Exodus 21:20
New International Version
“Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result,

New Living Translation
“If a man beats his male or female slave with a club and the slave dies as a result, the owner must be punished.

English Standard Version
“When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged.

Berean Standard Bible
If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.

King James Bible
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

New King James Version
“And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

New American Standard Bible
“And if someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

NASB 1995
“If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

NASB 1977
“And if a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished.

Legacy Standard Bible
“And if a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall surely be punished.

Amplified Bible
“If a man strikes his male or his female servant with a staff and the servant dies at his hand, he must be punished.

Christian Standard Bible
“When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse, the owner must be punished.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse, the owner must be punished.

American Standard Version
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And when a man will strike his Servant or his maid with a rod and one dies under his hand, he shall certainly be judged.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And if a man smite his man-servant or his maid-servant, with a rod, and the party die under his hands, he shall be surely punished.

Contemporary English Version
Death is the punishment for beating to death any of your slaves.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He that striketh his bondman or bondwoman with a rod, and they die under his hands, shall be guilty of the crime.

English Revised Version
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Whenever an owner hits his male or female slave with a stick so that the slave dies from the beating, the owner must be punished.

Good News Translation
"If a slave owner takes a stick and beats his slave, whether male or female, and the slave dies on the spot, the owner is to be punished.

International Standard Version
"If a man strikes his male or female servant with a stick and he or she dies as a direct result, the master must be punished.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And if a man smite his bondman, or his bondwoman, with a rod, and he die under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

Literal Standard Version
And when a man strikes his manservant or his handmaid with a rod, and he has died under his hand—he is certainly avenged;

Majority Standard Bible
If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.

New American Bible
When someone strikes his male or female slave with a rod so that the slave dies under his hand, the act shall certainly be avenged.

NET Bible
"If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished.

New Revised Standard Version
When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished.

New Heart English Bible
"If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if a man shall smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he shall die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

World English Bible
“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.

Young's Literal Translation
'And when a man smiteth his man-servant or his handmaid, with a rod, and he hath died under his hand -- he is certainly avenged;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Personal Injury Laws
19then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed. 20If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.…

Cross References
Exodus 21:19
then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed.

Exodus 21:21
However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.


Treasury of Scripture

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

smite

Exodus 21:26,27
And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake…

Deuteronomy 19:21
And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Proverbs 29:19
A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.

he shall

Genesis 9:6
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Numbers 35:30-33
Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die…

punished.

Genesis 4:15,24
And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him…

Numbers 35:19
The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.

Romans 13:4
For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Jump to Previous
Avenged Beats Bondman Bondwoman Causing Death Die Died Dies Direct Female Gives Hand Handmaid Maid Male Man-Servant Punished Punishment Result Rod Servant Slave Smite Staff Strikes Surely Undergo Woman-Servant
Jump to Next
Avenged Beats Bondman Bondwoman Causing Death Die Died Dies Direct Female Gives Hand Handmaid Maid Male Man-Servant Punished Punishment Result Rod Servant Slave Smite Staff Strikes Surely Undergo Woman-Servant
Exodus 21
1. Laws for men servants
5. For the servant whose ear is bored
7. For women servants
12. For manslaughter
16. For kidnappers
17. For cursers of parents
18. For smiters
22. For a hurt by chance
28. For an ox that gores
33. For him who is an occasion of harm














(20) And if a man smite his servant.--The homicide hitherto considered has been that of freemen; but the Mosaic Law was not content to stop at this point. Unlike most other codes, it proceeded to forbid the homicide of slaves. Hitherto, throughout the East, and also in many parts of the West, slaves had been regarded as so absolutely their master's property that he was entitled to do as he pleased with them. Now, for the first time--so far as we know--was the life of the slave protected. The exact extent of the protection is uncertain. According to the Talmud, the master who killed his slave was put to death; according to some modern Jews, as Kalisch, he had merely to pay a fine. In any case, the killing was an offence of which the law took cognisance. Later on it appears that even assaults on slaves, if they reached a certain intensity, were unlawful, and involved the slave's compulsory emancipation (Exodus 21:26-27).

With a rod.--The usual instrument of punishment. It would follow, as a matter of course, that if a more dangerous implement was used the master was punished with equal, or greater, severity.

Verses 20, 21. - Homicide of slaves. In most ancient states the slave was the absolute property of his master, and might be ill-used to any extent, even killed, without the law in any way interfering. It is said that the state of things was different in Egypt (Kalisch); but we have scarcely sufficient evidence on the point to be certain that the slave enjoyed there any real and efficient protection. At Athens, beyond a doubt, the law protected the life of the slave; and a very moderate amount of ill-treatment entitled a slave to bring an action. At Rome, on the contrary, "the master could treat the slave as he pleased, could sell him, punish him, and put him to death" (Dict. of Greek & Roman Antiq. p. 1036). And this was the ordinary state of the law, particularly in Oriental countries. The Mosaic legislation must be regarded as having greatly ameliorated the condition of the native slave population. Hebrew bondmen it placed nearly upon a par with hired servants (Leviticus 25:40); foreign slaves, whether prisoners taken in war, or persons bought in the market, it protected to a very great extent. By the law given in verses 26, 27, it largely controlled the brutality of masters, who had to emancipate their slaves if they did them any serious injury. By the law laid down in verse 20, it gave their lives the same protection, or nearly the same, as the lives of freemen. "Smiting "was allowed as a discipline, without which slavery cannot exist; but such smiting as resulted in death was, as a general rule, punishable like any other homicide. The only exception was, if the slave did not die for some days (ver. 21). In that case the master was considered not to have intended the slave' s death, and to be sufficiently punished by the loss of his property. Verse 20. - If a man smite his servant, or his maid. "Maids" would commonly be chastised by their mistress, or by an upper servant acting under the mistress' s authority. "A man" here means "any one." With a rod. The rods wherewith Egyptian slaves were chastised appear upon the monuments. They were long canes, like those used by our schoolmasters. Under his hand. Criminals in the East are said often to die under the bastinado; and even in our own country there have been cases of soldiers dying under the lash. A special delicacy of the nervous system will make a punishment of the kind fatal to some, which would have been easily borne by others.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
If
וְכִֽי־ (wə·ḵî-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

a man
אִ֨ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

strikes
יַכֶּה֩ (yak·keh)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5221: To strike

his male
עַבְדּ֜וֹ (‘aḇ·dōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

or
א֤וֹ (’ōw)
Conjunction
Strong's 176: Desire, if

female servant
אֲמָתוֹ֙ (’ă·mā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 519: A maidservant, female slave

with a rod,
בַּשֵּׁ֔בֶט (baš·šê·ḇeṭ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

and the servant dies
וּמֵ֖ת (ū·mêṯ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 4191: To die, to kill

by
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

his hand,
יָד֑וֹ (yā·ḏōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

he shall surely
נָקֹ֖ם (nā·qōm)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive absolute
Strong's 5358: To grudge, avenge, punish

be punished.
יִנָּקֵֽם׃ (yin·nā·qêm)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5358: To grudge, avenge, punish


Links
Exodus 21:20 NIV
Exodus 21:20 NLT
Exodus 21:20 ESV
Exodus 21:20 NASB
Exodus 21:20 KJV

Exodus 21:20 BibleApps.com
Exodus 21:20 Biblia Paralela
Exodus 21:20 Chinese Bible
Exodus 21:20 French Bible
Exodus 21:20 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Exodus 21:20 If a man strikes his servant (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 21:19
Top of Page
Top of Page