Exodus 21:21

21:21 However, if the injured servant ¹  survives one or two days, the owner ²  will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss. ³ 

Exodus 21:27

21:27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant ⁴  go free as compensation for the tooth.

Exodus 23:4

23:4 “If you encounter ⁵  your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return ⁶  it to him.

[21:21]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the owner of the injured servant) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ³ 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.

[21:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “meet” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[23:4]  ⁸ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense (taken here as an obligatory imperfect) and the infinitive absolute for emphasis.