## Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 121

###### Sifrei Devarim 121:1
[Sifrei Devarim 121:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/121:1)

(דברים טו טז) **וְהָיָה כִּי יֹאמַר אֵלֶיךָ לֹא אֵצֵא מֵעִמָּךְ**, יָכוֹל פַּעַם אַחַת? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר (שמות כא ה): ״וְאִם אָמֹר יֹאמַר הָעֶבֶד״, עַד שֶׁיֹּאמַר וְיִשְׁנֶה.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
**Pisqa’ 121**³⁵³
1. “And *should he say* to you: I will not go free from you” (Dt. 15:16).
Is it possible to say that
[if the Hebrew slave refused his freedom] once,
he undergoes the piercing of his ear?
The Teaching states:
**“Now, if the slave *forcefully declares*” (Ex. 21:5)—**
**he cannot be permanently enslaved**
**until he declares and repeats**
**[his insistence upon remaining enslaved].**³⁵⁴ 2.

footnotes:
³⁵³ H:166; JN1: 301-302.
³⁵⁴ Mechilta Ishmael, neziqin,


###### Sifrei Devarim 121:2
[Sifrei Devarim 121:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/121:2)

אִם אָמַר בְּתוֹךְ שֵׁשׁ וְלֹא אָמַר בְּסוֹף שֵׁשׁ – הֲרֵי זֶה אֵין נִרְצָע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כא ה): ״לֹא אֵצֵא חָפְשִׁי״, עַד שֶׁיֹּאמַר בִּשְׁעַת יְצִיאָה. אָמַר בְּסוֹף שֵׁשׁ וְלֹא אָמַר בְּתוֹךְ שֵׁשׁ – הֲרֵי זֶה אֵין נִרְצָע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם): ״וְאִם אָמוֹר יֹאמַר הָעֶבֶד״, עַד שֶׁיֹּאמַר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהוּא עֶבֶד.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
If he declared [his desire to remain enslaved]
during the six years [of his term of service],
but *did not* declare it at the end of the six years
when he is entitled to go free—
indeed, he is not to be pierced,
for it says:
“I will *not* be set free” (Ex. 21:5)—
he cannot be permanently enslaved
unless he insists upon it at the time of liberation,
[after six complete years].
If he declared at the end of the six years,
but he hadn’t declared during the six years—
indeed, he is not to be pierced,
for it is said:
“If the slave *forcefully* declares” (Dt. 21:5)—
he cannot be permanently enslaved
unless he declares his insistence
while time remains in the term of his servitude.


###### Sifrei Devarim 121:3
[Sifrei Devarim 121:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/121:3)

**כִּי אֲהֵבְךָ**, מִכְּלָל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כא ה) ״אָהַבְתִּי אֶת אֲדֹנִי״, [אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁאוֹהֵב אֶת רַבּוֹ? אֶלָּא] מִכָּן אַתָּה אוֹמֵר: הָיָה הוּא אוֹהֵב אֶת רַבּוֹ וְרַבּוֹ אֵין אוֹהֲבוֹ, הָיָה הוּא אָהוּב עַל רַבּוֹ וְהוּא אֵין אוֹהֵב אֶת רַבּוֹ – הֲרֵי זֶה אֵין נִרְצָע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: **כִּי אֲהֵבְךָ**. לוֹ אִשָּׁה וּבָנִים וּלְרַבּוֹ אֵין אִשָּׁה וּבָנִים – אֵין נִרְצָע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: **כִּי אֲהֵבְךָ וְאֶת בֵּיתֶךָ**.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
2. “For he loves *you*” (Dt. 15:16)—
inferring from what is stated elsewhere:
“I love my master” (Ex. 21:5)—
{wouldn’t I already know that
he loves his master?
In fact,}³⁵⁵ 121, n.4. on the basis of both verses,
you can claim:
if *he* loved his *master*,
but his *master* doesn’t love *him*;
or if *he* is beloved to his *master*,
but *he* doesn’t love his *master*—
indeed, he is not to be pierced! As it is said:
“For he *loves* you” (Dt. 15:16)—
[the essential element is the slave’s love for the master].
**If the Hebrew slave has a wife and children,**
**yet his master has no wife or children,**
**he is not to be pierced,**
**for it is said:**
**“For he loves you and *your household*” (Dt. 15:16)—**
**[implying that the master has a family of his own].**³⁵⁶ 2.

footnotes:
³⁵⁵ F:179, ls. 13-14 adds this phrase, although it does not appear in any mss or editions except as a marginal addition in mss Berlin . See his register of variants, p. 179, l. 13 and H:440, piska’
³⁵⁶ // Mechilta Ishmael, neziqin


###### Sifrei Devarim 121:4
[Sifrei Devarim 121:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/121:4)

**כִּי טוֹב לוֹ עִמָּךְ**, הָא אִם חָלָה הוּא אוֹ רַבּוֹ – הֲרֵי זֶה אֵין נִרְצָע.

**Trans. by Marty Jaffee, 2015:**
“Since *all is well* with *him* among *you*” (Dt. 15:16)—
thus, if *he* or his *master* become ill,
indeed, he is not to be pierced.