Why the Canaanite Slave Goes Free by Tooth and Eye

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 339:5

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

If he blinded his slave's eye and [then] knocked out his tooth, he goes free [on account of the eye] and pays him the value of the tooth. Rabbi Zeira objected to this: say rather, [if] he blinded his eye, let the slave go out on account of his eye; [if] he blinded his eye and knocked out his tooth, let him go out on account of his eye and his tooth [taking nothing extra]. Abaye said to him: Scripture says "in place of his eye" and not in place of his tooth-and-his-eye; "in place of his tooth" and not in place of his eye-and-his-tooth [therefore the second injury is compensated separately]. What is the reason that the slave goes free through tooth and eye? Because it is written "and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [his father's nakedness] and told" and so forth (Genesis 9:22).

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