ואלה המשפטים, in the previous paragraph the Torah spoke about the prohibition of coveting property belonging to someone else (20,13). This did not involve action; by contrast ואלה המשפטים, now the Torah speaks about laws governing the concrete nature of “אשר לרעך,” tangible matters belonging to your fellow man.

אשר תשים לפניהם. These are not positive commandments and negative commandments which apply to every Jew, but are applicable only if the occasion arises. The matters under discussion need to be adjudicated only if and when such situations occur in someone’s life.

לא תצא כצאת העבדים. It is not appropriate for an upstanding member of society to buy a Jewish girl as a servant against her will. Such a “sale” is acceptable only if the girl in question will become the wife of the buyer or his son when reaching puberty. The purchase price will be given to her father as our sages have stipulated in Ketuvot 46.

אם רעה בעיני אדוניה, even though the normal procedure is what we outlined in verse seven, her “master” does not have to marry her if he finds her incompatible, as otherwise he would eventually come to hate her. However, in such a situation the father and the master have to cooperate in releasing her from her obligation as servant.

לעם נכרי לא ימשול למכרה בבגדו בה, the father of the girl in question who had already betrayed her by “selling” her initially. We know that even Lavan’s daughters were angry at what they considered their father having done when he “sold” them into marriage. (compare Genesis 31,15) The Torah describes here the negative impression it makes on any of his peers when he observes a Jewish father selling his daughter’s services for something other than marriage. Once an employer/prospective husband, has done this no other Jewish father is allowed to sell his daughter to such a man. [the word נכרי does not refer to a non Jew, but to a Jew who acted contrary to Jewish mores. Ed.]

כמשפט הבנות יעשה לה, his son. [the employer’s son if he will marry her. Ed.] He will have to provide these three items to his bride even though he did not formally betroth her or purchase her. [something his father had done. Ed.]

לא יגרע, one does not have the right to marry more than one woman unless able to provide for them not at the expense of reducing the first wife’s allowance. (Yevamot 65)

והאלוקים אנה לידו, this was not a death caused intentionally by the killer, but we know that there operates a principle in this world known as מגלגלין חובה על ידי חייב, “G’d arranges matters so that the guilty party being punished will be punished by someone himself guilty of something else.” This is what Solomon referred to in Proverbs 16,4 וגם רשע ליום רעה, “even the wicked for the day of evil.” [to the question if everything has a purpose in this world, what is the function of the wicked? Solomon answers that the wicked is used by G’d to administer punishment to those who deserve it. Ed.]

ושמתי לך מקום אשר ינוס, to atone for his guilt by being exiled from his home.

מעם מזבחי, even though at that time when no cities of refuge existed yet the entire camp of the Levites, and not only the immediate area of the altar served as such a place of refuge.

תקחנו למות, as in Jeremiah 7,11 “do you consider My house to be a den of thieves?

נקום ינקם, the blood of the slave. The master is certainly not permitted to administer such a cruel blow even though he owns this human being. He is allowed to administer physical punishments as we know from Proverbs 29,19 בדברים לא יוסר עבד, “a slave does not respond to mere oral chastisement.”

כי כספו הוא, and it is up to him to discipline him. Sometimes a slave’s insubordination continues until the master is forced to administer a strong blow. We have read of such in Proverbs 17,11 ומלאך אכזרי ישלח בואך מרי יבקש רע, “an evil man seeks to rebel; therefore a cruel messenger will be dispatched against him.”

עין תחת עין; this is what ought to be the judgment against the offender, if we were to apply the principle of the punishment fitting the crime in all its severity. However, according to tradition only financial compensation is exacted as we cannot accurately measure how to apply the principle of “an eye for an eye” literally.

וגם בעליו יומת. A reference to judgment by heaven which will be exacted from the guilty party if we cannot convict him due to lack of witnesses.

אם כופר יושת עליו, if witnesses testify in a manner that enables the court to apply the laws of compensation as a means of atonement.

כסף שלושים שקלים, equivalent to the monetary value set by the Torah on a woman in her prime (between 20-60) The comparison reflects the part of Torah legislation that must be observed both by Jewish women and gentile male slaves.