Deuteronomy 15:17

17 then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear and into the door; and he shall be thy bondman for ever. And also unto thy handmaid thou shalt do likewise.

Deuteronomy 15:17 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 15:17

Then thou shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear
unto the door
Not of his master's house, but of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, according to the Targum of Jonathan, before whom he was to be brought, and declare his desire to continue with his master; (See Gill on Exodus 21:6),

and he shall be thy servant for ever;
that is, unto the jubilee, as the same Targum; for then all servants were released, and so Jarchi calls it the ever of jubilee:

and also unto thy maidservant thou shall do likewise;
not bore her ear, for, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra, and others say, she was not to be bored; though some are of opinion that a maidservant who was willing to continue with her master was to be bored as a manservant; but this respects the manner of dismissing her, or letting her go free, when she was not to go empty, but to be liberally furnished and supplied, as a manservant was.

Deuteronomy 15:17 In-Context

15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God redeemed thee; therefore I command thee this thing to-day.

16 And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee, -- because he loveth thee and thy house, because he is well with thee, --

17 then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear and into the door; and he shall be thy bondman for ever. And also unto thy handmaid thou shalt do likewise.

18 Let it not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee; for double the worth of a hired servant hath he been to thee, [in] serving thee six years; and Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all that thou doest.

19 Every firstling that is born among thy kine and among thy sheep that is a male, thou shalt hallow to Jehovah thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy kine, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.