Exodus 21:8

21:8 If she does not please ¹  her master, who has designated her ²  for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. ³  He has no right ⁴  to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully ⁵  with her.

Exodus 31:14-15

31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it ⁶  must surely be put to death; indeed, ⁷  if anyone does ⁸  any ⁹  work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his ¹⁰  people. 31:15 Six days ¹¹  work may be done, ¹²  but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, ¹³  holy to the Lord; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

¹ tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, ra’ah) in the eyes of her master.”

² tn The verb יָעַד (ya’ad) does not mean “betroth, espouse” as some of the earlier translations had it, but “to designate.” When he bought the girl, he designated her for himself, giving her and her family certain expectations.

³ tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect with vav (ו) consecutive from פָדָה (padah, “to redeem”). Here in the apodosis the form is equivalent to an imperfect: “let someone redeem her” – perhaps her father if he can, or another. U. Cassuto says it can also mean she can redeem herself and dissolve the relationship (Exodus, 268).

⁴ tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”

⁵ sn The deceit is in not making her his wife or concubine as the arrangement had stipulated.

⁶ tn This clause is all from one word, a Piel plural participle with a third, feminine suffix: מְחַלְלֶיהָ (mÿkhalleha, “defilers of it”). This form serves as the subject of the sentence. The word חָלַל (khalal) is the antonym of קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be holy”). It means “common, profane,” and in the Piel stem “make common, profane” or “defile.” Treating the Sabbath like an ordinary day would profane it, make it common.

⁷ tn This is the asseverative use of כִּי (ki) meaning “surely, indeed,” for it restates the point just made (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).

⁸ tn Heb “the one who does.”

⁹ tn “any” has been supplied.

¹⁰ tn Literally “her” (a feminine pronoun agreeing with “soul/life,” which is grammatically feminine).

¹¹ tn This is an adverbial accusative of time, indicating that work may be done for six days out of the week.

¹² tn The form is a Niphal imperfect; it has the nuance of permission in this sentence, for the sentence is simply saying that the six days are work days – that is when work may be done.

¹³ tn The expression is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton), “a Sabbath of entire rest,” or better, “a sabbath of complete desisting” (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 404). The second noun, the modifying genitive, is an abstract noun. The repetition provides the superlative idea that complete rest is the order of the day.