What Does Exodus 21:5 Mean in the King James?
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
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
Release is not pure rescue when the way out separates you from the people you love.
THE MEANING
A door can stand open while the price of walking through it is separation from the people you love. Here the servant names his love for his master, wife, and children, then refuses release; the preceding verse makes the cost concrete, since his wife and children remain behind if he leaves. The verse holds personal attachment and unequal power together: staying preserves his place with them through continued service.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that an open exit leaves your bonds intact; here, release separates the servant from his wife and children.
THE ROOT
עֶבֶד
ʿeved
GROWS FROM
עבד
ʿ-b-d
Work; serve.
English makes “servant” sound like a fixed identity, while עֶבֶד (ʿeved, servant) belongs to the same root family as עָבַד (ʿāvad, to work or serve). That shared seed keeps the person and the continuing service in one word-family: refusing release means remaining in service, with the household bond and unequal power both still present.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvad: To work or serve.
עָבַד
The verb names the service that continues when the servant refuses to leave.
ʿavodah: Service, labor, or work.
עֲבֹדָה
This branch makes visible the ongoing labor contained in the status “servant.”
ʿoved: A person who works or serves.
עֹבֵד
It echoes the verse’s focus on a person whose bond is expressed through continued service.
THE PATTERN
A bond can make separation feel costlier than surrendering the freedom to leave.
And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee; because he loveth thee and thine house, because he is well with thee;And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.THE THREAD
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.The next verse makes this refusal formal: the master brings the servant to the doorpost, pierces his ear, and the servant continues in service. The choice to stay becomes a binding status, so the verse holds love and unequal power in the same frame.
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