Exodus 21 Oh, and These Too!

“And these are the rules that you shall set before them” (verse 1).וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם (שמות כא:א)The chapter (and Parsha of Mishpatim) begins with the word “and.” Why does the Chater begin with “and”? Rashi offers two explainations that the “and” is meant to link the Ten Commandments and this portion to explain that these were also given on Mt. Sinai. His second answer links these civil laws with the preceding laws about the altar to explain that in the future, the Sanhedrin court should be placed in the Temple complex. Ramban explains that this section is linked to the portion in the previous chapter starting in verse 20 about idolatry. Those verses and these verses are linked to the Ten Commandments which also began with spiritual laws and ended with civil laws. The idea is that these verses expand on the Ten Commandments. Sforno gets even more specific. He links the commandment against coveting your neighbor’s property and this section. The commandment was only about one's thoughts, without any action. This chapter discusses actual physical interactions with other people’s property. Chizkuni has a similar idea. The Ten Commandments provided civil laws without consequences. Here, the civil laws are connected to specific consequences. The answer may also be a combination of a few of these.• Rashi: Holiness and revelation as law’s foundation. • Ramban: Covenant integrity—law as part of divine relationship. • Sforno: Ethical interiority—law as moral education. • Chizkuni: Practical justice—law as a system of consequences.Perhaps the linkage has to do with the open ended question in the last chapter, it was unclear how to break up the Ten Commandments. Chief among the questions was whether “I ה׳ am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” (20:2) was the first commandment or an introductory sentence:אָנֹכִי ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתִיךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים (שמות כ:ב)If it is described as an introductory sentence, then it links nicely with the start of this chapter and could be read as follows:“I ה׳ am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage…and these are the rules that you shall set before them / When you acquire a Hebrew slave, that person shall serve six years—and shall go free in the seventh year, without payment.” (20:2, 21:1-2)וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם. כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד וּבַשְּׁבִעִת יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי חִנָּם (שמות כא:א–ב)This links up thematically. ה׳ took the people out of Egypt and that provides the authority to set out a new set of rules. Chief among the rules that ה׳ sets out is about slavery. ה׳ took you out of Egypt in order that you shall not be slaves again. The rules of slavery are very strict and delineated. Slavery was an important facet of life in the ancient world (and unfortunately still is in certain cultures). ה׳ does not eliminate the practice, but using the gravitas of the exodus, ה׳ changes the narrative on slavery. That is why this chapter is linked to the Ten Commandments. If ה׳ is setting out to rewrite the rulebook, ה׳ had to show His power through the exodus.