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פָּרָשָׁה מִּשְׁפָּטִים
Parsha 18. Mishpatim |
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This week’s commentary from First Fruits of Zion (Messianic) |
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| This Week’s Reading Schedule | |
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Sunday Review and meditate on last week’s Parsha Monday Rishon [1st]: 21:1-19 Sheni [2nd]: 21:20-22:3 Tuesday Shlishi [3rd]: 22:4-27 R'vi'i [4th]: 22:28-23:5 Wednesday Chamishi [5th]: 23:6-19 Shishi [6th]: 23:20-25 |
Thursday Shvi'i [7th]: 23:26-24:14 (S) 23:26-24:15 (A) Maftir [Concluding]: 24:15-18 (S) 24:16-18 (A) Friday Haftarah: (Selections)[GN] Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 34:8-22 33:25-26 Ketuvei HaShalichim (Apostolic Writings) Basar: The Gospel Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:38-42; 15:1-20 Mordichai (Mark) 7:1-23 Kepherim: Letters (optional) P’yilut (Acts) 23:1-11 Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 9:15-22; 10:28-39 |
Listen to
Parsha Mishpatim read from the CJB
b. Legal Prescriptions (21:1-22:15)
(1) Hebrew Servants (21:1-11)
(i) 1 “Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them:[1]
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant,[2a] he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.[2b] 3 If he enters [servitude] alone he is to leave alone. If he is married [when he enters servitude], then his wife is to leave with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and the man is to leave alone. 5 But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master shall bring him before the judges.[6] And he is to take him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master is to pierce his ear with an awl. Then and he shall serve him for life.
7 “If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, she is not go free as the male servants do. 8 If she doesn’t please her master who has designated[7a] her for himself, then he must allow her be redeemed.[7b] He has no right to sell her to foreigners people since he has dealt deceitfully with her. 9 If he designates9] her to his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife[10a] he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights10b] [of the maidservant wife]. 11 If, however, he does not provide these three things for her, she is free to go without paying any money.
(2) Personal Injury Law (21:12-36)
12 “Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait,[13a] but Elohim[GN] allows it to happen; then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.[13b] 14 If a man schemes and acts willfully against his neighbor to kill him, you are to take him from away My altar to be put to death.[14]
15 “Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be put to death.[15]
16 “Anyone who kidnaps another person must be put to death whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.
17 “Anyone who treats his father or mother with contempt[17] must surely be put to death.
18 “If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; 19 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 pay the man for the loss of his time [wages or income assumed], and must provide for his healing [i.e., pay his “medical bills”] until he is thoroughly healed.
(ii) 20 “If a man strikes his male or female servant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21 However, if the servant recovers after a day or two, he shall not be punished, since the servant is his property.
22 “If men who are fighting hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. 23 But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.[25]
26 “If a man strikes his male or female servant’s and blinds it, he shall let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. 27 If he knocks out his male or female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
28 “If an ox[28a] gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must surely be stoned and its meat must not be eaten;[28b] but the owner of the ox shall not be held responsible. 29 But if the ox has a reputation for goring and its owner has been warned yet he has not restrained it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox is be stoned and its owner is also to be put to death. 30 If payment is demanded of him [instead], then he may redeem his life by paying the full amount demanded of him. 31 Whether the ox has gored a son or a daughter, it shall be done to him according to the same judgment. 32 If the ox gores a male or female servant, the man pust pay the master thirty shekels[32] of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.
33 “If a man opens or digs a pit and fails to cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he must pay the owner, and the dead animal will be his.
35 “If one man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, then they must sell the live ox and divide the proceeds; and they must also divide the dead animal. 36 But if it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner failed to restrain it, he must pay full conpensation — ox for ox — and the dead animal will be his.
