21:20 “If a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she 1 dies as a result of the blow, 2 he will surely be punished. 3
21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, 4 he will let the servant 5 go free 6 as compensation for the eye.
1 tn Heb “so that he”; the words “or she” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2 tn Heb “under his hand.”
3 tn Heb “will be avenged” (how is not specified).
4 tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”
5 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.