Exodus 21:7

And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

And if a man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant. Although it is not expressly said, it may be presumed, for the reasons stated on Exodus 21:1., that this man was a Hebrew father, who having, from some cause or other, been reduced to indigence, was forced to let his daughter go from his house into that of another. The sale, as it is called, was wages, a stipulated hire; but until then the daughter had been a free woman; an inmate in the house of her father, who parted with her in the full persuasion that she was forming a suitable relation, which gave him a pledge of her future condition. She shall not go out as the men-servants do. The relation to be formed was a matrimonial one; not indeed that of a regular marriage, for she was not to be a wife, only a concubine; but it was admitted to give her a recognized status, and accordingly she is not placed on the same footing with servants who are free at the expiration of six years' service (see the notes at Deuteronomy 15:17: cf. Jeremiah 34:9). [The Septuagint has: hoosper apotrechousin hai doulai, as the maid-servants marry. That would be treating her as a mere slave. Lª'aamaah (H519) for a maid-servant; 'aamaah (H519) and shipchaah (H8198) are both used for "handmaid" or "maid-servant". It is not easy to determine the difference between these two words. By some the latter is supposed to denote an unmarried maid-servant (Genesis 16:1), and the former a married one (Genesis 21:10); but this distinction is not maintained elsewhere (cf. Genesis 29:24; Genesis 29:29 with 33:1). Others consider 'aamaah (H519) to denote generally a young woman in a state of bondage, and shipchaah (H8198) a maid under the special control of her mistress. But the words occur in one passage (1 Samuel 25:41) where neither of these explanations are applicable. It appears from the details of the present case, that 'aamaah (H519) is used not only for a maid-servant, but a secondary wife-a concubine.] The formation of such a connection, by the payment of a stipulated sum, being a prevalent practice, the immediate and peremptory abolition of which was impracticable, certain regulations were made to mitigate the evils attending it; and three contingencies are here specified in which the non-performance of the duties resulting from them should release her entirely from the obligations of the service.