An Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth: Is it Biblical? Does it Still Apply?
by Teresa (1,508)
Freelance writer/Speaker
There have been many quotes over the years that have been attributed to the Bible. The four most common are, "God helps those who help themselves", "When Adam and Eve ate the Apple", "treat others they way you want to be treated", and "An eye for eye a tooth for a tooth".
Of these four, only two are mentioned in the Bible. At the risk of being too technical, "Treat others the way you want to be treated" is not an exact biblical quote. Although throughout the New Testament, we have the teaching of how Jesus would have us treat others. It would seem natural that we would come up with the "Golden Rule" that applies to all of humanity and not only Christians. The closest we can get to this particular saying is, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). I mention this because it is relevant to the main topic of this discussion.
The fourth quote "An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth" is the only word for word biblical quote – there is much to say about the history of this phrase. This saying comes from God himself as recorded in the Old Testament. It was given as a means of proper balance in punishment for crimes committed among the Israelite people. (For detailed information and context, read Exodus chapter 21-23.)
"If men fight and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no lasting harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any lasting harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" Exodus 21:22-25
In context, what God is saying to his people is that the punishment should fit the crime.
As we move into the New Testament, we find Jesus teaching on this very subject. He not only quotes Exodus, He incorporates grace and adds a new dimension to the entire Law of Moses – taking it from sins of external actions, to the internal thoughts of man. He in effect, raises the standard to a place where no one is free from guilt. (For detailed information and context, read Matthew chapter 5 – 6, where Jesus is teaching the multitudes.)
"For I [Jesus] say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard it said that it was said to those of old [Israelites during the time of Moses] ‘You shall not murder,' and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment [death]. But I say to you, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raca!' [A mean-spirited phrase the Jews used during the time of Jesus, meaning senseless man] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!' shall be in danger of hell fire…You have heard it that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart…" Matthew 5:20-22
"You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also." Matthew 5:38 -40
Indeed Jesus raised the standard of righteousness. It is no longer about what we do; it is also about what we think. He is asking us to go the extra mile to extend grace. Sure, we can go by the Law of Moses (As long as it is the law of the land) but Jesus made it clear we are to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees – and the Pharisees were more concerned with outward appearance and the letter of the law, instead of their hearts and the Spirit of law. (Read Matthew chapter 23.)
In answer to the question is "an eye for an eye" biblical, we can clearly see that it is. As far as it still being applicable, you decide. Remember the ‘Golden Rule", would you want Law or Grace?
My personal opinion is in some cases, Law is necessary. There is a place where Law and Grace can work together – this is altogether another lesson.
(By the way, who decided it was an Apple that Adam and Eve ate? The Bible only says it was "fruit" not which kind... not that we can't speculate, but some have made it Gospel.)
"For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 3:23, 6:23
© Teresa Ortiz 2009 World Wide Bible Studies – All rights reserved.
Article submitted Sunday, April 05, 2009 & read 1480 times.
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» left by Gary W. Halsey Sr. (344 days 10 hours ago.)
Teresa, thank you so much for your answer to this ongoing question. I will pass the word to my friends at work, and look forward to their responses. I am glad to say I was close to the correct answer, but had to make sure...I reckon that three years of seminary paid off. At least I remember some things. Thanks again for the informative article. I will pass this on...Your pal, and frind in pen.......GaryRespond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Gary, you are welcome, my pleasure and privilege. Thanks for reading and thanks again for asking. Mostly, I am humbled that you would ask my opinion in the first place. All glory to God! I think your three years in seminary did some good :-) I would love to hear some of your friends' responses. Maybe they can join the discussion here :-)
Next question? hee,hee. Lord bless you! Teresa
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» left by ted l. gragg from myrtle beach sc (344 days 6 hours ago.)
Not bad, ma'am. Not bad at all!Respond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Mr Ted! How are you, it has been a long time! Thanks for reading and the comment. What are your thoughts on the issue - as the word says, Iron sharpens iron.
Lord bless you! Teresa
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» left by Kathy Somers Walsh (344 days 4 hours ago.)
