If thou buy a Hebrew bondman, six years shall he serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Right after the thunder of Sinai and the law of the altar, God turns to ordinary life. The very first case He rules on is a servant's. Why does God start here? And why do commentators see Christ Himself in this bought Hebrew, set free in the seventh year?
A new kind of law starts here. One writer sets these rulings apart from the covenant, notes what God spoke about first, and says who this rule binds. (The older translation these writers quote says "judgments" and "Hebrew servant" where the ESV has "rules" and "Hebrew slave.")
These verses are not really part of the covenant — "Now these are the judgments that you shall set before them." … The very first thing God decides here is a detail about service: "If you buy a Hebrew servant." A captive would be in the power of his master. But this judgment concerns one under the law, a Hebrew servant. … The Gentiles — the nations outside Israel — were never under the law, and I do not find this judgment brought into the New Testament. Paul only gives directions of complete submission to the master, whether the master is a believer or not.
Slavery existed; God did not leave it unchecked.
Sin created disorder and misery. Yet Jehovah set merciful limits, above all for the people of His choice, until the day when all things are restored… An Israelite in sheer distress might be sold to one of his brothers. But it was never for life. As a rule the term was six years of servitude, and in the seventh he went out free for nothing.
Release was not the whole of it. A parallel passage adds what the master owed the man he set free, and what marked the man who stayed.
He was to get his freedom for nothing after serving six years. Deuteronomy commands the master not to let him go empty-handed, but to give him from his flock, his threshing floor and his winepress. In this Israel was to remember their own rescue from the house of slavery (Deut. 15:12-18). If the servant chose to stay with his master for ever, his ear was to be bored through as the sign of lifelong servitude (Deut. 15:17).
The setting is unpromising: a bought man in a fallen world. Yet commentators find God's Son pictured here.
At the beginning of Exodus 21 we find the picture, or type, of the servant. Christ is the constant object of the Holy Spirit, and nothing shows it more strikingly than this. Even in these temporary rules, God cannot help looking ahead to His Son. It is the condition of a slave; yet even there God has Christ before Him.
The clause that carries the weight is the seventh year. Christ met every claim on Him, and the right to leave was His.
He was the "Hebrew servant," the faithful servant who had served His time to the One whose servant He had become; and He might have said, now I can "go out free"; I have served my time, and I can "go out free" (v. 2). And indeed He did say, "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."
Because the right was real, the cross was never forced on Him.
He took the form of a servant. He came to do God's will — not His own will, but the will of Him who sent Him. He served His full allotted time perfectly, and might therefore have gone out free. For His own part, He had no need to go to the cross. Nothing made Him go but the constraint of His own heart. He longed to bring about the glory of God and to win His bride, the pearl of great price. Why then did He let Himself be nailed to that shameful cross? Because He loved His Master, His wife, and His children, and would therefore become a servant for ever. He loved His wife — the Church — and gave Himself for her. The same unchanging affection bound Him to His children, His own considered one by one.
What kept the servant was affection, and it cost him something visible.
The servant was perfectly free to go out, as far as he himself was concerned. He had discharged every claim, and could therefore walk out in unquestioned freedom; but because of his love for his master, his wife, and his children, he voluntarily bound himself to perpetual servitude — and not only that, he was also willing to bear in his own person the marks of that servitude.
That choice has no end date, and one writer follows it past the point where anyone still needs help.
As long as God's saint has need, the Saviour serves… But what about the day when there is no need left to meet? If there is no need on our part, there is love on His part, and love will always serve even when there is no question of need.
This reshapes how believers think about serving.
What redemption shows us is that we are free, yet free to serve. This is the fruit of redemption — that we are free to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the saints, for His sake.
- Claim. God's first ruling after Sinai settles a servant's rights: six years of service, then release "for nothing."
- Limit. Six years, and no more: the seventh year ended the master's claim, and he sent the man away supplied, remembering Egypt.
- Love. Only love could extend the service — a free man choosing to stay, and wearing the mark of it.
- Lifelong. Christ met every claim and could have gone free. He stayed. His service runs on into glory, where no one needs anything and only love remains.
- Liberty. Redemption turns service into freedom: free, yet free to serve.
If he came in alone, he shall go out alone if he had a wife, then his wife shall go out with him.
Right after the terrors of Sinai, God's first rule is about setting a Hebrew servant free. Commentators read it on two levels: a real limit on servitude in Israel, and a picture of Christ, who came into service alone and could have left alone.
