Exodus 21:6

Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.

Then his master shall bring him unto the judges, х 'el (H413) haa-'ªlohiym (H430)] - gods, a name applied by the Egyptians to rulers, and borrowed, from familiarity with their dialect, by the Hebrews on their exodus from that country (Michaelis, 'Commentary,' vol. 1:, p. 192). Some, however prefer taking the words in the ordinary sense, 'before God,' of whom the judges were only the earthly representatives (see the notes at Exodus 22:8; Exodus 22:28; Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 19:17). A formal process was gone through in a public court, and a brand of servitude stamped on the servant's ear (Psalms 40:6), in token of his having voluntarily bound himself to his master's service for life, or at least until the jubilee (see further the note at Deuteronomy 15:17).