Exodus 21:20

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

American King James Version (AKJV)

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

American Standard Version (ASV)

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

If a man gives his man-servant or his woman-servant blows with a rod, causing death, he is certainly to undergo punishment.

Webster's Revision

And if a man shall smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he shall die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.

World English Bible

"If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

English Revised Version (ERV)

And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall surely be punished.

Definitions for Exodus 21:20

Smite - To strike; beat.

Barnes's Exodus 21:20 Bible Commentary

The Jewish authorities appear to be right in referring this law, like those in Exodus 21:26-27, Exodus 21:32, to foreign slaves (see Leviticus 25:44-46). The protection here afforded to the life of a slave may seem to us but a slight one; but it is the very earliest trace of such protection in legislation, and it stands in strong and favorable contrast with the old laws of Greece, Rome, and other nations. If the slave survived the castigation a day or two, the master did not become amenable to the law, because the loss of the slave was accounted, under the circumstances, as a punishment.

Wesley's Exodus 21:20 Bible Commentary

21:20 Direction is given what should be done, if a servant died by his master's correction. This servant must not be an Israelite, but a Gentile slave, as the Negroes to our planters; and it is supposed that he smite him with a rod, and not with any thing that was likely to give a mortal wound, yet if he died under his hand, he should be punished for his cruelty, at the discretion of the judges, upon consideration of circumstances.

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