This law comes straight after the terrifying scene at Sinai, when God gave the law.
Straight after the awful terrors that went with the giving of the law came two laws. They set before us, in a beautiful and telling way, the person and work of the Lord Jesus, and God's grace by Him. It is like an evening rainbow after the thunder, lightning, and storm of a summer's day.
The rule is also narrow. It covers a servant under Israel's law, not servitude everywhere.
The very first thing God decides here is a detail about service: "If you buy a Hebrew servant." If he were a captive, he would be in the power of his master; but this judgment concerns one under the law, a Hebrew servant. The Gentiles were never under the law, and I do not find this judgment brought into the New Testament.
The verse sets two cases side by side, and the rule that follows in the next verse is harder still. Older translations read "if he came in by himself," where the ESV has "if he comes in single."
If he was alone in becoming a slave, he should be freed alone: if his wife was with him, then both should be freed (v. 3). However, if the master had given him a wife, then both the wife and any children she bore would still belong to the master, while he could be freed alone. This does not correspond to the grace of God today, but it illustrates the hardness of law alone.
Commentators are struck that a picture of Christ sits inside a rule about slavery.
At the start of Exodus 21 we find the picture of the servant. Nothing shows more strikingly that Christ is the one the Holy Spirit always has in view than this: even in these temporary rules, God cannot keep from looking ahead to His Son. No doubt the rule belonged to the earth, and to a condition that was in itself far from suitable to the mind of God. It is the condition of a slave; yet even there God has Christ before Him. If a Hebrew servant was bought, he was to serve six years, and in the seventh he was to go out free for nothing.
Applied to Christ, the first half of the verse describes His own case. He came into service alone, and by the law's own terms He could have gone out alone.
He "came in by himself," and He might have "gone out by himself" (v. 3). He was the only one who could ever have "entered into life" by keeping the commandments… He had a right to enter into life. The law knew nothing about saving a person. It promised life through obeying it: "the man who does these things shall live in them." The Lord Jesus Christ alone had earned life by obeying the law in every smallest detail, and He might have "gone out free."
But freedom on those terms would have left Him alone. The same writer explains what He chose instead.
He was the one grain of choice wheat. Had He not died, He would have remained alone — precious in Himself, but bearing no fruit. He might have "gone out free," but it would have been by Himself. He might have "entered into life," but it would have been alone. He would not do that. Instead He became obedient to death, so that He might see the fruit of the anguish of His soul, so that He might bring many sons to glory, so that He might have His wife and children. This was a voluntary act. Though free, He was free to serve; He is the One who came and had His ear bored so that He might serve for ever.
This reaches the reader too. Service and freedom are not opposites here.
Everyone has felt how painful the thought of service is to the natural heart. Unless we see that service goes together with freedom, that is what we will always think. Redemption shows us that we are free, and yet free to serve… If we did not know that we were free, we would only be seeking to serve ourselves.
- Alone. The servant who comes in single goes out single; his years of service add nothing to him.
- Alone, and free. Christ alone kept the whole law, so He alone could claim life by its terms and leave by Himself.
- Alone, and unwilling. A grain of wheat that does not die stays alone; He chose death rather than a freedom with no one in it.
- Not alone. Through that death He gains what the law could never give Him — a wife and children who leave with Him.
- Free to serve. Redemption makes service the choice of a free person, not the burden of a slave.
If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.
The rule sounds harsh. The man goes out alone, and the wife his master gave him stays behind with her children. Why did God write such a condition into His law, and who does this servant picture?
The release is real, but it is a bare release. What the servant gained while he served is not his to take.
If he was alone in becoming a slave, he should be freed alone; if his wife was with him, then both should be freed (v. 3). But if the master had given him a wife, the wife and any children she bore would still belong to the master. He could go free only by himself. This does not correspond to the grace of God today, but it illustrates the hardness of law alone.
The verse leaves only two ways out. Keep your freedom and lose your family, or keep your family and lose your freedom. Writers see the same choice in Christ, who was free to go out by Himself.
He was the one grain of choice wheat. Had He not died He would have remained alone, precious in Himself, but He would have borne no fruit. He might have "gone out free," but it would have been by Himself. He might have entered into life, but it would have been alone. He would not do that. Instead He became obedient to death, so that He might see the fruit of the anguish of His soul, so that He might "bring many sons to glory," and so that He might have His wife and children. This was a voluntary act — though free, He was free to serve.
Notice where the wife came from. The master gave her, and so she stayed the master's. Writers see the same in the Father's gift to the Son.
