Exodus 21:8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Exodus 21:8 tn Heb “and if unpleasant (רָעָה, raʿah) in the eyes of her master.”
2. Exodus 21:8 tn The verb יָעַד (yaʿad) does not mean “betroth, espouse” as some of the earlier translations had it, but “to designate.” When he bought the girl, he designated her for himself, giving her and her family certain expectations.
3. Exodus 21:8 tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect with vav (ו) consecutive from פָּדָה (padah, “to redeem”). Here in the apodosis the form is equivalent to an imperfect: “let someone redeem her”—perhaps her father if he can, or another. U. Cassuto says it can also mean she can redeem herself and dissolve the relationship (Exodus, 268).
4. Exodus 21:8 tn Heb “he has no authority/power,” for the verb means “rule, have dominion.”
5. Exodus 21:8 sn The deceit is in not making her his wife or concubine as the arrangement had stipulated.