Exodus 21:27

27 If he knocks out his male or female slave's tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth.

Exodus 21:27 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:27

And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his
maidservant's tooth
Give them such a slap on the face, or a blow on the mouth, as to strike out one of their teeth; this also the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi restrain to a Canaanitish servant or maid;

he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake;
both him and her, the servant and the maid; this, though of lesser consequence than the loss of an eye, was punished in the same manner with the loss of the servant man or maid, to make masters careful how they abused their servants in any degree. And though only these parts are expressed, yet Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, that all other principal members of the body, which they reckon to be twenty four, are included, as the fingers, toes

Exodus 21:27 In-Context

25 burn for burn, wound for wound and bruise for bruise.

26 "If a person hits his male or female slave's eye and destroys it, he must let him go free in compensation for his eye.

27 If he knocks out his male or female slave's tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth.

28 "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox is to be stoned and its flesh not eaten, but the owner of the ox will have no further liability.

29 However, if the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and the owner was warned but did not confine it, so that it ended up killing a man or a woman; then the ox is to be stoned, and its owner too is to be put to death.