Deuteronomy 15:16-23

15:16 However, if the servant ¹  says to you, “I do not want to leave ²  you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, 15:17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door. ³  Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). 15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice ⁴  the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Giving God the Best

15:19 You must set apart ⁵  for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 15:20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he ⁶  chooses. 15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else ⁷  – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 15:22 You may eat it in your villages, ⁸  whether you are ritually impure or clean, ⁹  just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 15:23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.

[15:16]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the indentured servant introduced in v. 12) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:16]  ² tn Heb “go out from.” The imperfect verbal form indicates the desire of the subject here.

[15:17]  ³ sn When the bondslave’s ear was drilled through to the door, the door in question was that of the master’s house. In effect, the bondslave is declaring his undying and lifelong loyalty to his creditor. The scar (or even hole) in the earlobe would testify to the community that the slave had surrendered independence and personal rights. This may be what Paul had in mind when he said “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).

[15:18]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.

[15:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the Lord.

[15:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord.” The translation uses a pronoun for stylistic reasons. See note on “he” in 15:4.

[15:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”

[15:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “in your gates.”

[15:22]  ⁹ tc The LXX adds ἐν σοί (en soi, “among you”) to make clear that the antecedent is the people and not the animals. That is, the people, whether ritually purified or not, may eat such defective animals.