Exodus 21
1 Hæc sunt judicia quæ propones eis.
“Here are some [other] instructions to give to [the Israeli people]:
2 Si emeris servum hebræum, sex annis serviet tibi: in septimo egredietur liber gratis.
When/If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve you for [only] six years. In the seventh year you must free him [from being your slave], and he is not required to pay you anything [for setting him free].
3 Cum quali veste intraverit, cum tali exeat: si habens uxorem, et uxor egredietur simul.
If he was not married before he became your slave, and if he marries [someone while he is your slave], his wife is not to be set free [with him]. But if he was married before he became your slave, you must free both him and his wife.
4 Sin autem dominus dederit illi uxorem, et pepererit filios et filias: mulier et liberi ejus erunt domini sui, ipse vero exibit cum vestitu suo.
If a slave’s master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters [while her husband is a slave], only the man is to be freed. His wife and children will continue to be slaves of their master.
5 Quod si dixerit servus: Diligo dominum meum et uxorem ac liberos; non egrediar liber:
But when it is time for the slave to be set free, if the slave says, ‘I love my master and my wife and my children, and I do not want to be set free,’
6 offeret eum dominus diis, et applicabitur ad ostium et postes, perforabitque aurem ejus subula: et erit ei servus in sæculum.
then his master must take him to [the place where they worship] God (OR, to [the owner’s] house). There he must make the slave stand against the door or the doorpost. Then the master will use an (awl/pointed metal rod) to make a hole in the slave’s ear. Then [he will fasten a tag to the slave’s ear to indicate that] (he will own that slave for the rest of his life/he will own the slave as long as the slave lives).
7 Si quis vendiderit filiam suam in famulam, non egredietur sicut ancillæ exire consueverunt.
If a man sells his daughter to become a slave, she should not be set free [after six years], as the male slaves are.
8 Si displicuerit oculis domini sui cui tradita fuerat, dimittet eam: populo autem alieno vendendi non habebit potestatem, si spreverit eam.
If the man who bought her wanted her to be his wife, but if [later] he is not pleased with her, he must sell her back to her father. He must not sell her to a foreigner, because that would be breaking the contract/agreement [he made with the girl’s father].
9 Sin autem filio suo desponderit eam, juxta morem filiarum faciet illi.
If the man who buys her wants her to be a wife for his son, he must then treat her as though she were his own daughter.
10 Quod si alteram ei acceperit, providebit puellæ nuptias, et vestimenta, et pretium pudicitiæ non negabit.
If the master takes another slave girl to be another wife for himself, he must continue to give the first slave wife the same amount of food and clothing that he gave to her before, and he must continue to have sex [EUP] with her as before.
11 Si tria ista non fecerit, egredietur gratis absque pecunia.
If he does not do all these three things for her, he must free her [from being a slave], and she is not required to pay anything [for being set free].
12 Qui percusserit hominem volens occidere, morte moriatur.
You must execute anyone who strikes another person with the result that the person who is struck dies.
13 Qui autem non est insidiatus, sed Deus illum tradidit in manus ejus, constituam tibi locum in quem fugere debeat.
But if the one who struck the other did not intend to kill that person, the one who struck him can escape to a place that I will choose for you, [and he will be safe there].
14 Si quis per industriam occiderit proximum suum, et per insidias: ab altari meo evelles eum, ut moriatur.
But if someone gets angry with another person and kills him, even if the murderer runs to the altar, [a place that God designated as a place to be safe], you must execute him.
15 Qui percusserit patrem suum aut matrem, morte moriatur.
Anyone who strikes his father or mother must surely be executed.
16 Qui furatus fuerit hominem, et vendiderit eum, convictus noxæ, morte moriatur.
Anyone who kidnaps another person, either in order to sell that person or to keep him as a slave, must be executed.
17 Qui maledixerit patri suo, vel matri, morte moriatur.
Anyone who reviles/curses his father or his mother must be executed.
18 Si rixati fuerint viri, et percusserit alter proximum suum lapide vel pugno, et ille mortuus non fuerit, sed jacuerit in lectulo:
Suppose two people fight, and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist. And suppose the person he strikes does not die but is injured and has to stay in bed [for a while],
19 si surrexerit, et ambulaverit foris super baculum suum, innocens erit qui percusserit, ita tamen ut operas ejus et impensas in medicos restituat.
and later he is able to walk outside using a cane. Then the person who struck him does not have to be punished. However, he must pay the injured person the money he could not earn [while he was recovering], and he must also pay the injured person’s medical expenses until that person is well.
