John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 24:19

"And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him:" — Leviticus 24:19 (ASV)

And if a man causes a blemish in his neighbor, He (God) now also subjects to punishment those who mutilate their neighbor's body by blows. This was necessary because otherwise, any very wicked person skilled in inflicting injury could have broken his brother’s leg or arm, and then would not only have laughed at the poor man himself but also at God and His Law.

Therefore, if a person injured a part of another's body, the law of retaliation is enacted, a principle also used by other nations.²⁸

But God distinctly prescribes when and how the injury was to be retaliated, so that the law might not be open to the foolish objections with which Favorinus attacks the law of the Twelve Tables in Gellius. Certainly, the words of the Decemvirs were too obscure: Si membrum fregeris meum, ex pacto talio est. (If you have broken my limb, without an agreement made, there must be retaliation.)

But God does not command an eye to be plucked out for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth, until He has established that this was only to be the case if anyone had knowingly and willfully inflicted the injury. Thus, He does not bring accidental blows to justice, but only a premeditated crime.

It is futile to object that the limbs of different people can hardly be broken with exact equality. For God’s intention was no other than that, alarmed by the severity of the punishment, men should abstain from injuring others. Therefore, these two things were connected: If one kills a man, let him die; and if one has taken away a part of life, let him suffer a similar deprivation.

And the same is the tendency of the distinction that the loss of an animal may be repaid, but if a man is killed, no just compensation can be made with money.

²⁸ This is the earliest account we have of the Lex Talionis, or law of , or law of like for like, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter it constituted a part of the Twelve Tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the Praetor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the Canon Law in reference to all calumniators: “Clumniator, si in accusatione defecerit, talionem recipiat.” Nothing, however, of this kind was left to private revenge; the magistrate awarded the punishment when the fact was proved. Otherwise the , which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter it constituted a part of the Twelve Tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the Praetor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the Canon Law in reference to all calumniators: “Clumniator, si in accusatione defecerit, talionem recipiat.” Nothing, however, of this kind was left to private revenge; the magistrate awarded the punishment when the fact was proved. Otherwise the Lex Talionis would have utterly destroyed the peace of society, and have sowed the seeds of hatred, revenge, and all uncharitableness.” — would have utterly destroyed the peace of society, and have sowed the seeds of hatred, revenge, and all uncharitableness.” — Adam Clarke on on Exodus 21:24..