Exodus 21:20

21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she ¹  dies as a result of the blow, ²  he will surely be punished. ³ 

Exodus 21:26

21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ⁴  he will let the servant ⁵  go free ⁶  as compensation for the eye.

Exodus 23:5

23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, ⁷  but be sure to help ⁸  him with it. ⁹ 

Exodus 36:30

36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

[21:20]  ¹ tn Heb “so that he”; the words “or she” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:20]  ² tn Heb “under his hand.”

[21:20]  ³ tn Heb “will be avenged” (how is not specified).

[21:26]  ⁴ tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”

[21:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ⁶ sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.

[23:5]  ⁷ tn The line reads “you will cease to forsake him” – refrain from leaving your enemy without help.

[23:5]  ⁸ tn The law is emphatic here as well, using the infinitive absolute and the imperfect of instruction (or possibly obligation). There is also a wordplay here: two words עָזַב (’azav) are used, one meaning “forsake” and the other possibly meaning “arrange” based on Arabic and Ugaritic evidence (see U. Cassuto, Exodus, 297-98).

[23:5]  ⁹ sn See H. B. Huffmon, “Exodus 23:4-5: A Comparative Study,” A Light Unto My Path, 271-78.