Covenant Stipulations
The Covenant Stipulations
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Proper Worship
The people stood at a distance while Moses approached the thick veil where God was. Then Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you must tell the Israelites: ‘You witnessed me speaking with you from the sky. Don’t make gods of silver or gods of gold alongside me. Don’t make them for yourselves.
“‘Build me an altar made of earth and sacrifice your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on it, your flocks and herds. Everywhere I cause my name to be remembered, I’ll come to you and bless you. If you build me a stone altar, don’t use cut stones, because you carved it with a chisel and profaned it. Don’t climb up steps to reach my altar so your nakedness won’t be exposed above it.’”
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Because the Israelites feared hearing Yahweh’s voice, Moses returned to the top of the mountain to receive the rest of the covenant stipulations privately. Yahweh began with two commands regarding proper worship. These don’t form part of the formal covenant, which begins in Exodus 21:1. They were necessary instructions for the covenant ceremony about to take place.
The first command reminded the Israelites not to make idols of silver and gold to represent Yahweh or other gods. They were used to Egyptian religious festivals, which usually involved parading a god’s image around for the people to see and worship1 Yet when the Israelites heard Yahweh speaking to them, they hadn’t seen him. They’d only heard his voice out of the fire and cloud covering the mountain.2 The awesome God whose presence they’d experienced couldn’t be limited to any earthly image.
The second command involved the appropriate form of altars. The Israelites hadn’t been allowed to offer sacrifices while in Egypt, but the covenant ceremony would require them to do so.3 Since the tabernacle and its permanent altar didn’t exist yet, they needed one they could make quickly.4 Yahweh commanded Moses to make it of earth or uncut stone, as simple and natural as possible. They were not to climb stairs and so expose themselves, a common practice in Canaanite fertility cults. The Israelites didn’t need fancy artifacts or complex rituals to receive God’s blessing. God would bless them because of the covenant.
Debt Slavery
“These are the judgments you must set before them:
“If you acquire a Hebrew slave, he’ll serve you six years. Then in the seventh year, he’ll go free without owing anything. If he comes by himself, he’ll leave by himself. But if he comes with his wife, she’ll leave with him.”
Yahweh gave the covenant stipulations in the form of case studies, judgments that would serve as models for the Israelite judges to follow.5 These case studies give practical examples of how to live out the Ten Commandments. The first judgment addressed how to treat fellow Hebrews who had to sell themselves into slavery to pay a debt.
Debt slavery was the only legitimate way an Israelite could become a slave under the covenant. Even so, his master had to treat him like a free, hired servant.6 This system supported those who struggled financially, for whatever reason, while also providing them with a way to pay off the debt. A slave was considered part of his master’s household, so the master had to feed and care for him and his family. This alleviated the burden of poverty.
After serving six years, the slave was freed and his debt canceled. If his wife became a slave with him, she would also go free. By then, any external factors that contributed to their struggles, such as a drought, would likely have passed. The family could return home debt-free and start over.
Permanent Service
“If his master gives him a wife and she gives birth to sons or daughters, the woman and her children will belong to her master. The man will leave by himself. But if the slave clearly says he loves his master, his wife, and his children and doesn’t want to go free, his master will bring him to God. He’ll bring him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he’ll serve him forever.”
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In some cases, a master might allow an Israelite slave to marry a foreign slave during his time of service. A slave would likely not have any other options for marriage. But if the wife left freely with her husband, this would cause undue financial loss to their master. So God decreed that the wife and any children must stay.
Ideally, the husband would go free and then earn the money to redeem his family. If not redeemed, the children, but not the wife, would be freed in the Year of Jubilee.7 That way, the master wouldn’t suffer any loss. But God provided another way for the family to stay together. If the master treated him well and he prospered, the husband could choose to remain as a permanent part of his master’s household. Serving a kind master beat returning to a life of poverty.
If a slave chose to remain with his master after six years, the master would take him to God in the sanctuary. There, the slave would publicly testify to his decision, ensuring the master could not coerce him to stay. After the slave’s affirmation, his master would take him to the door of the sanctuary and pierce his ear with an awl as a sign of his permanent service.
Rights of Concubines
“If a man sells his daughter as a slave, she won’t go free as male slaves do. If she displeases her master, who betrothed her to himself, he must allow her to be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he treated her dishonorably. If he betroths her to his son, he must treat her like a daughter. If he marries another, he must not deprive her of food, clothing, or intimacy. If he won’t do these three things for her, she’ll go free without having to pay anything.”
Another way for a poor man to settle a debt was to offer his daughter as a slave-wife, a concubine like Hagar, Bilhah, and Zilpah.8 The forgiveness of the debt would serve as her bride-price. Since this arrangement resulted in a marriage contract, the daughter would not go free after six years. She would, of course, remain with her husband, who would then provide for her.
