Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Exodus 21:4/רמב"ן על שמות כ״א:ד׳
אאִם אֲדֹנָיו יִתֶּן לוֹ אִשָּׁה בִּכְנַעֲנִית הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר. אוֹ אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא יִשְׂרְאֵלִית, ת"ל הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ תִּהְיֶה לַאדֹנֶיהָ, הָא בִּכְנַעֲנִית הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר, זֶה לְשׁוֹן הַבָּרַיְתָא הַשְּׁנוּיָה בַּמְּכִילְתָּא. וְכָתַב רַשִׁ"י (רש"י על שמות כ"א:ד') שֶׁהֲרֵי הָעִבְרִיָּה אַף הִיא יוֹצְאָה בְשֵׁשׁ, וַאֲפִלּוּ לִפְנֵי שֵׁשׁ אִם הֵבִיאָה סִימָנִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים טו יב) "כִּי יִמָּכֵר לְךָ אָחִיךָ הָעִבְרִי אוֹ הָעִבְרִיָּה". וְאֵין זֶה מְכֻוָּן כַּהֹגֶן, כִּי אִם נֹאמַר שֶׁהִיא בְּיִשְׂרְאֵלִית, לֹא בְּמוֹכֵר אֶת בִּתּוֹ לְאָמָה שֶׁיּוֹצְאָהּ בְּסִימָנִים, כִּי הֵיאַךְ יִתְּנֶנָּה לוֹ אֲדוֹנָיו וְהוּא אֵין בְּיָדוֹ לְמָסְרָהּ לְשׁוּם אָדָם אַחֵר. וְכֵן הָרְאָיָה שֶׁאָמַר שֶׁאַף הִיא יוֹצְאָה בְּשֵׁשׁ, אֵינָהּ אֶלָּא לִדְבָרָיו שֶׁכָּתַב בְּמוֹכֵר עַצְמוֹ שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִמְכָּר אֶלָּא לְשֵׁשׁ, וְהֵם בַּתַּלְמוּד דִּבְרֵי יָחִיד (קידושין יד:), וַהֲלָכָה בְּמוֹכֵר עַצְמוֹ שֶׁנִּמְכַּר לְשֵׁשׁ וְיוֹתֵר עַל שֵׁשׁ. וְאִם כֵּן אֵין אִשָּׁה יוֹצְאָה בְּשֵׁשׁ אֶלָּא כְּשֶׁמְּכָרָהּ אָבִיהָ. אֲבָל מָה שֶׁאָמְרוּ הָא בִּכְנַעֲנִית הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאָמַר הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ תִּהְיֶה לַאדֹנֶיהָ, שֶׁהַיְּלָדִים בִּכְנַעֲנִית לָאָדוֹן, שֶׁוְּלַד שִׁפְחָה כְּנַעֲנִית כָּמוֹהָ (שם סו:), אֲבָל בְּיִשְׂרְאֵלִית אֲפִילּוּ הָיְתָה גְּדוֹלָה, וַאֲפִילּוּ נֹאמַר שֶׁתְּהֵא הָאִשָּׁה רַשָּׁאָה לִמְכֹּר עַצְמָהּ, בָּנֶיהָ שֶׁל אָב הֵן:
1IF HIS MASTER GIVE HIM A WIFE. “Scripture is speaking of a Canaanite woman. Or perhaps this is not so; but Scripture here speaks only of an Israelite woman?! Scripture therefore says, the wife and her children shall be her master’s. Consequently, it must be speaking of a Canaanite woman.” This is the language of the Beraitha43, Note 209. taught in the Mechilta.34 Now Rashi wrote [in explanation of this Mechilta]: “For a Hebrew maidservant also goes free at the end of six years [just as a Hebrew manservant does], or even before the end of six years if she shows signs of puberty, for it is said, If thy brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, he shall serve thee six years.”45 can only be speaking of a Canaanite woman.But this is not quite correct. For if we say [as the Beraitha above attempted to,] that the verse here speaks of an Israelite woman, it could no longer refer to the case of a father selling his minor daughter, about whom the law is given that when she shows signs of puberty she goes free, for how could the master give her as a wife to his Hebrew servant, since he has no power to hand her over to any other man [except to designate her to be his own wife, or that of his son — as is explained further in Verses 8-9]!46 who sold herself as a maidservant. So how then could Rashi support his argument [that if she were an Israelite woman, she would go free “if she shows signs of puberty],” when the Beraitha must of necessity be referring not to a minor but to a woman of age? (Mizrachi). Similarly, the proof that Rashi mentioned, namely that she also goes free at the end of six years, is only so in accordance with his own words which he wrote47 that a person who sells himself [on account of his destitution] is sold for a maximum of six years; but in the Talmud48 these are the words of a single Sage [Rabbi Eliezer], but the accepted opinion is that one who sells himself can be sold for six years or more. Now if so, the case of a woman who goes free at the end of six years can only be when her father sold her [as a minor, but in that case the master has no right to give her as a wife to his Hebrew servant, but only to designate her as his own wife or that of his son]!49But that which the Rabbis have said [in the Beraitha above, on the basis of the verse, the wife and her children shall be the master’s]: “Consequently, Scripture must be speaking of a Canaanite woman” — the meaning thereof is as follows: Since He stated, the wife and her children shall be the master’s [it must be speaking only of a Canaanite woman], for the children of a Canaanite bondmaid are the master’s since her child has the same status as she does, but in the case of an Israelite woman — even if she were of age [in which case her master could give her to his Hebrew servant as a wife], and even if we were to say that a woman may sell herself as a maidservant50 (Verse 7) — a man can sell himself, but a woman cannot sell herself.” But Ramban is writing only on the assumption that the Beraitha introduced this as a hypothesis finally to be disproved. See my Hebrew commentary pp. 515-516. — her children are the father’s [not the master’s].