This section of Exodus gives laws for Israelite servants. These laws were meant to protect vulnerable people in ancient Israel and limit mistreatment. It’s very different from the harsh, race‑based slavery we think of today. So, Israelite servanthood was meant to be temporary. If someone became a servant due to poverty or debt, they served for six years and were set free in the seventh without paying anything. If they came single, they left single; if married, their spouse left with them. This system resembled indentured service more than slavery. If the master gave the servant a wife, the wife and children remained part of the master’s household. The man could leave alone or choose to stay with his family permanently, which was a voluntary decision marked by a ceremony at the doorpost. Lifelong service was never forced. Regarding daughters sold as servants, a practice often misunderstood, a father might arrange this, usually due to poverty, as a way for her to become a wife or future wife within a household. This was not the same as slavery, and the laws ensured her protection: if displeasing to the master, she could return home; if chosen for his son, she was to be treated as a daughter; and if the master took another wife, he was still required to provide her with food, clothing, and marital rights. If he failed, she was free to leave without payment. Overall, these laws placed limits on servanthood, protected the vulnerable, and demanded fairness, dignity, and accountability, standing out as a significant advancement compared to surrounding nations. This was not slavery as we know it today, but a regulated form of economic servanthood with strong safeguards.

It reads in Exodus 21:1-11 Easy: These are the laws that you must put in front of the Israelites: If you buy an Israelite slave, he must work for you for six years. But in the seventh year he will become a free man. He can leave you. He does not have to pay you any money.If he came to you alone, he is free to leave alone. If he came with a wife, she can also leave with him. But if the master has given a wife to the slave, she belongs to her master. If she has children, they also belong to her master. The slave must then leave by himself, without his wife and children. But perhaps the slave may say, “I love my master, my wife and my children. I will not go away as a free man!” Then his master must take the slave to stand in front of the judges. He must lead the slave to stand beside the door, or the wood that holds the door. Then the master must push the sharp point of a tool through the slave’s ear. After that, he will serve his master for all his life. Perhaps a man may sell his daughter to someone as a slave. She is not free to leave her master after six years, as the male slaves are. Her master has chosen her for himself. If she does not make her master happy, he must let her family buy her back from him. He cannot sell her to a foreign person. He has not done what he promised to her. If the master had chosen the girl to marry his son, he must take care of her like his own daughter. If the master marries another woman as well, he must still take care of the first woman. He must continue to give her food and clothes. He must not refuse to sleep with her. If he does not do these three things, she may leave him. She does not have to pay him any money.

Father God, thank You and praise You for Your wisdom and compassion shown in Your Word. Teach us to treat others with fairness, dignity, and kindness, just as You instructed Your people long ago. Help us honor You in the way we care for those around us. Love You, thank You, praise You and give You all the honor and glory in Jesus Precious Name Amen.