Because concubines belonged to a lower social class, they were more susceptible to abuse than other women. So God established laws to protect them. First, he addressed the possibility that her master might decide he didn’t want to marry her while she served his household during the betrothal period. He would then want to recoup the bride-price, possibly by selling her to someone else. But only her father could arrange a marriage to another Israelite, and God forbade the master from selling her to a foreigner. He could only allow her family to redeem her as soon as possible.
Her master might also betroth her to his son. But even though the man never intended to marry her himself, this did not give him the right to treat her like a foreign slave while betrothed. He had to treat her like his own daughter, providing for her accordingly.
The final scenario occurred if the woman found herself as the disfavored wife in a polygamous marriage. Any wife in Israel, including a concubine, had the right to food, clothing, and intimacy. Her husband had to provide for both her physical and emotional needs. He couldn’t reject her as his wife yet keep her as his slave. If he refused to provide for her, he had to free her and bear all financial loss. After consummating the marriage, he could no longer demand her family redeem her.
Accidental Manslaughter
“Anyone who strikes and kills another person must certainly be put to death. When it’s not planned but happens as an act of God, I’ll appoint for you somewhere to flee. But if anyone willfully plans to kill another, remove that person from my altar to die!
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Following the laws concerning debt slavery comes a series of laws concerning personal injury. The first of these involves one person accidentally killing another. The sixth commandment forbade intentional murder, and God commanded his people to put to death anyone guilty of that heinous crime. But God also recognized that in this fallen world, sometimes tragic accidents occur. Even if a death resulted, the other person involved would not deserve to die because of a mistake.
When someone was killed in the ancient Near East, responsibility for avenging the death fell to a family member of the deceased called the avenger of blood.9 Because of the avenger’s close relationship to the victim, he could not be expected to show partiality. So God had to provide a way for the accused to receive a fair trial. He did this through cities of refuge, places where a person could flee and receive protection from the avenger of blood.10 The accused could also claim protection by grabbing the horns of the altar.11
The people of the city would then judge the case. If they determined the death resulted from an accident, they would continue to protect the accused. But no one known to have committed murder could claim protection. Once the judges determined guilt, they had to hand the accused over to the avenger of blood, even if that meant forcefully removing someone from the altar.12
Capital Crimes
“If you strike your father or mother, you must certainly be put to death.
“Anyone who kidnaps another person must certainly be put to death, whether the person is sold or found in the kidnapper’s possession.
“If you show contempt for your father or mother, you must certainly be put to death.“
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The next three stipulations of the covenant cover violations that all required the death penalty. Though these crimes don’t involve murder, they show a complete lack of respect for authority or the rights of others that endangers the whole covenant community.
The first and third of these involve dishonoring parents, a violation of the fifth commandment. The commandment included a promise of long life in the promised land for those who obeyed. Here God decrees death as the punishment for showing contempt for a parent, especially striking a parent. Normally, simply striking someone was not considered a crime if no serious harm resulted. But to strike a parent meant subverting their God-given authority over the family, the basic unit of society.
The second stipulation decreed death for anyone who kidnapped another, probably with the intent to sell the victim as a slave. The penalty applied even if the victim was found and safely rescued. It also applied with any victim, not just a Hebrew or a brother Israelite. Contrary to popular belief, the Bible does not justify the later European slave trade. The Law allowed slavery in certain limited contexts but did not tolerate abducting innocent people from their homes.
Liability for Injury
“When people quarrel, one may strike another with a stone or fist so the person becomes bedridden but doesn’t die. If the victim gets up and walks around outside on a staff, the aggressor won’t be liable except for compensation for lost time and ensuring the victim fully recovers.
“If a slave owner strikes a slave, male or female, with a rod, the slave who dies during the beating will certainly be avenged. However, the slave who lives a day or two will not be avenged because the loss of the slave’s value is enough.”
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God next addressed several situations in which fighting resulted in injury. An unfortunate reality of life, fighting did not itself carry any penalty. Nor did any minor wound or bruise that would heal and not impair the victim’s ability to work. But a crippling injury required the aggressor to compensate for any resulting loss, including covering for lost work and paying for medical care.
In the case of a slave owner beating a slave, God required his people to treat even foreign slaves as human beings. Elsewhere in the ancient Near East, a slave owner could kill a slave with impunity.13 But not in Israel. A slave, whether male or female, who died during a beating had to be avenged like any other murder victim. Because God made the slave as his image, the slave owner had to die too.14
But if the slave lived a few days and then died, the Israelites would treat the death as accidental. In that case, the master probably didn’t intend to kill his slave, and outside factors, like an infection, may have contributed. The threat of losing the slave’s unpaid labor would act as a deterrent against such abusive treatment of slaves.
