Bible Strands
Exodus 21:7
And if a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as the menservants do.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Moses and the assembled Israelites at Sinai, extending the covenant law on Hebrew servitude immediately after detailing the life-term ear-piercing ritual for male servants in Exodus 21:6.
The words — יִמְכֹּר (yim.kor) means "he will sell," and תֵצֵא (te.tze) means "she will go out," establishing the transaction and its explicit denial of release.
The thread — This clause contrasts with the six-year release mandate for male Hebrew servants in Exodus 21:2 and anticipates the later covenant breach described in Nehemiah 5:5.
Why it lands — The text defines a precise legal boundary by withholding automatic manumission from daughters sold into servitude, requiring readers to acknowledge the distinct covenantal status of female household laborers.
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
And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 5:5 We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
- Exodus 21:2 If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.