Exodus 21:23-25

Context

This passage belongs to the "Book of the Covenant" (20:22–23:33), which was given at Mount Sinai after the Ten Commandments (chapter 20). It appears among the case laws dealing with situations in which a person is injured or killed. Verse 22, immediately before it, states that if men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman so that "her fruit depart from her," but no other harm follows, a fine is to be imposed. Verse 23 then states that "if any mischief follow," the penalty is to be life for life. The same principle also appears in Leviticus 24:19-20 and Deuteronomy 19:21.

In Latin it is called the lex talionis (the law of repayment in kind), and similar provisions are found in the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi.

Interpretation

• As a principle of proportionality: Most interpreters see this law as setting an upper limit on punishment, preventing retaliation greater than the injury suffered. On this view, it serves as a check on unlimited vengeance, such as Lamech's boast that he had slain a man for wounding him (Genesis 4:23-24). It is also seen as embodying a principle of equality, so that punishment does not vary according to social status.
• As a principle for the courts: Interpreters emphasize that this law was not a license for individuals to take personal revenge but a standard by which judges determined penalties (Deuteronomy 19:18-21).
• As a principle of compensation: Rabbinic Jewish tradition has interpreted the law not as requiring that an eye actually be put out, but as requiring payment of an equivalent value. The immediately following verses 26-27, which command that a servant be set free if his master destroys his eye, are also seen as showing that the law was not solely a matter of literal retaliation.

Debates and Issues

• Relationship to the words of Jesus: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus quoted this passage and then said, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matthew 5:38-39). The Anabaptists, Mennonites, Quakers, and others accept this as a Christian principle of nonviolence and nonresistance. Many denominations, including the Reformed churches, hold that these words address personal vindictiveness and do not deny the state's legitimate authority to punish (Romans 13:4).
• Capital punishment: "Life for life" is cited as grounds for retaining the death penalty in the debate over capital punishment and the church, while abolitionists oppose it by appealing to Christ's forgiveness and respect for life.
• Verses 22-23 and abortion: There is discussion over whether "mischief" (harm) includes harm done to the unborn child. Depending on the answer, the passage may or may not be read as regarding the unborn child as a human life with the same standing as a person. See abortion and the church.

Related Passages

• Leviticus 24:17-22
• Deuteronomy 19:18-21
• Matthew 5:38-42
• Romans 12:17-21
• Romans 13:3-4