What is an eved ivri, and who could become one?

An eved ivri is a Hebrew slave — an Israelite who sold himself into servitude because of poverty, or who was sold by a court to pay restitution for theft (Exodus 22:3). He is not a chattel slave but functions as a hired worker with fixed-term service (Leviticus 25:40). The Torah’s slave laws regulate a form of debt servitude that already existed, imposing limits and protections.

What happens in the seventh year under Exodus 21:2?

The slave goes free automatically, “for nothing” — chinam. The master cannot demand payment for early release; freedom in the seventh year is unconditional. Deuteronomy 15:13–14 adds that the slave must be sent away with gifts: grain, wine, and livestock from the master’s flocks, so that he leaves with resources, not empty-handed.

What is the ear-piercing ceremony in Exodus 21:6, and why the ear?

When a slave voluntarily chooses to remain permanently rather than accept freedom, his master bores his ear with an awl at the doorpost — marking him as a permanent servant. The Talmud (Kiddushin 22b) explains the ear was chosen because it heard at Sinai “the Israelites are my servants” (Leviticus 25:55) — yet the man preferred human servitude. The doorpost recalls Egypt’s doorposts of liberation, marking his rejection of freedom.

Why does the slave’s wife and children not go free with him in the seventh year?

If the master gave the slave a wife during his service, she and any children belong to the master’s household — they entered through the master’s generosity. The slave goes free, but his family remains. If he chooses to stay for their sake, he undergoes the ear-piercing and serves permanently. This creates the choice point; the law does not force him to abandon his family.

How does Deuteronomy 15:15’s memory of Egypt motivate the slave release law?

The verse commands: “you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD redeemed you.” Israel’s national experience of slavery and liberation is the direct moral ground for releasing Hebrew slaves in the seventh year. The law is not merely humanitarian — it is theological memory encoded into legal obligation.

Commandment #183 · Positive · Social & Ethical Laws

Six Years He Shall Serve: Laws of the Hebrew Male Slave

עֶבֶד עִבְרִי

Source: Exodus 21:2 · Maimonides, Sefer HaMitzvot, Positive #233

Exodus 21 opens the Covenant Code (mishpatim) with the laws of the Hebrew slave. The term “eved ivri” (Hebrew slave) refers to an Israelite who sold himself into servitude due to poverty, or who was sold by the court for theft (Exodus 22:3). He is not to be treated as a permanent slave but as a hired worker: Leviticus 25:40 — “as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with you.” The six-year limit is fixed; the seventh year brings unconditional freedom.

Six Years and Then Free: The Structure of the Law

כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד וּבַשְּׁבִיעִת יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי חִנָּם

"When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing."

Exodus 21:2 — Open in Torah Reader

The law is precise: six years of service, free in the seventh “for nothing” (chinam — without payment). The master cannot demand the slave buy his freedom; release is automatic. The Talmud (Kiddushin 14b–22b) fills in the conditions: the clock starts from the purchase; the seventh year of freedom is the slave’s own personal seventh year, not necessarily the sabbatical year of the land. Deuteronomy 15:13 adds a further obligation: the master must send the freed slave away with provisions — grain, wine, livestock. He is not to be sent away empty-handed.

The Ear-Piercing Ceremony: Choosing to Stay

וְאִם אָמֹר יֹאמַר הָעֶבֶד אָהַבְתִּי אֶת אֲדֹנִי אֶת אִשְׁתִּי וְאֶת בָּנַי לֹא אֵצֵא חָפְשִׁי

"But if the slave plainly says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,”"

Exodus 21:5 — Open in Torah Reader

Exodus 21:5–6 describes the scenario: the slave has been given a wife and children by his master during his service; when freedom comes, his wife and children remain with the master (they belong to the master’s household). If he loves them and chooses to remain, he undergoes a ceremony: the master brings him to God (the doorpost), bores his ear with an awl, and he serves permanently. The Talmud (Kiddushin 22b) asks why the ear? Because the ear that heard at Sinai “the Israelites are my servants” (Leviticus 25:55) — not servants of servants — yet preferred human servitude should be marked. The doorpost recalls the doorpost of Egypt — the very symbol of liberation — to mark the choice against freedom.

Key Figures

Joseph Sold into Slavery

Genesis 37 records Joseph sold to Ishmaelite traders for twenty silver pieces — the same price Exodus 21:32 sets as damages for a gored slave. Joseph’s Egyptian bondage was involuntary; the laws of Exodus 21 are precisely the protections that would have governed a Hebrew sold into similar service within Israel. The commandment encodes the protection Joseph lacked.

The Sabbatical Year and Slave Release

Deuteronomy 15 connects the seventh-year slave release to the memory of Egypt: “you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today.” Israel’s own liberation narrative is the moral ground for every Hebrew slave’s right to freedom. The Exodus is not merely historical memory — it generates legal obligation in every generation.

Study Questions

For reflection and group study

What does “in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing” (Exodus 21:2) imply about the master’s obligations when the slave’s term expires?

Why does Deuteronomy 15:13–14 add the obligation to send the freed slave away with provisions — what does this add to the release commandment?

What is the theological reason the Talmud (Kiddushin 22b) gives for piercing the ear specifically, and why at the doorpost?

Why does an eved ivri who received a wife from his master face a different situation at the time of release than a slave who arrived already married?

How does the command to remember Egypt in Deuteronomy 15:15 ground the Hebrew slave law in Israel’s own narrative of liberation?

Read the full passage in the Torah reader.

Open Exodus 21 in the Bible Reader

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