15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

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.

17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

We have a couple more crimes for which the punishment is death. Verses 15 and 17 both have to do with one’s actions towards their father and mother. If one were to smite a parent, or even if only to curse them, then they would face a death penalty. This is demanding a higher level of respect to one’s parents than for any other person. That being said, the commandment does not require one to actively show love and affection to the parents, but it does deny showing active malice towards them. Perhaps one’s parents behaved so reprehensibly that the child cannot show them sweet devotion, the child would be justified by the law in withholding that, but the child would not be justified in harming or cursing the parent.

As a separate matter, if anyone tried to force another man into slavery, the perpetrator would also be sentenced to death. Recall that a key difference between Israelite servitude and our modern conception of slavery was that the serving party willingly elected to enter that station in return for a price. It was freely entered into, would freely be departed from after six years, and received due compensation. It was entirely different from the sorts of historical slavery where people were kidnapped, carried from their homeland, and forced into lifelong oppression. As we see in today’s verses, that form of slavery was never supported by the Lord, in fact He demanded the death of any who participated in it.