Exodus 21:26

“If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ¹  he will let the servant ²  go free ³  as compensation for the eye.

Ex 21:20; De 16:19; Ne 5:5; Job 31:13-15; Ps 9:12; Ps 10:14,18; Ps 72:12-14; Pr 22:22,23; Eph 6:9; Col 4:1

¹ 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.”

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ 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.