mar.tse.a is the pointed implement used to bore a servant’s ear at a door or doorpost.

The term denotes the implement used in the ear-boring act that marks a servant’s continuing service, described at a door or doorpost in both attested verses.

1. Implement for boring a servant’s ear · dominant

   Both occurrences are common masculine singular absolute nouns in the instruction to take the implement and bore or thrust it through a servant’s ear. In Deuteronomy 15:17 the APB renders the action as taking it and thrusting it through the ear into the door; in Exodus 21:6 it renders the lord boring the ear with it at the door or doorpost.

   Deuteronomy 15:17Exodus 21:6

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the term as "an awl" in both verses, within instructions for boring a servant’s ear. This rendering is confirmed by the shared action and setting rather than by alignment alone.