Great , so as I read it here, I am screwed again.....oh my goodness......your articles are brillant, interesting and heart felt for me but they are all pointing me to Hell...I am a Christian but I do everything wrong ! almost.....What about 'Turn the Other Cheek'.....? If someone smacks me across the face what do I do? Just look at them and smile and say 'I love you', or 'God Loves you' it's ok this time but please don't do that again? LOLI know that ' Turn the other cheek' means more than a slap in the face, it's also you steal from me, I steal from you....you hit me I hit you, you lie to me i lie to you......OR...I should say, you steal from me but I won't steal from you....you hit me but I won't hit you....you lie to me but I will not lie to you......etcAnyway I was Just wondering if I can turn the other cheek MOST of the time, but I If I can't turn everytime, does that mean that I may as well not have turned the other cheek at al?l.....If you break one commandment it's like breaking them all right? or no.......Do you know what i mean? I am comparing the two.So if I don't turn the cheek one time, is it like I never turned it at all before that one...........Oh Theresa I wish I lived closer to you it would be so much easier, i should call Diane ( my pastor friend ) actually, I haven't talked to her in awhile and she teaches about God pretty much the same as you do.I will be forwarding this to her though, i know you two have alot in common both being females in ministries, you could share alot of great ideas and you both can use me for your bad examples of What Not to Do and this is Why....
Great Article Again btw (by the way)
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» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Kathy, bless your sweet soul! I love your heart and concern to be right before the Lord. I think you might be confussed between being under the law and being under grace. As a Christian, you trust in the price Jesus paid on the cross for your sin. (which I know you have because we have talked about this before). This puts you under God's grace. You were sealed by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation. When you sin, you don't get "unsealed" and "unsaved". That would make Christ's sacrifice of no affect.
No one is ever going to be 100% right with God 100% of the time. The point is to walk in God's love, and live to be obedient children of God. What Jesus is saying, is don't be so quick to use the Law to your advantage. Have compassion and be gracious and forgiving. He is not saying you cannot protect yourself when you need to. He is not saying we are to accept abuse. But there are sometimes when say a friend says something extremely mean to you because they are hurting themselves because of a trial they might be going through. As a child of God, you goal is to extend kindess and compassion to them and not automatically fire back at them. Now, depending on what kind of mood we might be in. We might fire back without even thinking about it. If this happens, we need to seek God's forgiveness, calm ourselves and be the first to reach out to our friend to make ammends.
You are not going to go to hell because you do some things wrong. The only thing that will send you to hell is complete rejection of Christ. At this point you would have to denounce your faith and turn 100% away from God and believe in all your heart that he does not exsist--if you do this, you are giving up and walking away from your salvation. Somehow I can't see you doing this. I know you believe in Jesus with 100% of your heart. The important thing is to continue growing in knowledge and then applying that knowledge to your life and act on the things God is teaching you.
I am always blowing it in one way or another. There is no perfect Christian. Just obedient and repentant children that learn to sin less and less as we walk and grow in the Lord. The only sinless Christian is the one that is now present with the Lord. Until then, we all walk around in this body of sin. The key is to remember it no longer has a hold on us. I will work on writing some articles about the grace of God from the book of Romans.
I wish we we lived closer together too! And yes, call Dianne, get into fellowship girl!! Love, Teresa
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» left by Cathy from Clearwater, FL (343 days 2 hours ago.)
Hi Teresa,
Nice work. From everything I've ever learned from the Bible or been taught, you're right on! You go girl!
By the way, you're right about the apple (fruit) with Adam and Eve. NIV - Genesis 3:6 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husbad, who was with her and he ate it.
"It was more likely a pomegranate or perhaps a fig or an olive.
The pomegranate tree is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region of Asia, Africa and Europe. The fruit was used in many ways as it is today and was featured in Egyptian mythology and art, praised in the Old Testament of the Bible and in the Babylonian Talmud, and it was carried by desert caravans for the sake of its thirst-quenching juice.
The fig is believed to be indigenous to western Asia and to have been distributed by man throughout the Mediterranean area. Remnants of figs have been found in excavations of sites traced to at least 5,000 B.C.
