Exodus 21:11

11 If he does not give her these three things, she may go free, and she owes him no money.

Exodus 21:11 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:11

And if he do not these three unto her
Not the three things last mentioned; though this sense, Aben Ezra says, many of their interpreters give, which is rejected by him, so do some Christian expositors; but these three things are, espousing her to himself, or to his son, or redeeming her by the hand of her father; that is, letting her be redeemed by him, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Melech: the meaning is, if one or other of these things are not done,

then shall she go out free without money;
be dismissed from her servitude, and not obliged to pay anything for her freedom; the Targum of Jonathan adds, he shall give her a bill of divorce; that is, the son to whom she had been betrothed, and another wife taken by him, and she denied the above things; which favours the first sense.

Exodus 21:11 In-Context

9 If the man who bought her promises to let the woman marry his son, he must treat her as a daughter.

10 If the man who bought her marries another woman, he must not keep his first wife from having food or clothing or sexual relations.

11 If he does not give her these three things, she may go free, and she owes him no money.

12 "Anyone who hits a person and kills him must be put to death.

13 But if a person kills someone accidentally, God allowed that to happen, so the person must go to a place I will choose.