An awl: the word appears only here and in Exo 21.6. It is a sharp, pointed tool, made of wood, bone, flint, or metal. Some conjecture that a metal tag was affixed to the pierced ear lobe of the slave.

Ear: the actual part referred to is the ear lobe.

Into the door: apparently the door of the master’s house (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). In some languages it will be necessary to make it clear that the slave must stand against or beside the door to provide a hard flat area for the owner to punch a clear hole through the ear (see a similar passage in Exo 21.6). So the first part of this verse may be expressed as follows:

• Then make him stand against [or, beside] the door of your house, and punch a hole through one of his ear lobes with an awl [or, a sharp piece of metal].

Bondman … bondwoman: better “male slave … female slave.”

Contemporary English Version combines the final two clauses in the following way: “such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .