Exodus 21:16-18

New English Translation

¹⁶“Whoever kidnaps someone^[a] and sells him,^[b] or is caught still holding him,^[c] must surely be put to death.

¹⁷“Whoever treats his father or his mother disgracefully^[d] must surely be put to death.

¹⁸“If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,^[e]

Exodus 21:16 tn Heb “a stealer of a man,” thus “anyone stealing a man.”
Exodus 21:16 sn The implication is that it would be an Israelite citizen who was kidnapped and sold to a foreign tribe or country (like Joseph). There was always a market for slaves. The crime would be in forcibly taking the individual away from his home and religion and putting him into bondage or death.
Exodus 21:16 tn Literally “and he is found in his hand” (KJV and ASV both similar), being not yet sold.
Exodus 21:17 tn The form is a Piel participle from קָלַל (qalal), meaning in Qal “be light,” in Piel “treat lightly, curse, revile, declare contemptible, treat shamefully.” (See its use in Lev 19:14; Josh 24:9; Judg 9:26-28; 1 Sam 3:13; 17:43; 2 Sam 16:5-13; Prov 30:10-11; Eccl 7:21-22; 10:20.) It is opposite of “honor” (כָּבֵד, kaved; Qal “be heavy”; Piel “honor,” as in 20:12) and of “bless.” This verse then could refer to any act contrary to the commandment to honor the parents. B. Jacob (Exodus, 640) cites parallels in Sumerian where people were severely punished for publicly disowning their parents. “21:15, 17 taken together evoke the picture of parents who, physically and verbally, are forcibly turned out of the house (cf. Prov. 19:26)” (C. Houtman, Exodus, 3:148).
Exodus 21:18 tn Heb “falls to bed.”

New English Translation (NET)