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1
A Principle of Proportional Justice
Commentators explain that "eye for eye" was not a command for personal vengeance. Instead, it was a legal principle for magistrates to ensure that the punishment fit the crime. This principle of proportional justice, known as "lex talionis," prevented excessive retaliation and escalating feuds, establishing a standard for an orderly society.
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Book Overview
Exodus
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Commentaries
4
Albert Barnes
On Exodus 21:22–25
18th Century
Theologian
The rule would seem to refer to a case in which a man's wife interfered in a quarrel. This law, “the jus talionis,” is repeated elsewhere in substa…
Charles Ellicott
On Exodus 21:22–25
19th Century
Bishop
A personal injury peculiar to women—a hurt producing miscarriage—is here considered. The miscarriage might cost the woman her life, in which case t…
John Gill
On Exodus 21:24
17th Century
Pastor
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
This is "lex talionis", the law of retaliation, and from which t…
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Matthew Henry
On Exodus 21:22–36
17th Century
Minister
The cases mentioned here give rules of justice that were applicable then and are still in use for deciding similar matters. These laws teach us tha…