Exodus 21:20

20 If a man gives his man-servant or his woman-servant blows with a rod, causing death, he is certainly to undergo punishment.

Exodus 21:20 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:20

And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod
A Canaanitish servant or maid, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; and that only with a rod for the correction of them, and not with a sword or any such destroying weapon, which would seem as though he intended to kill, yet nevertheless:

and he die under his hand;
immediately, while he is smiting or beating him or her, on the same day, as the above Targum interprets it:

he shall be surely punished;
or condemned to the punishment of being slain with the sword, as the said Targum and Jarchi explain it: this law was made to deter masters from using severity and cruelty towards their servants.

Exodus 21:20 In-Context

18 If, in a fight, one man gives another a blow with a stone, or with the shut hand, not causing his death, but making him keep in bed;

19 If he is able to get up again and go about with a stick, the other will be let off; only he will have to give him payment for the loss of his time, and see that he is cared for till he is well.

20 If a man gives his man-servant or his woman-servant blows with a rod, causing death, he is certainly to undergo punishment.

21 But, at the same time, if the servant goes on living for a day or two, the master is not to get punishment, for the servant is his property.

22 If men, while fighting, do damage to a woman with child, causing the loss of the child, but no other evil comes to her, the man will have to make payment up to the amount fixed by her husband, in agreement with the decision of the judges.