Matthew Poole and continuators on Exodus 21:8

8 If she please not her master who hath betrothed her to himself , then shall he let her be redeemed : to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power , feeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her .

For a con[illegible: 1+ letters]ubine or secondary wife. Not that masters did always take maid-servants upon these terms, as some conceive, but that some did so, and of them this place speaks. Though here is a differing reading, and as the margent hath lo the pronoun signifying, to him, so the text hath lo the adverb signifying not, and so the text may be translated thus, so that he doth not betroth her, to wit, to himself, or to his son, as he gave her hopes he intended. Either reading or sence is proper and probable.

Either by her self or friends or any other person that will redeem her. Quest. How could he part with her and sell her, when she was betrothed to him? Ans. 1. This might be one of those many indulgences given to them for the hardness of their hearts: and there is no doubt God could dispense with his own positive laws. 2. The latter reading avoids this difficulty.

This was in general prohibited for all Hebrew servants; but it is particularly mentioned here, because there was special reason for it, both because there was more danger of her corruption in chastity and religion in regard of her Sex, and because the master in that case was under a greater temptation of selling her to a forreigner, because no Israelite would buy her or give so much mony for her as an heathen would who would and might keep her for a perpetual servant which the Israelites might not do.

viz. In breaking his promise of marriage made to her, or blasting the hopes he encouraged her to have of it. The Hebrew words are exactly rendred thus, in dealing deceitfully or falsly with her or against her, and they may be added as an aggravation of that sin of selling her to a strange nation, wherein there was a double false-dealing, the one towards God who by his law forbad this, the other towards her, whom he hired upon other terms and not with a power to dispose of her contrary to the law and manner of the Israelites.

Marginal references: Heb. be evil in the eyes of, &c.