Exodus 21:5
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
And if the servant shall plainly say,.... Or, "in saying shall say" {i} shall express himself in plain and full terms, and repeat his words, and abide by them, signifying it as his last will and determined resolution:
I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I will not go out free; but continue in his servitude, having a great affection for his master, and that he might enjoy his wife and children he dearly loved; and being animated with such a principle, his servitude was a pleasure to him: and when our obedience to God springs from love to him, and to his cause and interest, which should be as dear to us as our families, it is then acceptable to God and delightful to ourselves; in Deuteronomy 15:16,
it is, because he loveth thee, and thine house, because he is well with thee; hence the Jewish writers say {k}, understanding by "house" a family, if a servant has a wife and children and his master not, his ear is not to be bored; and if his master has a wife and children and he has not, his ear is not to be bored; if he loves his master and his master do not love him, or his master loves him and he do not love his master, or if he is sick, &c. his ear is not to be bored.
{i} rmay rma
{k} T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 22. 1. Maimon. in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 2.