“If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.”
If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. The law tracks the relational status of the servant: what he arrived with, he leaves with. If he arrived alone, he leaves alone; if he arrived married, his wife goes with him. The law does not allow the master to use the servant's family as leverage to extend the servitude beyond the seventh year. The protection of family integrity within the servant relationship is itself a departure from surrounding ancient Near Eastern practice. Ephesians 5:31 quotes Genesis 2:24 — a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. The law that protects the servant's marriage at release honors the one-flesh union that makes the protection necessary.
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