Exodus 21:20-21

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  21:21 However, if the injured servant ⁴  survives one or two days, the owner ⁵  will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. ⁶ 

[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).

[21:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “if he”; the referent (the servant struck and injured in the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner of the injured servant) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ⁶ tn This last clause is a free paraphrase of the Hebrew, “for he is his money” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “his property.” It seems that if the slave survives a couple of days, it is probable that the master was punishing him and not intending to kill him. If he then dies, there is no penalty other than that the owner loses the slave who is his property – he suffers the loss.