Then translates the usual conjunction waw, and here it introduces the main clause of a conditional sentence. The usual form of these casuistic laws is “If … and if … then….” His master shall bring him is literally “his master shall cause him to step up, or approach.”

To God is “to the ʾelohim,” which New International Version translates as “before the judges” (so also King James Version and New American Standard Bible). New Revised Standard Version now has a footnote here showing that “to the judges” is a possible translation. As explained earlier (see at 20.3), the Hebrew word for God is plural in form, so the context must sometimes determine whether the intended meaning is God, gods, angels, or judges. (See also the discussion at 22.8-9.) Most translations still have God, allowing for the interpretation of Good News Translation, “the place of worship.” One may also translate “the local sanctuary” (Moffatt) or “the place to worship God.”

And he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost repeats the same verb, but it is not clear whether it is the door of the sanctuary or of the owner’s house. Most translations preserve the ambiguity, but Good News Translation interprets it to mean the sanctuary: “There he shall make him stand against the door or the doorpost”; Contemporary English Version has “Then he must stand beside either the door or the doorpost at the place of worship.” This is also made clear in New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, and Durham. For doorpost, see the comment at 12.7. The door was the movable covering of the doorway, usually set in sockets to swing open and closed.

And his master shall bore his ear through simply means he “shall pierce his ear” (New Revised Standard Version), or “put a hole through his ear” (Good News Translation). The verb is used only here in the Old Testament, but the context clarifies the meaning. With an awl means a tool for making a hole. The word for awl is derived from the same word for piercing, or making a hole. It is used in the parallel verse in Deut 15.17, where the awl is to go through the ear and “into the door.” The text here, however, does not mention this. It appears that his standing against the door or the doorpost of the place of worship was to provide a flat hard area for his owner to place the slave’s ear against. In this way the owner could punch a clear hole through the ear as in the Deuteronomy passage. Contemporary English Version provides a good model describing how an awl “punches a small hole through one of his ears with a sharp metal rod.” And he shall serve him for life means that “he will be his slave” (Good News Translation) for the rest of his life. It is likely that a ring or tag of some kind was inserted in the ear as a sign that he was now a permanent slave.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• … then his owner shall take him to the place to worship God. There he will make him stand against [or, beside] either the door or the doorpost, while he punches a hole through one of the slave’s ears with an awl [or, a sharp piece of metal].

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .