Exodus 21:9 Study Bible: If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.

◄ Exodus 21:9 ►

And if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her as with a daughter.

And if he chooses her for his son
This phrase refers to the practice in ancient Israel where a man might arrange for a female servant to become a wife for his son. The Hebrew word for "chooses" is "יעד" (ya'ad), which implies a deliberate and purposeful decision. This reflects the cultural and familial responsibilities of the time, where marriages were often arranged to strengthen family ties and ensure the well-being of the woman. The father's choice signifies a protective and providential role, ensuring that the woman is integrated into the family with dignity and respect.

he must deal with her
The phrase underscores the obligation of the father to treat the woman with fairness and justice. The Hebrew root "עשה" (asah) for "deal" conveys the idea of doing or making, implying active and ongoing responsibility. This reflects the biblical principle of justice and righteousness, where individuals are called to act with integrity and compassion. The father's duty is not merely transactional but relational, ensuring that the woman is treated with the same care and consideration as any family member.

as with a daughter
This phrase elevates the status of the woman from a servant to a family member, highlighting the transformative power of covenant relationships in the biblical narrative. The Hebrew word "בת" (bat) for "daughter" signifies a position of honor and belonging within the family unit. This reflects God's heart for inclusion and equality, where every individual is valued and cherished. The instruction to treat her "as with a daughter" is a call to love, protect, and provide for her as one would for their own child, embodying the biblical ideals of family and community.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Hebrew Servant Girl
The context of this verse involves a Hebrew servant girl who may be selected by her master for marriage to his son.

2. Master
The individual who has the authority to arrange the marriage of the servant girl to his son.

3. Son
The master's son, who is the intended husband of the servant girl.

4. Israelite Society
The cultural and legal backdrop of ancient Israel, where these laws were given to ensure justice and protection for vulnerable individuals.

5. Mosaic Law
The broader legal framework given by God through Moses, which includes various civil, ceremonial, and moral laws.

Teaching Points

Value and Dignity of Individuals
This law underscores the importance of treating all individuals with dignity and respect, regardless of their social status.

Family Integration
The requirement to treat the servant girl as a daughter upon marriage to the son highlights the importance of family integration and acceptance.

God’s Justice and Care for the Vulnerable
This law reflects God's concern for the vulnerable and marginalized, ensuring they are protected and valued within society.

Marriage as a Covenant
The verse reinforces the idea of marriage as a covenant relationship that requires commitment and respect.

Cultural Context and Timeless Principles
While the cultural context of this law is ancient, the principles of justice, dignity, and family are timeless and applicable today.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the requirement to treat the servant girl as a daughter reflect God's character and His concern for justice?

2. In what ways can we apply the principle of treating others with dignity and respect in our modern context?

3. How does the integration of the servant girl into the family as a daughter relate to the New Testament teaching of unity and equality in Christ?

4. What are some practical ways we can ensure that vulnerable individuals in our communities are protected and valued?

5. How can understanding the cultural context of ancient Israel help us apply the principles of the Mosaic Law to our lives today?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Genesis 2:24
This verse establishes the foundational principle of marriage, where a man leaves his parents and unites with his wife, becoming one flesh. It underscores the sanctity and seriousness of marriage, which is relevant to the treatment of the servant girl as a daughter.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4
These verses discuss the laws of divorce, highlighting the importance of treating marriage with respect and dignity, which aligns with the requirement to treat the servant girl as a daughter.

Galatians 3:28
This New Testament verse emphasizes equality in Christ, which can be seen as a fulfillment of the principles of justice and equality found in the Old Testament laws.

Sermons

Regulations for the Treatment of Slaves	D. Young	Exodus 21:1-11
Hebrew Bond-Service	J. Orr	Exodus 21:2-12
Degraded Condition of Girls in Africa		Exodus 21:7-11

People

Moses

Places

Mount Sinai

Topics

Appointed, Betroth, Betrothed, Custom, Daughter, Daughters, Deal, Designates, Espouse, Gives, Grant, Law, Manner, Marries, Rights, Selects

