When the Bible calls for “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (v. It must be practiced with evenhanded justice by matching the severity of the punishment with the severity of the crime. The second principle to be followed regarding the death sentence was just as important. Although the killing of an animal was important, the killing of a human being was far more egregious…. First, there was a difference between the murder of a human being and the killing of an animal. Verses 17-22 establish two important principles governing the community’s policy of capital punishment. Some, like Kenneth Mathews, argue that we should not take this literally: First, commentators are divided as to how literally one was to have taken the words about “fracture for fracture” and so on. Here I can only give a few short remarks about all this. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Deuteronomy 19:21 Your eye shall not pity. You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. Whoever takes an animal’s life shall make it good, life for life. Leviticus 24:17-22 Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. But if there is harm, then you shall pay 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 When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. In the Old Testament we have at least three clear passages on this: It was a basic principle of ancient Babylonian law as well as Roman law for example. While I here deal with this in the context of the Bible, other cultures besides ancient Israel ran with it. It involves the principle of retributive justice in which the punishment of the criminal should match or correspond to his crime. Most folks have heard of the phrase under question, and one need not know Latin to understand that it refers to the law of retaliation. How should we understand ‘an eye for an eye’?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |