Exodus 21:4

Literal Standard Version

if his lord gives a wife to him, and she has borne sons or daughters to him—the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goes out by himself.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

King James Version
If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

Lexham English Bible
If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the slave will go out single.

New Century Version
If the slave's master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the woman and her children will belong to the master. When the slave is set free, only he may leave.

New English Translation
If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

Amplified Bible
"If his master gives him a wife, and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave [your service] alone.

New American Standard Bible
"If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall leave alone.

Geneva Bible (1587)
If his master haue giuen him a wife, and she hath borne him sonnes or daughters, he wife and her children shalbe her masters, but he shall goe out himselfe alone.

Legacy Standard Bible
If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone.

Contemporary English Version
If you give him a wife, and they have children, only the man himself must be set free; his wife and children remain the property of his owner.

Complete Jewish Bible
But if his master gave him a wife, and she bore him sons or daughters, then the wife and her children will belong to her master, and he will leave by himself.

Darby Translation
If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.

Easy-to-Read Version
If the slave is not married, the master can give him a wife. If that wife gives birth to sons or daughters, she and her children will belong to the master. After the slave is finished with his years of service, he will be made free.

English Standard Version
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone.

George Lamsa Translation
If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be his masters and he shall go out alone.

Good News Translation
If his master gave him a wife and she bore him sons or daughters, the woman and her children belong to the master, and the man is to leave by himself.

Christian Standard Bible®
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.

Literal Translation
If his master gives him a wife, and she bears sons or daughters to him, the wife and her children shall belong to her master; and he shall go out with his body.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf his master haue geue him a wife, & she haue borne him sonnes or doughters, the shal the wife and ye children be the masters, but he shall go out alone.

American Standard Version
If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

Bible in Basic English
If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And if his maister haue geuen hym a wyfe, and she haue borne him sonnes or daughters: then the wyfe and her chyldren shalbe her maisters, and he shall go out alone.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

King James Version (1611)
If his master haue giuen him a wife, and she haue borne him sonnes or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her masters, and he shall go out by himselfe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Moreover, if his master give him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be his master’s; and he shall go forth alone.

English Revised Version
If his master give him a wife, and she bear him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

Berean Standard Bible
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But if the lord of the servaunt yaf a wijf to hym, and sche childide sones and douytris, the womman and hir children schulen be hir lordis; sotheli the seruaunt schal go out with his owne clooth.

Young's Literal Translation
if his lord give to him a wife, and she hath borne to him sons or daughters -- the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goeth out by himself.

Update Bible Version
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

Webster's Bible Translation
If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall depart by himself.

World English Bible
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

New King James Version
If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.

New Living Translation
"If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave and they had sons or daughters, then only the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master.

New Life Bible
If his owner gives him a wife and she gives birth to his sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her owner, and he will leave by himself.

New Revised Standard
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If his lord gave him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her lords, and, he shall go out by himself.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But if his master gave him a wife, and she hath borne sons and daughters; the woman and her children shall be her master’s: but he himself shall go out with his raiment.

Revised Standard Version
If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's and he shall go out alone.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone.

Contextual Overview

¹And these [are] the judgments which you set before them: ²When you buy a Hebrew servant, he serves [for] six years, and in the seventh he goes out as a freeman for nothing; ³if he comes in by himself, he goes out by himself; if he [is] owner of a wife, then his wife has gone out with him; ⁴if his lord gives a wife to him, and she has borne sons or daughters to him—the wife and her children are her lord's, and he goes out by himself.⁵And if the servant really says: I have loved my lord, my wife, and my sons—I do not go out free, ⁶then his lord has brought him near to God, and has brought him near to the door, or to the doorpost, and his lord has bored his ear with an awl, and he has served him for all time. ⁷And when a man sells his daughter for a handmaid, she does not go out according to the going out of the menservants; ⁸if [it is] evil in the eyes of her lord, so that he has not betrothed her, then he has let her be ransomed; he has no power to sell her to a strange people, in his dealing treacherously with her. ⁹And if he betroths her to his son, he does to her according to the right of daughters. ¹⁰If he takes another [woman] for him, he does not withdraw her food, her covering, and her habitation;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

shall be her: Exodus 4:22, Genesis 14:14, Genesis 15:3, Genesis 17:13, Genesis 17:27, Genesis 18:19, Ecclesiastes 2:7, Jeremiah 2:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 16:2 - obtain children

Cross-References

Genesis 21:10
and she says to Abraham, "Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid has no possession with my son—with Isaac."

Genesis 21:12
and God says to Abraham, "Let it not be wrong in your eyes because of the youth, and because of your handmaid: all that Sarah says to you—listen to her voice, for in Isaac is a seed called to you.

Genesis 21:22
And it comes to pass at that time that Abimelech speaks—Phichol also, head of his host—to Abraham, saying, "God [is] with you in all that you are doing;

Genesis 21:23
and now, swear to me by God here: you do not lie to me, or to my continuator, or to my successor; according to the kindness which I have done with you—do with me, and with the land in which you have sojourned."

Exodus 12:48
And when a sojourner sojourns with you, and has made a Passover to YHWH, every male of his [is] to be circumcised, and then he comes near to keep it, and he has been as a native of the land, but any uncircumcised one does not eat of it;

Leviticus 12:3
and in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin is circumcised;

Deuteronomy 12:32
The whole thing which I am commanding you, you observe to do it; you do not add to it, nor diminish from it."

Luke 1:6
and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the LORD blameless,

Luke 1:59
And it came to pass, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were calling him by the name of his father, Zacharias,

Luke 2:21
And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the Child, then was His Name called Jesus, having been so called by the messenger before His being conceived in the womb.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If his master have given him a wife,.... One of his slaves, a Canaanitish woman, on purpose to beget slaves on her, since all born in his house were his own; this is supposed to be after he was come into his house, and into his service:

and she have born him sons or daughters; as she might have born him several of the one sort, or the other, if she was given to him quickly after his servitude began:

the wife and her children shall be her master's: she being his slave, and bought with his money, he had a right unto her, and to the children belonging to her, the birth following the belly; and being born in his house, they were also his. Jarchi here observes, that the Scripture speaks of a Canaanitish woman, for an Hebrew woman went out at the sixth year, and even before the sixth, if she produced the signs, that is, of puberty:

and he shall go out by himself; without his wife and children: if it be objected to this law, that it is contrary to the law of marriage, which is indissoluble, but by this dissolved; it may be replied, that the servant was not obliged by it to leave his wife, unless he chose it; on complying with certain conditions after mentioned, he might continue with her; besides, she was, according to Jarchi, but his secondary wife, and not only so, the marriage was not lawful, being with a Canaanitish woman, and not agreeable to the Lord; and being also her master's slave, to whom he had a right, he could retain her if he pleased, having only given her to his servant to beget slaves on for him.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 21:4. The wife and her children shall be her master's — It was a law among the Hebrews, that if a Hebrew had children by a Canannitish woman, those children must be considered as Canaanitish only, and might be sold and bought, and serve for ever. The law here refers to such a case only.