Common misinterpretations frame this passage as endorsing harsh, involuntary chattel slavery akin to modern atrocities, ignoring the voluntary election by the servant after years of kind treatment and the safeguards of sabbatical releases every seven years plus Jubilee provisions; others decry the ear-piercing as gratuitous violence, missing its cultural symbolism of public dedication in ancient Near Eastern custom, and overlook the reciprocal benevolence required of the master toward such devoted servants.
Deuteronomy 15:17
King James Version (1769)
17 Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.
Deuteronomy 15:17 describes the ritual for a Hebrew servant who, at the time of sabbatical release, voluntarily chooses lifelong service out of love for his master and contentment in the household; the master pierces the servant's ear with an awl to the doorpost, symbolizing a permanent, consensual bond that mirrors Israel's willing covenant with God, while upholding the servant's protected status and the master's duty to provide generously.