Keluaran 21:3-4

21:3 If he came ¹  in by himself ²  he will go out by himself; if he had ³  a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 21:4 If his master gave ⁴  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.

[21:3]  ¹ tn The tense is imperfect, but in the conditional clause it clearly refers to action that is anterior to the action in the next clause. Heb “if he comes in single, he goes out single,” that is, “if he came in single, he will go out single.”

[21:3]  ² tn Heb “with his back” meaning “alone.”

[21:3]  ³ tn The phrase says, “if he was the possessor of a wife”; the noun בַּעַל (ba’al) can mean “possessor” or “husband.” If there was a wife, she shared his fortunes or his servitude; if he entered with her, she would accompany him when he left.

[21:4]  ⁴ sn The slave would not have the right or the means to acquire a wife. Thus, the idea of the master’s “giving” him a wife is clear – the master would have to pay the bride price and make the provision. In this case, the wife and the children are actually the possession of the master unless the slave were to pay the bride price – but he is a slave because he got into debt. The law assumes that the master was better able to provide for this woman than the freed slave and that it was most important to keep the children with the mother.