A common misinterpretation is that this verse endorses or regulates slavery in general, whereas it specifically criminalizes 'man-stealing'—the kidnapping and trafficking of free persons—with the death penalty, distinguishing it from voluntary or debt-based servitude allowed elsewhere in the law; another error is assuming it applies only to Israelites, ignoring its broad language against any such abduction, or using it to argue against all capital punishment by selective application.
Exodus 21:16
King James Version (1769)
16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 21:16 establishes a fundamental principle in Mosaic Law that kidnapping a person—stealing a free individual—and either selling them into slavery or possessing them unlawfully is a capital offense punishable by death, emphasizing the inherent value and freedom of every human being as created in God's image and prohibiting the commodification of people through forced enslavement.