Exodus 21:5-6

21:5 But if the servant should declare, ¹  ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out ²  free,’ 21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, ³  and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever. ⁴ 

Psalms 40:6

40:6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern. ⁵ 

You make that quite clear to me! ⁶ 

You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.

Psalms 40:8

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁷  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ⁸ 

¹ tn The imperfect with the infinitive absolute means that the declaration is unambiguous, that the servant will clearly affirm that he wants to stay with the master. Gesenius says that in a case like this the infinitive emphasizes the importance of the condition on which some consequence depends (GKC 342-43 §113.o).

² tn Or taken as a desiderative imperfect, it would say, “I do not want to go out free.”

³ tn The word is הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 211) says the phrase means “to God,” namely the nearest sanctuary in order that the oath and the ritual might be made solemn, although he does say that it would be done by human judges. That the reference is to Yahweh God is the view also of F. C. Fensham, “New Light on Exodus 21:7 and 22:7 from the Laws of Eshnunna,” JBL 78 (1959): 160-61. Cf. also ASV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT. Others have made a stronger case that it refers to judges who acted on behalf of God; see C. Gordon, “אלהים in its Reputed Meaning of Rulers, Judges,” JBL 54 (1935): 134-44; and A. E. Draffkorn, “Ilani/Elohim,” JBL 76 (1957): 216-24; cf. KJV, NIV.

⁴ tn Or “till his life’s end” (as in the idiom: “serve him for good”).

⁵ tn Heb “sacrifice and offering you do not desire.” The statement is exaggerated for the sake of emphasis (see Ps 51:16 as well). God is pleased with sacrifices, but his first priority is obedience and loyalty (see 1 Sam 15:22). Sacrifices and offerings apart from genuine allegiance are meaningless (see Isa 1:11-20).

⁶ tn Heb “ears you hollowed out for me.” The meaning of this odd expression is debated (this is the only collocation of “hollowed out” and “ears” in the OT). It may have been an idiomatic expression referring to making a point clear to a listener. The LXX has “but a body you have prepared for me,” a reading which is followed in Heb 10:5.

⁷ tn Or “your will.”

⁸ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.