Bible Strands
Exodus 21:3
If he arrived alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrived with a wife, she is to leave with him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Yahweh instructs Moses and the Israelite community on the legal terms for a Hebrew servant’s release immediately after establishing the six-year service period.
The words — The conditional particle אִם־ ('im-) meaning "if" and the verb יָבֹא (ya.vo) meaning "he will come" frame the rule that the servant’s departure mirrors his initial entry status.
The thread — This release principle reappears in Deuteronomy 15:12, which applies the same six-year term and seventh-year freedom to both male and female Hebrew servants, while Exodus 21:2 and 21:4 define the surrounding manumission boundaries.
Why it lands — The text mandates that a master must track the servant’s marital status at the start of bondage to determine who gains freedom, establishing a fixed legal parameter for covenant community justice.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 15:12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.