“If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished.”
Exodus 21:20 (BSB)
Context Reading
18If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed, 19then the one who struck him shall go unpunished, as long as the other can get up and walk around outside with his staff. Nevertheless, he must compensate the man for his lost work and see that he is completely healed. 20If a man strikes his manservant or maidservant with a rod, and the servant dies by his hand, he shall surely be punished. 21However, if the servant gets up after a day or two, the owner shall not be punished, since the servant is his property. 22If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the court allows.