Exodus 21:16

16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death. ¹

Exodus 21:16 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 21:16

And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him
One of the children of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so the Septuagint version: but though this law was given to the Israelites primarily, yet was made for men stealers in general, as the apostle observes, who plainly has reference to it, ( 1 Timothy 1:9 1 Timothy 1:10 ) :

or if he be found in his hand;
before the selling of him, as Jarchi notes, since he stole him in order to sell him, he was guilty of death, as follows:

he shall surely be put to death;
with strangling, as the same Jewish writer remarks, as on the preceding verse; and Jarchi sets it down as a rule, that all death in the law, simply expressed, is strangling.

Exodus 21:16 In-Context

14 But when someone gets angry and deliberately kills someone else, he is to be put to death, even if he has run to my altar for safety.

15 "Whoever hits his father or his mother is to be put to death.

16 "Whoever kidnaps someone, either to sell him or to keep him as a slave, is to be put to death.

17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother is to be put to death.

18 "If there is a fight and someone hits someone else with a stone or with his fist, but does not kill him, he is not to be punished. If the one who was hit has to stay in bed, but later is able to get up and walk outside with the help of a cane, the one who hit him is to pay for his lost time and take care of him until he gets well.

Cross References

• 1. 21.16Deuteronomy 24.7.