Exodus 21:26

26 `And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;

Exodus 21:26 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:26

If a man smite the eye of his servant
Give him a blow on the eye in a passion, as a correction for some fault he has committed:

or the eye of his maid, that it perish;
strike her on that part in like manner, so that the eye is beaten or drops out, or however loses its sight, and "[is] blinded", as the Septuagint version; or "corrupts" it {k}, it turns black and blue, and gathers corrupt matter, and becomes a sore eye; yet if the sight is not lost, or corrupts so as to perish, this law does not take place; the Targum of Jonathan, and to Jarchi restrain this to a Canaanitish servant or maid:

he shall let him go free for his eye's sake;
or "them", as the Septuagint; his right to them as a servant was hereby forfeited, and he was obliged to give them their freedom, let the time of servitude, that was to come, be what it would. This law was made to deter masters from using their servants with cruelty, since though humanity and goodness would not restrain them from ill usage of them, their own profit and advantage by them might.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (htxv) "et corruperit eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; so Ainsworth.

Exodus 21:26 In-Context

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

26 `And when a man smiteth the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his handmaid, and hath destroyed it, as a freeman he doth send him away for his eye;

27 and if a tooth of his man-servant or a tooth of his handmaid he knock out, as a freeman he doth send him away for his tooth.

28 `And when an ox doth gore man or woman, and they have died, the ox is certainly stoned, and his flesh is not eaten, and the owner of the ox [is] acquitted;