The other night my wife and I were watching a crime show. In it, there was a man who justified his murder of someone else by pointing to the Bible. Since this person’s actions led to the death of his daughter, he felt justified in taking vengeance. The guilty man quoted the infamous line from Scripture of an eye for an eye to prove his point. This “plot twist” was unsurprising as most references to Christianity in Hollywood are negative and they often display a profound ignorance about our faith.  The pervasiveness of this particular strawman, an eye for an eye, tells us more about a person’s ignorance than it does about what the Bible actually teaches.

This notorious phrase, an eye for an eye, appears in several places in the Bible. Its first appearance is found in Exodus 21:23–25:

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.

So, what does this text mean?

The Common Misunderstanding

Like the above example, people often twist this text by suggesting it endorses personal vengeance. This misunderstanding is so widespread even Gandhi is attributed as saying, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” The accusation here is that the Bible is backward, out-of-date, and even barbaric in its morality. It is easy to see why people who know little of the Bible would misunderstand this passage. Nonetheless, the Bible does not promote personal vengeance. In fact, it condemns it in multiple places (Lev. 19:18; Pro. 20:22; Rom. 12:17–21).

Such a misunderstanding is nothing new as Jesus even confronted it:

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Matt. 5:38–39)

What is Jesus doing here? Is he contradicting an earlier command? Is he nullifying it? No. He makes it plain that he is not here to overturn the laws of the Old Testament but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17–20).  Rather, he is correcting a common misunderstanding of the command which personalized something that was never intended that way.

If this passage isn’t about personal vengeance, then what is it about?

What This Passage Means

We must understand every passage of Scripture in its context. The reason an eye for an eye is often distorted is the failure to recognize that its context is the execution of justice by the government. An eye for an eye is a guideline for punishment within the legal system of Israel. These passages are about how the state should administer justice, not about an aggrieved individual seeking vengeance. To put it plainly, the command for an eye for an eye is not a license for the individual to seek vengeance but it is a guide for the judicial system for proper punishment of crimes.

Biblically speaking, individuals are not to seek justice on their own, rather we are to trust God to punish evildoers. One way he executes this vengeance is through giving the government the sword of justice (Rom. 12:14–13:12).

Moreover, an eye for an eye is not a license for the state to punish however it sees fit. Rather, the command limits the severity of punishments, even from the state. An eye for an eye means the punishment must fit the crime. It is the severity of the crime that dictates the punishment. Essentially this command outlaws cruel and unusual punishment from the government toward its citizens. For example, the government should not punish speeding by amputating the driver’s foot. Why? Such a punishment violates the principle of an eye for an eye.  

Throughout much of world history, governments punished criminals in barbaric ways. Stole some bread? Lose your hand. The Western tradition differs because of the influence of an eye for an eye on the common law tradition. In legal scholarship, it is called lex talionis, and it is one reason why cruel and unusual punishment is outlawed. Such righteous safeguards come from the biblical ethic of an eye for an eye.

This command is good and necessary because we desire vengeance. It is natural, both individually and corporately, to seek an ever-increasing retaliation. You put one of us in the hospital? Then we put two of yours in the morgue. The government is just as prone to seek vengeance as individuals are. Exodus 21, and passages like it, command judges, courts, and governments to seek equitable punishments for individual crimes. In this way, justice is accomplished. Justice cannot be accomplished if the punishment does not fit the crime. An eye for an eye, when rightly understood, leads us to justice, not vengeance. It is a good thing and it is a cornerstone of a just society.

Conclusion

Justice is important as it flows out of the very character of God. It is why he has established governments to punish evil-doers and reward the righteous. In that capacity, governments are instructed not to over- or under-punish crimes. When they do either of these the people suffer. God in his grace has given us commands on how to seek justice. We must understand these commands in their context.

In today’s world, it is far too easy to twist what God has said. An eye for an eye is not something to be embarrassed about. Rather, it promotes justice and limits the punishment of crimes. With all due respect to Gandhi, without the command of an eye for an eye governments will inevitably move toward either anarchy or tyranny. Without it, we stand to encounter worse problems than worldwide blindness.

Pastor Levi Secord

Christ Bible Church