I’m wrong AGAIN?!?

The ESV renders Exodus 21:16 incorrectly as 'whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him' (0:45), but McClellan explains the Hebrew should read 'or is found with him in his possession'—meaning the law addresses whether the kidnapper has sold the person yet or not, not unknowing purchasers.

The Hebrew covenant code carefully specifies social status of perpetrators and victims using precise terminology (1:55)—'ish' for adult male Israelite, 'ish o isha' for man or woman, 'eved o ama' for male or female enslaved persons, and 'ben o bat' for children. Exodus 21:16 only uses 'ish' without any expansion.

The passage only prohibits kidnapping an adult male Israelite ('ish'), not women, children, foreigners, or already-enslaved persons (2:45). This interpretation is confirmed by the parallel law in Deuteronomy 24:7 which explicitly states 'from his brothers, from the sons of Israel.'

All civilizations with complex slavery systems prohibited kidnapping certain protected members for enslavement (4:00). McClellan compares this to pre-Civil War American South where kidnapping white male adults for slavery was illegal—yet slavery itself was clearly endorsed.