The heart of Jesus could not be satisfied unless He had His Bride and children with Him where He was. So He had to carry His service down into the depths of death. "If his master gives him a wife." The bride is given to Jesus, just as God gave Adam a wife. In this I can never separate the Father's love from His gift of the Church to Jesus. Nor can I separate either from the love of Jesus for the Church in giving Himself for it. … If He loves His wife, He must serve for her.
In the next verse the servant speaks. He names his master before his wife and children.
We can only wonder whether any Hebrew servant ever said, "I love my master, my wife, and my children," putting his master before his wife and children. We can only say that the master would have to be a most wonderful person to be given such a place above them. But our blessed Lord did take the servant's place. He came first to do the will of God, devoted to His glory. He came second to build a bond with redeemed people that nothing will ever be allowed to break.
The servant's choice is not just for a time. It settles his place for good — and writers say the same of Christ.
Such was the choice of Jesus — not to be merely a servant here on earth for a time. He has chosen of His own gracious will to be servant for ever. Of course He must be a divine person, the Son, and He is also the exalted Lord. Yet by His own grace He is still the servant for ever. Even in glory we shall know Him this way. What is He doing now? He gave a sample of it before He went up on high. When the time was come, He took a basin of water and a towel, and washed His disciples' feet.
If the servant stays for those he loves, their future rests on him. Applied to Christ, that is where a believer's safety comes from.
In perfect grace He holds Himself responsible to receive all who come within the range of God's purposes. He is responsible not only to receive them, but to keep them through every difficulty and trial of their winding path down here — yes, even in death itself, should it come. And He is responsible to raise them all up in the last day. Oh, how secure is the feeblest member of the Church of God!
- Given. The wife was the master's gift, so she stayed his — and in the picture, the bride is the Father's gift to the Son.
- Costly. He could keep her only at the price of his freedom. To take his freedom, he had to leave alone.
- Chosen. The servant named his master first. Christ came first to do God's will, then to bind redeemed people to Himself.
- Permanent. The choice was not for another term but for ever — a Servant still, washing feet, and known as Servant even in glory.
- Secure. The Servant keeps what He stayed for. He receives His own, holds them through every trial, and raises them at the last day.
But if the bondman shall say distinctly, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free;
The words in this verse are a slave's own declaration, spoken at the moment the law would have set him free. Commentators read it as a picture of Christ's own choice: a servant who could walk away, but stays out of love. The older translation these writers use says "servant" where the ESV says "slave."
The six years were over and the door was open.
Here we have one of the shadows of good things to come. It is a shadow of the True Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved the Church and gave Himself for it. The Hebrew servant had served the legal time, so he was free to go out. But he loved his wife and his children. His love was so great that he gave up his own freedom for their sakes. He proved his love for them by sacrificing himself. He might have gone out and enjoyed his freedom, but what of them? How could he leave them behind? Impossible.
The servant had paid everything the law could ask. So the words "if the servant plainly says" open something new.
The Hebrew servant could go out free for nothing, after six years. So Christ had completely fulfilled every possible claim on Him. But it is added, "If the servant plainly says, I love my master." From here on it is no longer a question of law at all. He really had been under law. But now something else opens up.
The master stands ahead of the wife and the children.
We cannot help wondering whether any Hebrew servant ever said, "I love my master, my wife, and my children." Those words put his master before wife and children. We can only say that the master would have to be a most wonderful person to gain such a place. But our blessed Lord took the servant's place. He came first to do the will of God in devotion to His glory. He came second to establish a relationship with redeemed men that nothing will ever break.
The verse asks for the words to be said plainly. One writer points to Christ's prayer over the cup.
In verse 5 we read, "If the servant plainly says, I love my master." How plainly He said it! He cried, "If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will!" The servant is one who does not do his own will.
One writer names who the master, the wife, and the children stand for.
The servant is the Lord Jesus, who willingly took this place in coming into the world. Now He has chosen to be a servant forever. He loves His Master (God the Father). He loves His wife (the church of God, the assembly). He loves His children (everyone who has been born again).
Commentators differ on the children. Another writer applies the three relations to "His Father (or master), to His church (or wife), and to His earthly people (or children)."
Nothing forced the choice.
He served His full time perfectly, so He could have gone out free. As He said to Peter, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" For His own part, He had no need to go to the cross. Nothing made Him go except the constraint of His own heart, and His desire to bring glory to God and to win His bride, the pearl of great price.
Love, not need, is what keeps this service going.
