Can someone clarifiy this bible verse for me?

Question

"If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21: but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.” ---- Exodus 21:20-21

How can you apply this to today?

Answer 1

These laws were given to a people who had been slaves for 400 years. They did not know how to govern themselves. They were about to go into the land that was given to them and would be fighting battles and in winning battles, would acquire slaves of their own. The nature of a slave is to rebel against the master. (nobody wants to be a slave) Beating a slave was common in the world at that time. The Law was given so that they would not be like the masters that had owned them just 40 years earlier. In Egypt, a slave could be killed without any consequences to the master. He just purchased another one. This law did not speak to abolition of slavery because slavery was a world-wide practice. It did, however speak to the treatment of slaves. If a master did not want to be punished, he had to care for his slaves. If a slave had to be beaten, he would have to be cared for till he recovered, and not left out to die. This was a huge improvement for the day. The practice of slavery is still an issue in the middle east. We find many of the practices of those times distastful and even barbaric. Well they were barbaric times. Hope that helps you understand the context better.

Answer 2

Only if you legally bought a slave today. Some places there are slaves still, but reality is this, there is none today, in America. It doesn't give rights to beating your Husband or Wife, or Children. We have laws we live by. Once upon a time, in America, there were slaves. Thank God, times have changed. But I would say this, pray for the country's that still have slave's, they need up holding in our prayers.

Answer 3

it means if a man beats his slave and he/she dies the master of the slave will be punished...but if the slave gets up after a day or two the master will not be punished since the slave is owned by the master...

I hope I clarified it for you...how would I apply it??? I wouldn't...I don't own slaves.

Answer 4

Definitely DO NOT listen to that first answer. If he is a non-believer, how is he going to know what that Bible verse means. I think that this verse is just a different way of saying that if you kill someone, you will be punished - it breaks one of the ten commandments.
I'm glad you are questioning Scripture - that's how you learn and grow in your faith. You should keep reading the Bible on your own in addition to doing so with others, because sometimes you need to see it with your own eyes and not just hear it.

Answer 5

Slavery is not condoned today. People do not own each other anymore. Not at least in America.

Read the new testament about treating others the way you want to be treated. That is the real message. Try not to focus on just one verse which is taken out of context and remember we are in 2007 and times have changed.

Answer 6

Own and abuse a slave so long as he/she will survive a two day coma...hmmm...this would obviously apply in today's children. You may beat your children so long as they survive. Oh, and if you're a woman you can even kill your children. That's fair, since the child is technically the parent's property, right?

Answer 7

You can only apply that to countries that have slaves. It means just what it says. If you beat your slave and kill him/her you will be punished, but, if the slave recovers from the beating, you are off the hook. Pops

Answer 8

it is easier to look at a blemish ,and condem the whole fruit ,
than to find the good and stick to the good ,

there are worse things in the text but its like looking at a woman with a big nose then saying she must be .....
[well make up your own must be]

but more important is did you read it and find that one,
or did some one point it out for you

i have read your past posts [not today but remembered you have a great grasp of the subject] thus know you can take it, thus giving you credit for finding it your self
never the less ,the fact still holds , if you found that your self ,you also had to have seen some good words [teachings]

the trick is to use the good to do better,
none of us is perfect
the bible is words ,ascribed by mans interpritation of a [the] living god
the living god living even now ,the words of the past were writen in the past ,yet they ascribe a time when people knew the same living god that now lives [sustaining all life to live ,the only perfect living god who sustains all live to live to love ,for god is love]

god dosnt judge ,god has grace on all life ,it is life [me /u/us] who can make mistakes god dont make mistakes ] infact to take it further god is love [if it aint love its not from god] clearly those words have been subverted in time
[ie as like gay dosnt mean happy any more ,or that ice isnt water]

or those who transcribed were only human ,[or wrongly put a interpritation into the book at transcription ,or addandum , or deliberatly by simply deciding to misslead us at some future time [now]

we [any who know god is the only perfect love , just refuse to see the error but see the good intent of the expounded law ,

those with evil in thier hearts will claim jesus died that they can keep on sinning , or beat thier child or slave sensless but in so doing reveal they are evil at heart

you either go with god is love sustaing life into good ,or believe god is some eternal deviant who wants us all to go to hell [its our freechoice]

one is clearly wrong [or both ] but both cant be right]
i apply it as god is alive now , living live time in every moment
a word is dead it can describe what was but not what is now being
we live or we die , but its not so much what we think but that not see evil , nor ascribe evil to that which is a reasoned but good old fruit
we try [to see god [good] in eve-rything]

Answer 9

God is giving His rules and regulations for the nation of Israel to follow.

