Exodus 21:7

7 "When a man sells his daughter to be a handmaid, she doesn't go free after six years like the men.

Exodus 21:7 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:7

And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant
That is, if an Israelite, as the Targum of Jonathan, sells his little daughter, as the same Targum, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra, one that is under age, that is not arrived to the age of twelve years and a day, and this through poverty; he not being able to support himself and his family, puts his daughter out to service, or rather sells her to be a servant:

she shall not go out as the menservants do;
that are sold, before described; or rather, according to the Targum,

``as the Canaanitish servants go out, who are made free, because of a tooth, or an eye, (the loss of them, ( Exodus 21:26 Exodus 21:27 ) ) but in the years of release, and with the signs (of puberty), and in the jubilee, and at the death of their masters, with redemption of silver,''

so Jarchi.

Exodus 21:7 In-Context

5 But suppose the slave should say, 'I love my master and my wife and children - I don't want my freedom,'

6 then his master is to bring him before God and to a door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.

7 "When a man sells his daughter to be a handmaid, she doesn't go free after six years like the men.

8 If she doesn't please her master, her family must buy her back; her master doesn't have the right to sell her to foreigners since he broke his word to her.

9 If he turns her over to his son, he has to treat her like a daughter.