B-Hebrew: The Biblical Hebrew Forum

‏ אם רעה בעיני אדניה אשר לא (לו) יעדה—והפדה  לעם נכרי לא ימשל למכרה בבגדו בה

In this verse, we see the Masoretic Qere inside the parenthesis.

The LXX seems to agree with the Qere.

As far as I can tell, this verse is not found among the DSS.

Ketib seems to indicate that the master has not taken sexual advantage of her, but even so, he doesn’t have the authority to sell her to someone who is not of Israel.

Qere gives a problem of where והפדה fits into the meaning.

What do you all think?

Karl W. Randolph.

Well in the context of verse 7, it seems like v8 is essentially a "30 day returns policy" for the daughter who's been given to another person as a slave.

If she (the daughter who's been sold by her father to this other person as a slave) isn't pleasing to this "master" who selected her for himself, then the master isn't then just allowed to pawn her off to someone else to "get his money back". She is allowed to be "redeemed/ransomed", that is, returned back to her father, and the master can claim his money back.

That's how I'd have והפדה, an explanation of "so he will let her be redeemed/get his money back that he paid for her".

I think the Qere/LXX makes more sense than the Ketib, especially in light of v9 as well. But you should know by now that I have a bias with regards to LXX readings