37 (22:1) “If someone steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he is to repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.[37]
1. Note carefully that although these “ordinances“ are often called “the Law of Moses,” they are not his laws, they are God’s laws that Moses recorded and taught to the people. The word “ordinance” translates the Hebrew הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים (ha m·miš·pā·ṭîm), which means judgment, justice, ordinance, the act of deciding a case. Thus they are the rules of jurisprudence by which disputes among men are to be decided. [BACK]
2a. Critics are quick to claim that God approved of the idea of slavery. The truth of the matter is that slavery was simply a fact of life in ancient times, and is still commonly practiced in many countries. “Although slavery is no longer legal anywhere in the world, human trafficking remains an international problem. An estimated 25-40 million people were enslaved as of 2013, the majority of these in Asia. During the 1983–2005 Second Sudanese Civil War, people were taken into slavery. Evidence emerged in the late 1990s of systematic child slavery and trafficking on cacao plantations in West Africa. In 2019, there were an estimated 40 million people worldwide subject to some form of slavery. … Slavery in the 21st century continues and generates $150 billion in annual profits.” [Wikipedia “History of slavery” accessed 16 May 16 2022] God recognizes the truth about humanity, so He established rules to ensure that of all nations, Isra'el would be known for the fair and humane way they treated their slaves.
Most commonly, slaves were taken from conquered populations, and as Isra'el gradually conquered the Promised Land they took many slaves. However, a person could also temporarily sell himself or a family member as a slave to work off a debt owed, or simply to put himself permanently in the hands of another wealthier person for his livelihood and that of his family. [Gower, pp. 59-61] [BACK]
2b. As we shall see, the requirements for the way Hebrew slaves were to be treated was different than the rules for non-Hebrew slaves. Hebrew slaves were required to be released at the end of six years of servitude unless they elected to remain in service permanently. [BACK]
6. The word here translated “the judges” is הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים (hā ’ĕ·lō·hîm). Although many translations render this as “he is to be brought before God,” when referring to God the word Elohim is usually without the definite article “ha.” [BACK]
7a. The word translated “designated” is יְעָדָ֖הּ (yə·‘ā·ḏāh) which means to fix, appoint, assemble, meet, set, betroth, or espouse; it strongly suggests a marital relationship, especially in the context of verse 10, which guarantees “her marital right.” [BACK]
7b. The word “redeemed” is פָדָה (padah), indicating a financial transaction. In context, she has been sold by her father, presumably to work off a debt. If the master is displeased with her, it would seem that either her father or a near kinsman must redeem her by paying the balance of the debt owed. [BACK]
9. “Designates” is יְעָדָ֖הּ as in verse 7, so some versions translate the word a “betroths” or “marries.” [BACK]
10a. Again “another wife” strongly suggests that a marital relationship exists with the maidservant in question. [BACK]
10b. Hebrew וְעֹנָתָ֖הּ (wə·‘ō·nā·ṯāh), cohabitation, conjugal rights. [BACK]
13a. That is, the killing was manslaughter, not premeditated murder. [BACK]
13b. This is the first reference to the “cities of refuge” that will later be established. (Num 35:25-32) [BACK]
14. Premeditated murder is to carry a death penalty. [BACK]
15. The mere striking of a parent carries a death penalty, even when there is no death nor even injury. But see verse 17. It is of note that, according to Jewish tradition, this penalty was never applied. [BACK]
17. Hebrew קלל (qalal), treat with contempt, translated “curse” in most English versions. The verb means not only to curse but, as translated here, to treat with contempt, to treat lightly, to lightly esteem, to slight, to make light of. See the note on Gen 12:3. [BACK]
25. According to tradition, the judges of Isra'el never took this literally, but rather interpreted it to mean that the payment or punishment must fairly meet the damages actually incured; the greater the damage, the greater the punishment or payment. [BACK]
28a. “Ox” is שׁ֥וֹר (šō·wr) and refers to any head of cattle (ox, bull, etc.). [BACK]
28b. The dietary laws require that any animal that is killed by trauma must not be eaten. Presumably, the intestines might be damaged so that the feces contaminates the meat, rendering it dangerous to eat. See also Exod 22:31. (My opinion; feel free to disagree.) [BACK]
32. A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 30 shekels is about 300 grams or about 10.6 ounces. This is the “value” of a dead slave that the Temple priests paid Y'hudah to betray Yeshua (Matt. 26:14-15; 27:9). [BACK]
37. The Hebrew text has slightly different chapter and verse numbering than most English versions. [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 21
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
