Then thou shall take an awl, and thrust it through his
ear
unto the door
Not of his master's house, but of the sanhedrim, or court of
judicature, according to the Targum of Jonathan, before whom he
was to be brought, and declare his desire to continue with his
master; (See Gill on Exodus
21:6),
and he shall be thy servant for ever;
that is, unto the jubilee, as the same Targum; for then all
servants were released, and so Jarchi calls it the ever of
jubilee:
and also unto thy maidservant thou shall do
likewise;
not bore her ear, for, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra, and others
say, she was not to be bored; though some are of opinion that a
maidservant who was willing to continue with her master was to be
bored as a manservant; but this respects the manner of dismissing
her, or letting her go free, when she was not to go empty, but to
be liberally furnished and supplied, as a manservant was.