In view of the fact that Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover their nakedness in the Garden of Eden, we have the assurance that at least this tree was to be found there. In Revelation 22:2, as we have seen, the Tree of Life whose leaves are for the healing of the nation could very well have been the olive; we therefore have some justification for supposing that the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden may likewise be so identified.
Just some "food" for thought. : )
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» left by Cathy from Clearwater, FL (343 days 2 hours ago.)
OOOps should have been "gave some to her husband" or in this case "husbad" would work. (smile)
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» left by Teresa (1,508)
"husbad" was right :-)
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» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Kathy, thanks so much! I am so glad someone took the bait :-)
My initial thoughts were a fruit that doesn't exist any longer, but then the more I thought about it, I thought a pomegranate because they are mentioned in the old testament a lot and I always wondered why God would have a pic of them embroidered on the priestly garments. (everything on the garments are a reflection of sin and the need for God) But the other day, one of the other writers here (Bart) mentioned fig for the same reason you did. Hhmm :-)
Thanks for your input! It is much appreciated! Lord bless you my friend!! Teresa
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» left by Brian Farrell(335)(341 days ago.)
Excellent exposition of this often misunderstood quote from Exodus. As usual, Teresa, your keen insights from the Scripture and easy going writing style have combined for an enlightening and encouraging article. Praise God for His truth in His word, He is so good! Lord bless.Respond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Brian, so glad you were blessed, thanks for the kind words, all glory to God!
God bless you and yours!
Teresa
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» left by Swapna Nanda(2) (329 days 17 hours ago.)
Excellent article Teresa. I am blessed. U are a wonderful expositor. God bless you.SwapnaRespond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hello Swapna! How are you doing way over there in India :-) Lord bless you always!
I am glad you are blessed. Praise the Lord. Lord bless you too!
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» left by Bart (32) (271 days 1 hour ago.)
Hello Teresa,What a great article. You explain it so well, and I love how you bring the contrast of Jesus' teaching into it. It is easy to judge another person, but when we are in the seat of judgment, how quickly we seek for grace. I am so thankful for the grace of our Lord, for He does have a higher standard (matters of the heart, not just of the flesh), and who could stand, but for the grace of God. Thanks so much, your article is such a blessing.Respond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Bart! Thanks for the input. We do need to remember that when we are pointing the finger at someone there are three pointing back at us.
Blessings to you! Teresa
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» left by Lance Ponder(120)
I think it is worth noting that "eye for an eye" was a profoundly moderate way to look at justice in the time it was first penned. It remains unimaginably gentle as justice goes in some places today, such as countries under Islamic law. The point of the message "eye for an eye" is to require no more than what is fair. It was (as is) often desired to seek far more in recompense than was originally taken in the first wrong doing. For example, in our own society a man can sue McDonalds for a million dollars for being scalded by hot coffee. If we followed eye for eye philosophy in our justice system, there would be no such thing as punitive damages and far less in the way of pain and suffering damages awarded. We claim to be a Christian nation, but we not only fail to forgive, we fail to uphold even the basic justice of "eye for an eye."Respond to this comment
» left by Teresa (1,508)
Hi Lance. Excellent points. I appreciate your adding this perspective. I agree completely. Wouldn't it be nice if we could operate our justice system where the punishment truly did fit the crime?
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» left by Verna Mull from Apache Junction, AZ (124 days 10 hours ago.)
Teresa, this is an outstanding article, and yes, I would surely rather live under grace than the law. There was really not much opportunity to really know God under the law. One little slip and one was guilty of all the law. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit now makes intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered. Without intercession for us, and God's sweet forgiveness through Jesus Christ, where would we be? Verna Mull (alias Cheery Blossom)
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» left by Verna Mull from Apache Junction, AZ (124 days 10 hours ago.)
Teresa, this is an outstanding article, and yes, I would surely rather live under grace than the law. There was really not much opportunity to really know God under the law. One little slip and one was guilty of all the law. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit now makes intercession for us in groanings that cannot be uttered. Without intercession for us, and God's sweet forgiveness through Jesus Christ, where would we be? Verna Mull (alias Cheery Blossom)
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