Exodus 21

Exodus 21:2

(1) An Hebrew might sell himself or his children in extreme poverty; Deut. xv

Exodus 21:12

Lev. xxv 39. Neh. v. 5. (2) Magistrates might sell a person for theft; ch. xxii. 3. (3) He might be sold by his creditors for debt; 2 Kings iv. 1. Mat. xviii

Exodus 21:25

To such bond-servants masters often gave heathen maid-slaves, as a kind of wives or concubines, to heget other slaves. X

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. XXI.—How just, gracious, and condescending, must God, the giver of these laws, be! How mindful of the welfare of mankind! How profitable to be his voluntary servants! His providence extends even to that which appears accidental; and he exercises the most exact care to preserve the innocent, and at the same time punish the guilty. Let me therefore take heed that neither I, nor what pertains to me, prove hurtful to my neighbour, or to his property! Suppose no laws of men can punish me, the vengeance of God can overtake me. Let me rather, as an elect vessel, put on bowels of mercy and long-suffering; put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Meanwhile, in those voluntary bond-servants I may behold Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, from love to his Father, from love to his chosen people, solemnly surrendering himself to be his Father’s bond-servant in our stead, till he should finish the whole obedience and suffering due from us;—and to be his honorary servant for ever for our good, that he might bestow upon us all his unsearchable blessings in time and eternity