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Exodus 21:9

Exodus 21:2-11

Exodus 21:2-14

Exodus 21:7-9

Exodus 21:7-11

5672 concubines
7447 slavery, in OT

Exodus 21:8-11

5415 money, uses of

Library

The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws
[Sidenote: First the principle, and then the detailed laws] If the canon of the New Testament had remained open as long as did that of the Old, there is little doubt that it also would have contained many laws, legal precedents, and ecclesiastical histories. From the writings of the Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic Church it is possible to conjecture what these in general would have been. The early history of Christianity illustrates the universal fact that the broad principles are …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Kinsman Redeemer
'After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him.'--LEV. xxv. 48. There are several of the institutions and precepts of the Mosaic legislation which, though not prophetic, nor typical, have yet remarkable correspondences with lofty Christian truth. They may be used as symbols, if only we remember that we are diverting them from their original purpose. How singularly these words lend themselves to the statement of the very central truths of Christianity--a slavery …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Non-Resistance
'Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.'--MATT. v. 38-42. The old law …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Discourse of the Building, Nature, Excellency, and Government of the House of God; with Counsels and Directions to the Inhabitants Thereof.
BY JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. 'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'--Psalm 26:8 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Beautiful in its simplicity is this treatise on the Church of Christ, by John Bunyan. He opens, with profound knowledge and eminent skill, all those portions of sacred writ which illustrate the nature, excellency, and government of the house of God, with the personal and relative duties of its inhabitants. It was originally published in …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
BY A.E. GRIMKE. "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go in unto the king, …
Angelina Emily Grimke—An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South

The Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force Has Been Professed by a Minority of Men from the Very Foundation of Christianity. Of the Book "What
CHAPTER I. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. Of the Book "What I Believe"--The Correspondence Evoked by it-- Letters from Quakers--Garrison's Declaration--Adin Ballou, his Works, his Catechism--Helchitsky's "Net of Faith"--The Attitude of the World to Works Elucidating Christ's Teaching--Dymond's Book "On War"--Musser's "Non-resistance Asserted"--Attitude of the Government in 1818 to Men who Refused to …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

The Sermon on the Mount - the Kingdom of Christ and Rabbinic Teaching.
It was probably on one of those mountain-ranges, which stretch to the north of Capernaum, that Jesus had spent the night of lonely prayer, which preceded the designation of the twelve to the Apostolate. As the soft spring morning broke, He called up those who had learned to follow Him, and from among them chose the twelve, who were to be His Ambassadors and Representatives. [2500] [2501] But already the early light had guided the eager multitude which, from all parts, had come to the broad level …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Deputation from Jerusalem - the Three Sects of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes - Examination of their Distinctive Doctrines.
APART from the repulsively carnal form which it had taken, there is something absolutely sublime in the continuance and intensity of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah. It outlived not only the delay of long centuries, but the persecutions and scattering of the people; it continued under the disappointment of the Maccabees, the rule of a Herod, the administration of a corrupt and contemptible Priesthood, and, finally, the government of Rome as represented by a Pilate; nay, it grew in intensity …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.' Exod 20: 13. In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, Thou shalt not kill,' and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others. The sin forbidden is murder: Thou shalt not kill.' Here two things are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves. I. The not injuring another. [1] We must not injure another in his name. A good name is a precious balsam.' It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others in …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

That Deep Things Ought not to be Preached at all to Weak Souls.
But the preacher should know how to avoid drawing the mind of his hearer beyond its strength, lest, so to speak, the string of the soul, when stretched more than it can bear, should be broken. For all deep things should be covered up before a multitude of hearers, and scarcely opened to a few. For hence the Truth in person says, Who, thinkest thou, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord has appointed over his household, to give them their measure of wheat in due season? (Luke xii. 42). …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

In Death and after Death
A sadder picture could scarcely be drawn than that of the dying Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai, that "light of Israel" immediately before and after the destruction of the Temple, and for two years the president of the Sanhedrim. We read in the Talmud (Ber. 28 b) that, when his disciples came to see him on his death-bed, he burst into tears. To their astonished inquiry why he, "the light of Israel, the right pillar of the Temple, and its mighty hammer," betrayed such signs of fear, he replied: "If I were …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia.
Part I. History of the Councils. Reason why two Councils were called. Inconsistency and folly of calling any; and of the style of the Arian formularies; occasion of the Nicene Council; proceedings at Ariminum; Letter of the Council to Constantius; its decree. Proceedings at Seleucia; reflections on the conduct of the Arians. 1. Perhaps news has reached even yourselves concerning the Council, which is at this time the subject of general conversation; for letters both from the Emperor and the Prefects …
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

The Section Chap. I. -iii.
The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most fully in Marckius's "Diatribe de uxore fornicationum," Leyden, 1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same author. The various views may be divided into three classes. 1. It is maintained by very many interpreters, …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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