Hebrew word · H2670
חׇפְשִׁי
chafeshi
free
Free, released from slavery or obligation. In law it is the status of a manumitted slave. Elsewhere it means freed from duties (1 Sam 17:25) or, in Psalm 88:5 and the 'house of ḥophshit' (2 Kgs 15:5), set apart or isolated.
Appears 17 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) free
1a) free (from slavery)
1b) free (from taxes or obligations)
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Jeremiah 34:10
- Range of meaning
Free, released from slavery or obligation. In law it is the status of a manumitted slave. Elsewhere it means freed from duties (1 Sam 17:25) or, in Psalm 88:5 and the 'house of ḥophshit' (2 Kgs 15:5), set apart or isolated.
- Against the English
English 'free' can suggest full civic equality. The Hebrew term means release from a master's ownership and does not necessarily say anything about wealth or social standing.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus 21:2, 5; Deuteronomy 15:12–13, 18. A related Akkadian and Ugaritic word, ḫupšu, names a lower social class of dependent freemen. Scholars still debate exactly how the two words are connected.
- Range of meaning
"Free, released, exempt." It is used of slaves released (Deut 15:12–18; Jer 34:9–16) and of a slave free from his master in the grave (Job 3:19). Saul promises to make the family of Goliath's killer ḥofshi in Israel, probably meaning exempt from taxes or forced labour (1 Sam 17:25). The dead are ḥofshi, cut loose (Ps 88:5 [Heb. 88:6]).
- Against the English
Most versions say "free" or "go free"; YLT says "as a freeman". These are accurate as far as they go. But the English word "free" can suggest full civil rights and equal standing, which this word does not guarantee.
- How it drifted
Modern political ideas of freedom (rights, equality, self-determination) get read into "free". The Hebrew word is narrower and legal: no longer bound to this master.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Related words occur in Akkadian (ḫupšu, a low social class, often dependent people) and in Ugaritic (ḫpṯ). Some scholars, such as N. P. Lemche, argue that ḥofshi originally named a released but still dependent lower class. Others note that in Hebrew usage it simply means released or exempt. See debates.
From the study of Exodus 21:26
- Range of meaning
"Free, released" from slavery or from duties to the state (1 Sam 17:25: a father's house made "free" in Israel). It is used of a slave's release (Exod 21:2, 5; Deut 15:12–13, 18; Jer 34:9–16). Once, in Job 3:19, "the slave is chofshi from his master" in death.
- Against the English
Every major version says "free". That is accurate. The Hebrew is literally "to/as the free one": a change of legal status, more than just being allowed to walk out.
- Used elsewhere in the period
A related Akkadian word, ḫupšu, appears in texts from Nuzi, Alalakh, Ugarit and the Amarna letters for a social class. These were free people who were often poor and dependent, ranked below full citizens and above slaves. Many scholars think the Hebrew word grew out of this (see HALOT). How much of that "lower freedman" sense remains in Exodus is debated.
Where it appears
Exodus · 4
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Exodus 21:2 לַֽחָפְשִׁ֖י to <the> free [person]
If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free without paying anything.
Here: "To the free [state]" or "as a released man". It means released from the master's claim, with no more obligation to him. The word does not by itself promise wealth or high standing.
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Exodus 21:5 חָפְשִֽׁי׃ a free [person]
But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children; I do not want to go free,’
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Exodus 21:26 לַֽחָפְשִׁ֥י to <the> free [person]
If a man strikes and blinds the eye of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the eye.
Here: "As a free person." It is the same word used for the Hebrew slave's release in the seventh year (21:2, 5). The injured slave leaves in the legal status of someone no longer owned.
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Exodus 21:27 לַֽחָפְשִׁ֥י to <the> free [person]
And if he knocks out the tooth of his manservant or maidservant, he must let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.
Deuteronomy · 3
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Deuteronomy 15:12 חָפְשִׁ֖י a free [person]
If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.
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Deuteronomy 15:13 חָפְשִׁ֖י a free [person]
And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
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Deuteronomy 15:18 חָפְשִׁי֙ a free [person]
Do not regard it as a hardship to set your servant free, because his six years of service were worth twice the wages of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
1 Samuel · 1
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1 Samuel 17:25 חָפְשִׁ֖י free
Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”
Job · 2
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 88:5 חָ֫פְשִׁ֥י a [person] set free
I am forsaken among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, who are cut off from Your care.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 58:6 חָפְשִׁ֔ים free [people]
Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
Here: The legal status of a slave who has been released (Exod 21:2; Deut 15:12). 'Send the crushed away free' is the language of actually setting people at liberty.
Jeremiah · 5
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Jeremiah 34:9 חָפְשִׁ֑ים free [people]
that each man should free his Hebrew slaves, both male and female, and no one should hold his fellow Jew in bondage.
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Jeremiah 34:10 חָפְשִׁ֔ים free [people]
So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,
Here: 'Free,' the legal status of a released slave (Exod 21:2; Deut 15:12). It is plural because it covers both men and women: they were to go out as people no longer owned.
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Jeremiah 34:11 חָפְשִׁ֑ים free [people]
but later they changed their minds and took back the menservants and maidservants they had freed, and they forced them to become slaves again.
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Jeremiah 34:14 חָפְשִׁ֖י a free [person]
Every seventh year, each of you must free his Hebrew brother who has sold himself to you. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free. But your fathers did not listen or incline their ear.
Here: "Free": no longer under obligation to a master, back to independent status. It is the technical legal term in the release laws (Exod 21:2, 5; Deut 15:12–13, 18).
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Jeremiah 34:16 חָפְשִׁ֖ים free [people]
But now you have changed your minds and profaned My name. Each of you has taken back the menservants and maidservants whom you had set at liberty to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.