What Does Exodus 21:4 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The man is allowed to leave, but the family the master gives him does not leave with him.
THE MEANING
You meet a release that splits a household: the man leaves, while his wife and children remain the master’s property. His departure carries no release for them.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A man’s release automatically frees his household; here, he leaves alone while his wife and children remain his master’s.
THE ROOT
יֵצֵא
yēṣēʾ
GROWS FROM
יצא
y-ṣ-ʾ
To go out, emerge, or come forth.
“go out” in this verse is yēṣēʾ. The verb names a real departure, while the surrounding words limit who leaves: the man goes out alone. The root lets the movement and its boundary stay visible together; his wife and children remain the master’s property.
ALSO GROWS
yetzi'ah: An exit or departure.
יְצִיאָה
It makes clear that the verse describes an actual leaving, though the man’s family does not leave with him.
motsa: A source, outlet, or point from which something comes out.
מוֹצָא
This branch draws attention to what the departure produces: the man exits, but his wife and children remain under the master’s claim.
יִתֶּן
yitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“given” in this verse is yitten. The wife’s entry into the verse comes through the master’s act of giving; the same root also forms the word for a gift. The line then names the ownership that governs this arrangement: she and her children remain the master’s.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, put, or place.
נָתַן
This is the verb used for the master giving the man a wife.
mattanah: A gift or thing given.
מַתָּנָה
The related noun echoes the verse’s language of giving, set beside its explicit claim of ownership.
THE PATTERN
A departure can be real while freedom remains incomplete, so Scripture names who leaves with the person and what is still bound.
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.THE THREAD
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.The same verb, יצא (yatsa, to go out), marks the departure in both verses. Exodus 21:3 says the wife leaves with him if he entered married; here, the wife is given by the master and the man leaves alone.
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