A man, i.e. a Hebrew, as appears by the opposition of one of a strange nation, Exodus 21:8. For a man to sell his daughter to be a maid-servant was allowed in case of extreme necessity, because of the hardness of their hearts. She shall not go out as the men-servants do, but upon better terms, as being one of the weaker and more helpless sex. Quest. How doth this agree with Deuteronomy 15:17, Also unto thy maid-servant thou shalt do likewise ? Answ.
1. Distinguish persons. She, Deuteronomy 15:17 was sold by herself, and that to mere servitude; this here was sold by her father, not only for service, but in order to her marriage, as the following verses sufficiently imply.
2. Distinguish things. The likeness between men-servants and maid-servants was only in the rites used, in case she consented to perpetual servitude. The difference here is, in case they both were made free, in which case she had some privileges, which here follow.