Piercing a Jewish Slave

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But should he say to you, “I do not want to leave you”—for he loves you and your household and is happy with you—

But if the slave declares, “I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,”

5) "And you shall return a man to his possession, and a man to his family you shall return.": R. Eliezer b. Yaakov said; Of whom is this stated? If of one who sold himself (into servitude), this has already been stated. If of one who was sold by beth-din, this has already been stated; and if of one who was sold by beth-din, the law in respect to this has also been stated. It must be speaking, then, of one who impressed himself into perpetual servitude by having his ear bored (as a sign of submission three or four years) before Yovel…

Sifra, Behar, Chapter 2 5

MISHNA: A Hebrew slave can be acquired by his master through money or through a document, and he can acquire himself, i.e., he is emancipated, through years, i.e., when he completes his six years of labor, or through the advent of the Jubilee Year, or through the deduction of money. The slave can redeem himself during the six years by paying for his remaining years of slavery. A Hebrew maidservant has one mode of emancipation more than him, as she acquires herself through signs indicating puberty…

Kiddushin 14b:2-15a:22

“His ear.” Since “his ear” mentioned there means the right ear, also here the right ear. “If the slave says saying”, two sayings, one at the end of the sixth year and one at the start of the seventh year. One at the end of the sixth year, while he still is in his servitude and one at the start of the seventh year, “I will not go free.” “I love my master, my wife, and my children.” This teaches that he cannot be pierced unless he have a wife and children, unless he love his master and his master love him; unless the property be blessed because of him as it is said: “For he feels well with you.”

Jerusalem Talmud Kiddushin 1:2:32

(Devarim 15:16) "And it shall be, if he say to you: I shall not leave": I might think (that he says this) one time; it is, therefore, written (Shemoth 21:5) "And if the slave say, will say" — He must say it and repeat it. If he said it in the midst of the six years, but not at the end, his ear is not bored, it being written (Ibid.) "I shall not go out free" — It must be said at the time of going out. If he said it at the end of the six years, but not in their midst, his ear is not bored, it being written "And if the slave say, will say" — It must be said when he is a slave.

Sifrei Devarim 121:1-3

What are the differences between a servant who sells himself and a servant sold by the court? A servant who sells himself does not have his ear pierced, while a servant sold by the court has his ear pierced. A servant who sells himself is forbidden to marry a Canaanite maid-servant, while the master of a servant sold by the court may compel the servant to marry a Canaanite maid-servant.
A servant who sells himself may be sold to a gentile, while a servant sold by the court may be sold only to a Jew, as Deuteronomy 15:12 states: "When your brother is sold to you" - i.e…

Mishneh Torah, Slaves 3:12

The Sages taught: If the slave has a wife and children and his master does not have a wife and children, he is not pierced, as it is stated: “Because he loves you and your house” (Deuteronomy 15:16). The word “house” is referring to a wife and children, and therefore if the master does not have a wife and children the verse cannot be fulfilled, and the slave is not pierced. Similarly, if his master has a wife and children and he does not have a wife and children, he is not pierced, as it is stated: “I love my master, my wife, and my children” (Exodus 21:5)…

Kiddushin 22a:7-8

R. Eliezer Yuden Berebbi was wont to expound: The boring is done only in the ear-lap. R. Meir says: in the helix. For a Cohein is not bored in that this would render him "blemished," and if boring were in the ear-lap, how would he be rendered blemished thereby? We are hereby taught that boring is only in the height of the ear. "his ear": It is written here "his ear," and, elsewhere (in respect to a leper) (Vayikra 14:14) "his ear." Just as there, the right ear (is specified), so, here, the right ear (is intended).

Sifrei Devarim 122:5-6

§ The baraita further teaches that a pierced Hebrew slave and one sold to a gentile serve neither the son nor the daughter. The Gemara explains: The halakha of a pierced slave is as it is written: “And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forever” (Exodus 21:6), which indicates that he serves this master, but not the son or the daughter. The Gemara asks: From where is it derived that the same applies to a Hebrew slave sold to a gentile? Ḥizkiyya says that the verse states with regard to the…

Kiddushin 17b:13

אל הדלת או אל המזוזה, in public view, as a sign of servitude. The door and doorpost described are made of wood even if the house in question is of stone so that the procedure of piercing the ear against such a background poses no problem. לעולם. According to the plain meaning of the text, “for the rest of his life.” This is also the meaning of the word לעולם in Samuel I 1,22 when Chanah announced her intention of handing over her son Samuel to the High Priest Eli.

Rashbam on Exodus 21:6:2-3

Therefore, the verse states: “And you shall take,” which indicates that anything that can be taken by hand is a valid tool. This is the statement of Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: Not all these items can be used. Rather, since the verse specifies an “awl,” only items similar to an awl can be used; just as an awl is distinct in that it is fashioned of metal, so too, anything fashioned of metal can be used. And the latter clause of the baraita teaches: Rabbi Elazar said that Yudan the…

Bekhorot 37b:11-13

אל הדלת או אל המזוזה, “against the door or doorpost of the courthouse; we find an example of this in Deuteronomy 17,5: והוצאת את האיש ההוא אל שעריך, “you are to take out that man to your gates, (court);” This procedure is designed to give publicity to the irrational behaviour of this Jewish “slave;” let all the people passing the courthouse know who it is that has preferred life as a slave with a gentile slave to life as a free Israelite. He will have no chance to escape this status before the next Jubilee year…

Chizkuni, Exodus 21:6:1-5

Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai would expound this verse as a type of decorative wreath [ḥomer], i.e., as an allegory: Why is the ear different from all the other limbs in the body, as the ear alone is pierced? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: This ear heard My voice on Mount Sinai when I said: “For to Me the children of Israel are slaves” (Leviticus 25:55), which indicates: And they should not be slaves to slaves. And yet this man went and willingly acquired a master for himself…

Kiddushin 22b:4-5

ועבדו, “and he will (continue) to serve him.” “Him” and not “his son.” This word proves that the servant acquires his freedom automatically when his master dies.
לעולם, “forever.” According to Kidushin 21 the word means “for the duration of that Yovel cycle.” It is a fact confirmed by psychologists that a servant who keeps serving the same master is liable to get fed up with his life wishing to become free. The fact that the Torah discusses the phenomenon of a Jewish man who prefers to remain in the permanent service of a human master instead of relying only on G’d as his master is an…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 21:6:3-6

THEN HIS MASTER SHALL BRING HIM UNTO GOD. The term Elohim (God) means those who establish God’s laws in the land. It is customary for the judges to sit in the gate of a city that has doors and a bolt. To the door or the door-post means that what Scripture deals with in this verse is to be performed before those who sit in the gate. AND HE SHALL SERVE HIM FOR EVER. We know that the word le-olam (for ever) in Hebrew refers to time, as in it hath been already, in the ages (le-olamim) which were before us (Eccles. 1:10), wherein olamim means ages…

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 21:6:1-2

then thou shalt take an awl, and bore (or apply) it through his ear, and that to the door of the house of judgment, and he shall be thy serving servant until the Jubilee. And for thy handmaid also thou shalt write a certificate of release, and give it to her.

Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy 15:17

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