Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Six days thou shalt do thy work. This law is repeated (see the notes at Exodus 20:9-10), lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the Sabbatical year. Since it was necessary that the benefits of such a wise and benevolent an institution might be universally enjoyed, the command respecting its observance was repeated in terms as precise and minute as those in which it was originally given. It secured to all classes-the freeman, the slave, and even the cattle, otherwise in danger of being overborne by incessant labour-a temporary suspension of daily toil - "rest" for the beasts of labour, a release from the yoke, an interval of repose and 'refreshment' for the working man-not to his body only, but to his mind also, by affording him an opportunity for meditation, religious instruction, and devotional purposes (Leviticus 23:3; Deuteronomy 5:15).
The son of thy handmaid, х ben (H1121) 'ªmaatkaa (H519)]. The offspring of foreign slaves, male and female, who had come into the possession of any master belonged to him (see the note at Exodus 21:4). It was a person of this latter description that is meant by "the son of thy hand-maid" (cf. Psalms 116:16), apparently in distinction from those of the former, who are designated in general terms, 'the sons of the house' (Genesis 15:3; Ecclesiastes 11:7), and 'house-born' (Genesis 14:14; Genesis 17:12; Genesis 17:23). The preceding laws, of which justice, humanity, charity, and a spirit of general kindness form the prominent features, were given at the commencement of the national life of the Israelites, and the promulgation of them at so early a period was intended by the Divine Lawgiver to furnish a solid basis of good principles for the formation of their character as a people.
Those precepts-all of them great moral axioms, the truth and importance of which commended them to the understanding and the hearts of all who heard them-were calculated to refine and elevate the tone of public sentiment, and, by inculcating on all classes, rulers as well as people, a conscientious regard to the relative duties and proprieties of life, to train them to the love and practice of that righteousness which exalteth a nation.