Exodus 21:27

27 If the owner knocks out the tooth of the male or female slave, the slave must be released and go free because of the 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, bruise for bruise.
26 "If a slave owner hits the eye of a slave or handmaid and ruins it, the owner must let the slave go free because of the eye.
27 If the owner knocks out the tooth of the male or female slave, the slave must be released and go free because of the tooth.
28 "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned. The meat cannot be eaten but the owner of the ox is in the clear.
29 But if the ox has a history of goring and the owner knew it and did nothing to guard against it, then if the ox kills a man or a woman, the ox is to be stoned and the owner given the death penalty.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.