“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” -Exodus 21:17 Verse 17 may seem unnecessarily harsh to some people. If a child curses his mother or father, he or she is to be put to death?! Whoa!   This is a tough one. It’s more understandable how “striking” one’s parents […]

“Whoever attacks a person and causes his death must be put to death.  If it was not premeditated but an act of God, then I will designate for you a place to which he can flee.  But if someone willfully kills another after deliberate planning, you are to take him even from my altar and […]

“If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she is not to go free like the men-slaves. If her master married her but decides she no longer pleases him, then he is to allow her to be redeemed. He is not allowed to sell her to a foreign people, because he has treated her […]

“If you purchase a Hebrew slave, he is to work six years; but in the seventh, he is to be given his freedom without having to pay anything.”-Exodus 21:1  There were two classes of slaves in ancient Hebrew society: Hebrew slaves and gentile slaves. The rules outlined here in Exodus chapter 21 deal ONLY with […]

The first group of laws given to Israel are to be found in Exodus 21, 22, and 23 and they are divided into two basic categories. The first category (Exodus 21:2-Exodus 23:12) deals with Israelite-to-Israelite or human-to-human interaction. The second category (Exodus 23:13-19) deals with how Israel is to relate to the Lord. The Lord, […]