An Eye for an Eye

That Mean Old (aka ‘Misunderstood’) Torah Strikes Again

Who hasn’t heard Torah summarized with the expression, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” before? Well, the summary is pretty fair if we’re only summarizing half of what Torah is (love for YHWH and love for one another), but even though the words are great, there’s still a profound misunderstanding and mischaracterization going on behind the words which makes it sound like something vengeful and sinister.

And as you’ll see here in a bit, that same misconception was dominant 2,000 years ago as well, and Messiah addressed it. But to start, let’s look up the scriptural basis of this expression from the Books of Moses. Here are two passages from two different books which both have a very similar context:

Exodus 21:22-25 Now if people struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, but there is no injury, the guilty person shall certainly be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. “But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Leviticus 24:17-22 ‘Now if someone takes any human life, he must be put to death. ‘But the one who takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, life for life. ‘If someone injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so shall it be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a person, so shall it be inflicted on him. ‘So the one who kills an animal shall make restitution, but the one who kills a person shall be put to death. ‘There shall be only one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am YHWH your God.’”

Now that you’ve read these two passages, I want you to consider the context of “an eye for an eye” for a second. Do you see how both are talking about ACCOUNTABILITY? That’s kind of an ugly word for a lot of people. I mean - who wants to be held accountable for his own actions in THIS day and age, RIGHT?

But think about this a little deeper in the grand context of the law. This isn’t merely a prescription for punishment. It’s teaching us how to LOVE one another!

Imagine a child. Children are selfish! They don’t inherently consider others. They cry when they fall down and get hurt... but laugh when somebody else does. A child is not born knowing how to love. Love is something that we have to be TAUGHT. Torah is YHWH’s way of teaching us (His children) how He wants us to love.

As an immature and selfish child, I don’t really CARE if I’m fighting with you and I accidentally (or intentionally for that matter) put your eye out. But then what happens when I’m told that in that situation, my own eye will be forfeit as well? YIKES!!! Now all of a sudden, I’m going to be much, MUCH more careful with your eyes and teeth and bones and everything else.

We use consequence (punishment) to train our own children. Ever been grounded? Spanked? Lost your allowance? Sent to bed early? That got you to care about the rules, right? And then later on in life, as you matured, the rules started to make sense to you. You came to understand the rationale behind those rules. Eventually, you kept the rules because you realized they were good and important and punishment was no longer a factor.

Likewise, the law of YHWH teaches us love – from spiritual infancy all the way through adulthood. Once upon a time, maybe I obeyed the law because I was fearful of the consequences of disobedience, but TODAY, I obey the law because I love my god and I love my neighbors, and I want to please and do right by both.

So this concept of “an eye for an eye” isn’t some vengeful retributive thing. It’s there to make sure we treat one another with love even before we really know what love is and how to do it properly.

Now, there’s one more mention of an eye for an eye in the law, and its application is slightly different from the ones above. Let’s take a look at that one as well.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21 “A single witness shall not rise up against a person regarding any wrongdoing or any sin that he commits; on the testimony of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. “If a malicious witness rises up against a person to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both people who have the dispute shall stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. “And the judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has testified against his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had planned to do to his brother. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you. “And the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. “So you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

This passage invokes eye for an eye in the context of dealing with a false witness. And again, we’re teaching love through consequence, but now to somebody much more malicious.

Imagine being falsely accused of something as vulgar and violent as rape. You lose your family, your job, your friends and you go to prison. You become a pariah and nobody wants anything to do with you. You once had a beautiful life, and now everything you loved has been taken away from you.

When I was in high school, I actually saw something very similar to this happen. The captain of the football time was accused of rape in his senior year. He lost his college scholarship over it, and suffered in plenty more ways than that all BEFORE the truth came out and he was vindicated. The accuser eventually recanted in the face of overwhelming evidence and his name was (sort of ) cleared. I say “sort of cleared” because when it comes to something like rape, once accused, you always have a stigma about you. And as it was with him, the last I heard, he never made it out of that small, midwestern town, and never even made it to college. A false accusation cost him his life!

Since the beginning of civilization, man has used false accusation as a weapon. It was happening in the Old Testament and even more rampant in the New Testament. And a false accusation under the law of Torah can result in some pretty severe consequences not the least of which being death.

So as a punishment for false accusation, if I accuse you of something that would cost you an arm, then I forfeit my own arm! False accusation is a very wicked act because it upends the entire justice system and deceives righteous people causing them to punish the innocent. As such, I don’t think an eye for an eye is at ALL unfair or unmerited as a deterrent and punishment for false accusations.

But Didn’t Messiah Preach Against An Eye for an Eye?

In Matthew chapter 5, Messiah was really on a roll! He was teaching the Jews what they were missing from the Law of Moses in several areas. And he repeatedly used the same formula:

‘You have heard X (part of Torah), but I tell you Y (the part your teachers are forgetting to tell you or you’re ignoring).’

Remember his example of adultery? You have been told not to commit adultery, but remember: you aren’t even supposed to COVET anything that belongs to your neighbor! He’s not adding laws, he’s not replacing laws, he’s not abolishing laws. What he’s doing is REMINDING the Jews of the parts of Torah they had forgotten. And when it comes to an eye for an eye, we see the exact same approach:

Matthew 5:38-42 You have heard that it was said, ‘EYE FOR EYE, and TOOTH FOR TOOTH. But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

So do you get it? Messiah was talking about people using the law for their own ends.

When we read about an eye for an eye, it dealt with INJURY. But the way Messiah was teaching it, it sure sounds like it was being used for VENGEANCE. He wasn’t teaching against what you read about in Moses – an eye for an eye being enforces by the judges and city elders when somebody had been injured. He was teaching people not to use that as a way to justify their personal vendettas and animosities!

Just like the Old Testament, here we are in the New Testament and Messiah is teaching the law as an instruction in love. Some things never change!

Equity as a Context of Love

I was inspired to develop this study by recent events in my own life. Last week, a neighbor who is not a Torah-keeper (but I consider him a friend all the same) borrowed a tool from me. Two days ago, he informed me that he accidentally broke it and asked me how much it cost. I really didn’t know. He offered me a few dollars for it and I declined rather telling him where he could probably find the same tool for purchase locally.

I should’ve just forgiven him and said, “Oh, no biggie! Don’t sweat it,” right? Most people would consider that the kind and loving and neighborly thing to do. But me, I believe in Torah, and I believe that’s the only thing that can teach us what true love really is.

If I had accepted his offer, it would’ve paid for my taxi to the store and back. The two hours of time lost and the price of the replacement tool would’ve come out of my own pocket. The following week, he’d have come back over to borrow another tool with the same expectation: if I break it, I’ll just give him a buck or two and he can deal with the rest. And of course, when he tried, I would refuse him! Burn me once, shame on you, but burn me twice, shame on me, right? Forgiving the damage or accepting the disproportionate restitution would not only have been a missed opportunity to teach love, but it would have also hurt our friendship.

Now, he has to go out, find the tool, buy it, and return what he borrowed to me. The next time he borrows something from me, I’ll have no reservation about loaning it to him, but he WILL have more concern about taking care of it! Love is taught and learned and practice and our friendship will actually be healthier for it.

Conclusion

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth doesn’t teach us revenge. It teaches us equity, restitution and love. It teaches us to care for our neighbors and their things / property / resources / etc.. It teaches us that if by some tort or deliberate action we exact a cost upon one another that we must restore them and where that isn’t possible, a commensurate cost may be exacted of us anyway.