20 Qui percusserit servum suum, vel ancillam virga, et mortui fuerint in manibus ejus, criminis reus erit.
If someone strikes his male or female slave with a stick, if the slave dies (immediately/as a result) [IDM], the one who struck him must be punished.
21 Sin autem uno die vel duobus supervixerit, non subjacebit pœnæ, quia pecunia illius est.
But if the slave lives for a day or two after he is struck [and then dies], you must not punish the one who struck him. Not having that slave to be able to work for him any longer is enough punishment.
22 Si rixati fuerint viri, et percusserit quis mulierem prægnantem, et abortivum quidem fecerit, sed ipsa vixerit: subjacebit damno quantum maritus mulieris expetierit, et arbitri judicaverint.
Suppose two people are fighting and they hurt a pregnant woman with the result that (she has a miscarriage/her baby is born prematurely and dies). If the woman is not harmed in any other way, the one who injured her must pay a fine. He must pay whatever the woman’s husband demands, after a judge approves of the fine.
23 Sin autem mors ejus fuerit subsecuta, reddet animam pro anima,
But if the woman is injured in some additional way, the one who injured her must be caused to suffer in exactly the same way [that he caused her to suffer]. If she dies, he must be executed.
24 oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, manum pro manu, pedem pro pede,
If her eye is injured or destroyed, or if he knocks out one of her teeth, or her hand or foot is injured, or if she is burned or bruised, the one who injured her must be injured in the same way.
25 adustionem pro adustione, vulnus pro vulnere, livorem pro livore.
26 Si percusserit quispiam oculum servi sui aut ancillæ, et luscos eos fecerit, dimittet eos liberos pro oculo quem eruit.
If the owner of a slave strikes the eye of his male or female slave and ruins it, he must free that slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s eye.
27 Dentem quoque si excusserit servo vel ancillæ suæ, similiter dimittet eos liberos.
If someone knocks out one of his slave’s teeth, he must free the slave because of [what he did to] the slave’s tooth.
28 Si bos cornu percusserit virum aut mulierem, et mortui fuerint, lapidibus obruetur: et non comedentur carnes ejus, dominus quoque bovis innocens erit.
If a bull gores a man or woman with the result that the person dies, you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must not punish the owner of the bull.
29 Quod si bos cornupeta fuerit ab heri et nudiustertius, et contestati sunt dominum ejus, nec recluserit eum, occideritque virum aut mulierem: et bos lapidibus obruetur, et dominum ejus occident.
But suppose the bull had attacked people several times before, and its owner had been warned, but he did not keep the bull inside a fence. Then you [must kill the bull by] throwing stones at it, but you must also execute its owner.
30 Quod si pretium fuerit ei impositum, dabit pro anima sua quidquid fuerit postulatus.
However, if the owner of the bull is allowed to pay a fine (to save his own life/in order not to be executed), he must pay the full amount that the judges say that he must pay.
31 Filium quoque et filiam si cornu percusserit, simili sententiæ subjacebit.
If someone’s bull attacks and gores another person’s son or daughter, you must treat the bull’s owner according to that same rule.
32 Si servum ancillamque invaserit, triginta siclos argenti domino dabit, bos vero lapidibus opprimetur.
If a bull attacks and gores a male or female slave, its owner must pay to the slave’s owner 30 pieces of silver. Then you must [kill the bull by] throwing stones at it.
33 Si quis aperuerit cisternam, et foderit, et non operuerit eam, cecideritque bos aut asinus in eam,
Suppose someone has a pit/cistern and does not keep it covered, and someone’s bull or donkey falls into it [and dies].
34 reddet dominus cisternæ pretium jumentorum: quod autem mortuum est, ipsius erit.
Then the owner of the pit/cistern must pay for the animal that died. He must give the money to the animal’s owner, but then he can take away the animal that died and [do whatever he wants to with it].
35 Si bos alienus bovem alterius vulneraverit, et ille mortuus fuerit: vendent bovem vivum, et divident pretium, cadaver autem mortui inter se dispertient.
If someone’s bull hurts another person’s bull with the result that it dies, the owners of both bulls must sell the bull that is living, and they must divide [between them] the money [that they receive] for it. They must also divide [between them the meat of] the animal that died.
36 Sin autem sciebat quod bos cornupeta esset ab heri et nudiustertius, et non custodivit eum dominus suus: reddet bovem pro bove, et cadaver integrum accipiet.
However, if people know that the bull often attacked other animals previously, and its owner did not keep it inside a fence, then the owner of that bull must give the owner of the bull that died one of his own bulls, but he can take away the animal that died [and do with it whatever he wants to do].”