Women and Slaves
“When men fight, one may strike a pregnant woman, causing her to give birth prematurely. If there’s no harm, the one who hit her must certainly be fined the amount imposed by the woman’s husband. He must give what’s assessed. But if there’s harm, you must take a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a cut for a cut, a blow for a blow.
“If a slave owner strikes a slave, male or female, in the eye and destroys it, the slave must go free to compensate for the eye. Or if a slave owner knocks out the tooth of a slave, male or female, the slave must go free to compensate for the tooth.”
In the ancient world, a person’s perceived worth varied based on gender and social status. Women and slaves usually received fewer protections than free men, and a slave who harmed a free man faced a harsher punishment than a free man who harmed a slave.15 But God did not allow this injustice in Israel. He expected his people to treat everyone with respect.
The law concerning accidental harm to a woman covered both her and, if she was pregnant, her unborn baby. If a man struck her by mistake and caused a premature birth, her husband could fine her assailant. The text doesn’t specify whether the baby survived, so the husband likely had the right to impose a fine regardless. A higher fine would be imposed if the baby died or suffered injury. This doesn’t diminish the value of the child’s life but recognizes its frailty and the accidental nature of the loss.16
But if the woman suffered harm, it couldn’t be considered accidental just because the assailant intended to harm a man. She had to receive equal justice. It’s unknown whether the principle of “an eye for an eye” was ever applied literally. More likely, the saying simply means the punishment must fit the crime, ensuring the victim receives justice, while also protecting the guilty from excessive vengeance.
Slaves in Israel received even greater protection from abuse. If the master so much as knocked out a slave’s tooth, the slave went free. This would lead to significant financial loss for the master. Instead of just commanding the Israelites not to beat their slaves, God made it financially foolish for them to do so.
A Goring Bull
“If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull must certainly be stoned, and the meat must not be eaten. But the owner will be guiltless. But if a bull that has a habit of goring kills a man or woman and its owner had been informed but didn’t keep it penned up, the bull must be stoned, and the owner must also be put to death. But if compensation is imposed on him, he’ll pay all that’s imposed as the price of redemption for his life.
“This same judgment applies if it gores a child, a boy or girl. But if the bull gores a slave, male or female, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the slave’s master, and the bull must be stoned.”
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The laws about personal liability continue with a case law concerning a bull goring someone to death. The law could apply to any livestock, though bulls were the most likely to kill someone. According to God’s covenant with Noah, any animal that killed a person had to die.17 That animal also became unclean and couldn’t be touched or eaten. It had to be stoned so those killing it could do so from a distance.
The punishment for the animal’s owner depended on whether the bull had a known habit of goring. If it had never caused harm in the past, the owner wouldn’t be held liable for bloodshed and would suffer only the loss of his bull—a significant loss in itself. But if it had previously injured a person or another animal and the owner knew about it, the owner would also be put to death. Failing to pen up a dangerous animal constitutes gross negligence, not an accident.
The same penalty applied if the victim was a child, a boy or a girl, again showing God’s equal concern for all human life. However, unlike with intentional murder, the community and the family of the deceased could decide to impose a fine on the bull’s owner to redeem his life. This allowed them to show mercy when the situation warranted. It also allowed the owner of a slave to recoup the financial loss by charging the normal price of a slave.
- World History Encyclopedia, “Festivals in Ancient Egypt,” by Joshua J. Mark, March 17, 2017, https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1032/festivals-in-ancient-egypt/.
- Most translation incorrectly have Yahweh speaking “from heaven” instead of “from the sky.” But Yahweh didn’t speak from his throne room in heaven. He spoke from the pillar of fire above Mount Sinai. The same Hebrew and Greek words can refer to the sky in general or to God’s throne room in the third layer of the sky. 2 Corinthians 12:2.
- Exodus 8:25–27; 24:4–8.
- The same commands applied later in the rare cases when faithful Israelites needed to make altars away from the tabernacle or temple, such as Elijah’s altar on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18:30–32.
- See Jethro’s Advice.
- Leviticus 25:39–40.
- Leviticus 25:40–42.
- See Hagar; Bilhah’s Sons; Zilpah’s Sons.
- Deuteronomy 19:11–12.
- Joshua 20:2–6.
- 1 Kings 1:50–53.
- 1 Kings 2:28–32.
- Kaiser, “Exodus,” 492.
- See The Value of Human Life.
- Walton et al., Bible Background Commentary, Exodus 21:2–6.
- This law covers only accidental miscarriages. Abortion is not in view and was never practiced in ancient Israel.
- See The Value of Human Life.