his master shall perforate his ear with an awl, as a sign that he has relinquished his freedom, and he shall serve him forever. According to rabbinic tradition, this means that the slave serves his master until the Jubilee Year. The word “forever” in the Bible can mean a very long time; it should not always be understood literally.

וְכִֽי־יִמְכֹּ֥ר אִ֛ישׁ אֶת־בִּתּ֖וֹ לְאָמָ֑ה לֹ֥א תֵצֵ֖א כְּצֵ֥את הָעֲבָדִֽים׃

If an Israelite man sells his minor daughter as a maidservant, she shall not leave like gentile slaves’ leaving. The status of a Hebrew maidservant is higher than that of a gentile maidservant, just as a Hebrew slave is superior in status to a gentile slave.

אִם־רָעָ֞ה בְּעֵינֵ֧י אֲדֹנֶ֛יהָ אֲשֶׁר־לא [ל֥וֹ] יְעָדָ֖הּ וְהֶפְדָּ֑הּ לְעַ֥ם נָכְרִ֛י לֹא־יִמְשֹׁ֥ל לְמָכְרָ֖הּ בְּבִגְדוֹ־בָֽהּ׃

If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master, to whom she was designated, he shall facilitate her redemption. Upon purchasing a Hebrew maidservant, the master must take into account that he is commanded to marry her, or have her marry one of his sons. If she is displeasing to him, she can be redeemed in the following manner: The sum of her purchase is divided by six, which determines the value of each year of her servitude, and if she is willing to compensate him for the remaining years of her service, he must accept the payment and she returns home. Alternatively, he must allow this compensation to be paid by someone else if the maidservant is interested in that individual’s patronage. In any case, he shall not presume to sell her to a foreign people, another family, in his betrayal of her. She entered his household under the assumption that she would marry one of the family members. If this marriage does not come to fruition, which is a form of betrayal, the master may not sell the rights to the maidservant to anyone else. Rather, he must allow her to go free.

וְאִם־לִבְנ֖וֹ יִֽיעָדֶ֑נָּה כְּמִשְׁפַּ֥ט הַבָּנ֖וֹת יַעֲשֶׂה־לָּֽהּ׃

If he designates her for his son in marriage, he and his son may not consider her as their property. Rather, he shall treat her as is the practice of the daughters . From a legal perspective, the purchase of the Hebrew maidservant is considered the first step toward marriage, similar to betrothal. Although this marriage was not established in the conventional method, it is considered like a regular marriage and she must be treated in the same manner as any other Israelite woman.

אִם־אַחֶ֖רֶת יִֽקַּֽח־ל֑וֹ שְׁאֵרָ֛הּ כְּסוּתָ֥הּ וְעֹנָתָ֖הּ לֹ֥א יִגְרָֽע׃

Consequently, if he , the son takes another wife for himself, after marrying the Hebrew maidservant, the rights of the former maidservant remain protected. He is required to fulfill all his marital obligations toward his first wife, and therefore he shall not diminish her food, her garments, or her conjugal rights.

וְאִם־שְׁלָ֨שׁ־אֵ֔לֶּה לֹ֥א יַעֲשֶׂ֖ה לָ֑הּ וְיָצְאָ֥ה חִנָּ֖ם אֵ֥ין כָּֽסֶף׃ (ס)

If he does not perform one of these three for her, in that he does not marry her, have her marry his son, or facilitate her redemption, she shall leave without charge; there is no payment, and all her obligations to the master are canceled.

מַכֵּ֥ה אִ֛ישׁ וָמֵ֖ת מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃

One who strikes a man in any fashion, and he dies as a result of his wounds, shall be put to death. The murderer is liable to receive the death penalty.

וַאֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א צָדָ֔ה וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים אִנָּ֣ה לְיָד֑וֹ וְשַׂמְתִּ֤י לְךָ֙ מָק֔וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָנ֖וּס שָֽׁמָּה׃ (ס)

But for one who killed another but did not have intent to kill him, and God caused it to come to his hand through some accident, he is not liable to receive the death penalty. Rather, I will provide you a place where he shall flee, as explained in detail elsewhere.

וְכִֽי־יָזִ֥ד אִ֛ישׁ עַל־רֵעֵ֖הוּ לְהָרְג֣וֹ בְעָרְמָ֑ה מֵעִ֣ם מִזְבְּחִ֔י תִּקָּחֶ֖נּוּ לָמֽוּת׃ (ס)

If a man shall act intentionally against his neighbor to kill him cunningly, he is liable to receive the death penalty. Consequently, you shall take him even from My altar to die. There indeed were cases of individuals who grabbed hold of the corners of the altar in an attempt to seek refuge, under God’s protection, from the rule of law. However, the altar does not protect one from his rightful punishment. Although he is not actually killed at the altar, and in this sense it does provide him with temporary protection, he must be removed from the Temple compound to the court, where he is judged and sentenced.

וּמַכֵּ֥ה אָבִ֛יו וְאִמּ֖וֹ מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃

Similar to the preceding laws involving murder, the following laws are also related to the Ten Precepts. One who strikes his father or his mother, even if he does not kill them, has violated a severe prohibition, as he has acted in a manner that is diametrically opposed to the commandment to honor one’s parents. Consequently, he shall be put to death.

וְגֹנֵ֨ב אִ֧ישׁ וּמְכָר֛וֹ וְנִמְצָ֥א בְיָד֖וֹ מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃ (ס)

In the case of one who abducts a man and he sells him as a slave, or he, the kidnapped man, is found in his, the abductor’s, possession before he could be sold, he, the kidnapper, shall be put to death. The Sages contend that the prohibition of stealing listed in the Ten Precepts applies specifically to kidnapping, which is punishable by the death penalty.

וּמְקַלֵּ֥ל אָבִ֛יו וְאִמּ֖וֹ מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃ (ס)

One who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. Although the biblical term for “curse” may apply to any expression of derision or contempt, cursing one’s parent is punishable by death only in particularly harsh expressions of wishing evil upon one’s parent. Merely contemptuous remarks addressed to a parent are the subject of a different verse: “Cursed is one who demeans his father or his mother.”

וְכִֽי־יְרִיבֻ֣ן אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְהִכָּה־אִישׁ֙ אֶת־רֵעֵ֔הוּ בְּאֶ֖בֶן א֣וֹ בְאֶגְרֹ֑ף וְלֹ֥א יָמ֖וּת וְנָפַ֥ל לְמִשְׁכָּֽב׃

If men quarrel, and in the course of their argument one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, forcefully enough to cause death, and he does not die but collapses into bed due to his injuries,

אִם־יָק֞וּם וְהִתְהַלֵּ֥ךְ בַּח֛וּץ עַל־מִשְׁעַנְתּ֖וֹ וְנִקָּ֣ה הַמַּכֶּ֑ה רַ֥ק שִׁבְתּ֛וֹ יִתֵּ֖ן וְרַפֹּ֥א יְרַפֵּֽא׃ (ס)

if he, the injured person, arises and walks outside on his walking cane, as he is healing and is able walk without assistance from others, then the assailant shall be absolved of the death penalty, which would have applied had the victim died. He shall give only his loss of livelihood, and he shall provide healing. The assailant must compensate his victim for the wages he lost while he was unable to work due to his injuries. The assailant must also pay for the medical treatment the victim required to recover from his wounds.