Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Exodus 21:27 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 27. 27And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Within Exodus 21:12–27, 21:27 contributes “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake,” so the line belongs to “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies” rather than an isolated slogan.
Read It With
- Exodus 21:12–27
Read Exodus 21:27 with 21:12–27. Within Exodus 21:12–27, 21:27 contributes “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake,” so the line belongs to “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies” rather than an isolated slogan. The whole unit shows: Cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies belongs here because cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally. The placement moves Exodus from oppression and rescue toward covenant, rupture, repaired presence, and the completed dwelling. At 21:27, the wording “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake” makes this verse's contribution precise. Within Exodus 21:12–27, 21:27 contributes “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake,” so the line belongs to “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies” rather than an isolated slogan.
Read Exodus 21:20–27 together
Why these verses belong together: Injury to enslaved people and unequal remedy forms one grammatical or narrative sequence and should not be divided into independent slogans.
Verse 20. 20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
Verse 21. 21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
Verse 22. 22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
Verse 23. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
Verse 24. 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Verse 25. 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Verse 26. 26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
Verse 27. 27 And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
Follow the Context
- The unit opens at 21:12 by establishing cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally.
- By 21:27, the narrated speech, instruction, action, or outcome has completed the movement named “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies.”
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake”
In plain language: Within Exodus 21:12–27, 21:27 contributes “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake,” so the line belongs to “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies” rather than an isolated slogan.
Cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally. The phrase belongs to 21:12–27.
Why it matters: Careful interpreters agree that the received text says what cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
These laws regulate slavery but do not abolish or morally approve ownership, sale, beating, sexual vulnerability, unequal valuation, or coerced service.
What Remains True
Because Exodus 21:27 contributes “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake” to “Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved Bodies,” its proportionate enduring truth is: Legal limits can expose and reduce harm without making the underlying power system just; the vulnerable person's body and future remain the decisive ethical concern.
How It Can Shape Life
- At Exodus 21:27, the line “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake” serves this contextual meaning: Cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally. The bounded action is: Do not praise a limited protection as justice completed; remove coercive ownership, secure bodily safety and exit, compensate harm, and listen to those whose labor is controlled.
Teach It Back
Explain why Exodus 21:27 says “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake” inside 21:12–27. Name its actor and effect, one historical, Hebrew, compositional, legal, ritual, or ethical limit, one person or group bearing risk, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Exodus 21:12–27 — Homicide, Kidnapping, Injury, and Enslaved BodiesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Exodus 21:27 remains inside this material limit: Careful interpreters agree that the received text says what cases distinguish murder from accidental killing, condemn kidnapping, regulate assaults and prenatal harm, and give injured enslaved persons limited release or compensation while still treating them unequally. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 21:12–27, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 21:12–27
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 21:12–27
Open source ↗open university course study guide
The Book of the Covenant Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Case-law form, ancient Near Eastern comparanda, social setting, slavery and gender inequality, legal restraint, and limits of direct modern transfer.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'The Book of the Covenant,' complete study guide pp. 1–5, ancient Near Eastern law, slavery, lex talionis, property, justice, worship, and legal dating limits; applied to Exodus 21:12–27
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open comparative law study
The Hebrew Slave: Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy
Marvin A. Sweeney
TheTorah.com, 2014
Supports: Debt service, sale of daughters, gender inequality, release, family consequences, comparative law, and the continuing coercion of slavery.
Exact location: Sweeney, 'The Hebrew Slave: Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy,' complete article sections comparing Exodus 21:2–11, Deuteronomy 15, Leviticus 25, female slavery, service duration, and ancient legal collections; applied to Exodus 21:12–27
Open source ↗