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    7. RASHI METHOD: FORMATTING
    BRIEF EXPLANATION:Inferences from Biblical formatting: --bold,italics, and paragraph structure.
    • Use of repetition to indicate formatting effects: bold,italics,...;
    • use of repeated keywords to indicate a bullet effect;
    • rules governing use and interpretation of climactic sequence;
    • rules governing paragraph development and discourse
    This example applies to Rashis Ex19-12c
    URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1402.htm
    Brief Summary: Regarding female minor slaves: a) He can marry her b) He can arrange for monetary redemption (based on remaining years) c) He can allow his son to marry her If not she goes free at puberty.

We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting located on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/biblicalformatting.pdf, that the Biblical Author indicated bullets by using repeating keywords.

That is, if a modern author wanted to get a point across using bullets - a list of similar but contrastive items - then the Biblical Author would use repeating keywords. Today's verse illustrates this principle.

Bullets whether indicated through modern notation or through the Biblical method of repeating keywords always indicate contrastive emphasis - that is, each bullet is presumed to be a distinct item contrasted to the other items on the list. Very often the bullets are also used to indicate that the entire list is exhaustive of some spectrum.

At times the bullet structure is not indicated through repeating keywords but rather through an explicit biblical enumerative statement. Today's verses illustrate this.

    Verse(s) Ex21-07:11 discussing the freedom of a minor girl sold as a slave states And if a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant, ....
    • (1) If she pleases not her master, who has designated her for himself,
    • (2) then shall he let her be redeemed; ....
    • (3) And if he has designated her to his son, he shall ....
    • ---------------------------------------------------
    • And if he does not do these three things to her, then (4)she shall go out free without payment of money.
    The explicit enumerative phrase these three things to her identifies three methods of freedom which we have bulleted. These three methods are discovered through reading the passage and identifying and enumerating separate methods of freedom. The three methods are
    • (1) marriage to the master,
    • (2) allowing redemption (by paying off an amount proportional to the years left - so that a girl sold at age 6 for $60,000 would be able to go free at age 8 by her father paying back $40,000)
    • (3) Allowing marriage to his son.
    If these three methods are not done then (4)she shall go out, at the commencement of adulthood/puberty, without any payment.

Advanced Rashi: Much more could be said about this Rashi but the above will suffice for now. We point out that the institution of minor female slavery is poorly understood. It was only allowed in conditions of absolute poverty. Such poverty typically gave rise to death and/or prostitution. The Torah allowed instead a private deal whereby the girl was promised marriage and board with a private owner. If however upon reaching puberty neither the owner nor the son liked the girl and would not marry her, and if her father was not in the meantime able to make the money needed to pay back the owner, then puberty set her free automatically.

Note especially that the owner did not really own her. So for example if she was sold at age 6 for $60,0000 and her father made back the money he could redeeem her for $40,000 two years later - in other words, the father's redemption rights took precedence over the owners ownership - that is, the owner did not really own her but took her in because of her poverty and the potential marriage to his sons. Also note that countries like America have not really eliminated slavery but rather have eliminated the poverty which causes slavery. 


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