As long as there is need in the saint of God, there is service on the part of the Saviour. It is impossible that Jesus should not serve as long as there is a want to be met. But what about the day when there will be no need to be met? If there is no need on our part, there is love on His part, and love will always serve even when there is no question of need.
One writer hears the servant's exact words on Jesus' lips on the night before the cross, in John's Gospel.
The great Antitype of the Hebrew servant, pictured in Exodus 21:2-6, is found here saying, "I love the Father" — the equivalent of "I love My Master … I will not go out free."
- Free. The six years were finished and every claim met; the servant had a right to walk out with nothing owed.
- Love. Love, not law, produces the words of verse 5 — the master first, then the wife, then the children.
- Choice. He would not go out free, though twelve legions of angels were within reach; only His own heart held Him.
- Family. He stayed because going free meant leaving them behind. Commentators read the wife and children as the church and His own people.
- Forever. The choice made Him a servant forever — serving now in our need, and still serving in glory when no need is left.
then his master shall bring him before the judges, and shall bring him to the door, or to the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall be his bondman for ever.
A servant has served his term and can walk away free. He refuses — and three actions seal his choice: a hearing before God, a door, and an awl.
Nothing holds this servant back. He can walk out, and stays only for love.
As far as he himself was concerned, the servant was completely free to go. He had met every claim, and could walk away in freedom no one could question. But because he loved his master, his wife, and his children, he chose to bind himself to service for life. And not only that: he was also willing to carry the marks of that service on his own body.
The ESV reads "bring him to God." Older versions say "to the judges." One word lies behind both:
In Exodus 21:6 — and twice in chapter 22:9, and once in chapter 22:8 — the word for "judges" is "elohim," which means God. That is because the judge stands there for God, and God has established the authorities that exist. We are to submit to them.
The doorway marks where a household begins and ends.
The doorpost was the sign of personal limits; by it the family entered, and no one else had the right. So it was not something a stranger could claim. Above all, it belonged to the household. This is also why the blood of the Passover lamb was put on the doorpost. As far as that house was concerned, it held back the hand of God from the firstborn inside — but from no one else.
The mark costs him something. The quote below uses the older wording of Psalm 40:6, because the point turns on that one word.
This is far from obedience forced by the threat of punishment. The slave chooses to suffer pain and shed his blood rather than stop serving. And there is no doubt that the right reading of this sees it as a picture of the divine Servant. Of His own will He binds Himself to service for ever, because He loves God and the spiritual Bride. In Psalm 40:6 He says, "You have opened My ears." The word translated "opened," kahhrah, is translated "pierced" in Psalm 22:16 (my hands and my feet).
Another commentator names who each figure in the scene pictures, and why the ear was the part marked.
The servant is the Lord Jesus, who willingly took this place when He came into the world (Philippians 2:7). He has willingly decided to be a servant forever, because He loves His Master (God the Father), He loves His wife (the church of God, the assembly), and He loves His children (every person who has been born again). The boring of the ear teaches us something too. A hearing ear is the main mark of a true servant. Here the boring of it reminds us of the death of the Lord Jesus in obedience to His Father's will. That death confirms that He is a servant forever.
Writing on the Gospel of John, another commentator hears the servant's own words from the Lord:
The Hebrew servant of Exodus 21:2-6 pictured a greater Servant. Here that Servant is found saying, "I love the Father." It means the same as "I love My Master … I will not go out free." And in John 13:1 we already had the statement of His love for those pictured by the wife and children in Exodus.
He could still have walked away at that moment. He did not.
So the Lord presented Himself in this wonderful way as taking the form of a servant, with His ear bored. This was not about His becoming a man. But when He had served the seven years, He says, I will not go out free. He remains a servant for ever. He might have had twelve legions of angels and gone out free; but that is not what He came for. He said, I will be a servant for ever.
The servant stayed for love, and those he stayed for are kept by that love.
Jesus loves the Father. The security of every member of the redeemed family matches the strength of that love. When a sinner believes on the name of the Son of God, his salvation is, in one sense, simply the expression of Christ's love to the Father.
- Free — The servant owed nothing and could walk out. He stayed only because he loved.
- Declared — He says his reason aloud, and his master brings him before God. The choice is public.
- Marked — The awl draws blood at the doorpost, where the Passover blood also went.
- Forever — The pierced ear fixes the choice for good. The One it pictures could have called twelve legions of angels and left. He would not.
- Secure — Love for the Master sealed the bond, so the wife and children are as safe as that love is strong.