The New Testament, with the works and teachings of Jesus, brought a new set of commandments that we are to follow. One of them is to not judge each other or stone each other for God is the only true judge and we are to leave it in His hands.

So, it doesn't really apply today.

However, the message that you can still get from reading the Old Testament is that the nation of Israel had to abide by strict rules and punishments. The blood of Jesus accounts for our sins and now we can be with God without having to stone each other and punish each other on this earth.

Answer 10

This verse is translated differently in KJV (Verse 21):

Notwithstanding, if he continue (`amad) a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he [is] his money (or silver).

'amad means:
1) to stand, remain, endure, take one's stand
1) to stand, take one's stand, be in a standing attitude, stand forth, take a stand, present oneself, attend upon, be or become servant of
2) to stand still, stop (moving or doing), cease
3) to tarry, delay, remain, continue, abide, endure, persist, be steadfast
4) to make a stand, hold one's ground
5) to stand upright, remain standing, stand up, rise, be erect, be upright
6) to arise, appear, come on the scene, stand forth, appear, rise up or against
7) to stand with, take one's stand, be appointed, grow flat, grow insipid
1) to station, set
2) to cause to stand firm, maintain
3) to cause to stand up, cause to set up, erect
4) to present (one) before (king)
5) to appoint, ordain, establish
c) to be presented, be caused to stand, be stood before

This appears to be relevant to Judas' silver that he was paid to betray Jesus. The fact is that the human body tends to preclude one from acting unjustly. Hypnosis induces catalepsy, beginning with the right arm, which is probably the real story of King Arthur and his magic sword, stuck in the stone. Whether his killing of a knight was an accident in this circumstance, I don't know. Hypnosis, according to Robert Baker, is socially induced by means of compliance, relaxation and suggestion. This is how criminals operate. It makes me so mad when criminals say "just relax", or in fact if anybody says it, because that's what it means. They want to tell you a new authority structure to put in place. This is reflected in Revelation 13 with the image of the beast taking adherents who put the mark of the beast on their forehead or right hand. Therefore, the image is utilising the PR of the beast but taking credit for inspiring allegiance to the beast. Goodness knows who the dragon-voiced lamb is that so kindly assists. This is why there is so much weaponry that relies on very small actions, and yet, people tend to lose fine muscle co-ordination under tension. I think this is what happens to sharks when they attack. If I were in the water with a shark, the last thing I'd want to do is have a panic attack. What if everything you've been told about sharks is wrong and you find out when you're facing a docile one, and then you faint? What's the shark going to do? I'm sure animals have a conscience. Sharks usually bite on the buttocks and lower limbs. They're trying to choof people back up to the surface, I think. Back to violence.

Like it or not, people find it difficult to get violent with people who aren't playing the game. Cults play complex games. The whole world, except for God-fearing individualists, is tied up in cults. Usually, they are fairly benign at the lower levels, but they are dangerous because they leave people feeling like the world's a good place where they live, despite the fact that the neighbour keeps screaming. The cultist, despite trying to help, will in fact be reinforcing the underlying values that have contributed to the frustration so that they won't even see that their own involvement just more of the same. I think that demons have to do with this a lot too. People just want friends, even if they're from the dark side. In human terms, a demon is a "distributor of fates or fortunes." Don't try to be a demon. I know it's packaged nicely with lots of pretty star and butterfly pictures around the horoscopes, but doing people over just because you can will come back at you.

Anyway, I have to hop off the computer now.

I'll edit this later.