If you cost me my hand, then you will pay your hand and foot for it. The natural tendency of people is not just to get even, but to never be cheated. The eye-for-an-eye principle and other aspects of this verse were meant to ensure that the punishment would fit the crime and most especially to make sure that the penalty should NOT GO BEYOND the crime. The KEY to understanding this passage is to learn its INTENT. We don’t see that a literal eye was paid for an eye or a tooth for a tooth. In fact, if we read in Exodus 21:26-27, we read that if a man struck the eye of his servant or knocked his tooth, that man should let go of this servant. Yes, a judge in Israel may demand a life for a life, stripes for stripes or wound for wound for certain crimes, but we don’t see any indication that the eye-for-eye and tooth-for-tooth principle have been carried out. We don’t see any verse in the Bible that shows this principle to be literally carried out. This passage is NOT generally meant to be a literal requirement of executing judgment. To set the record straight, let us be clear here. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, EYE FOR EYE, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him and he shall pay as the judges determine. We first read of this popular from Exodus 21:22-25: However, is this what the Bible really teaches? Does the eye-for-an-eye principle promotes the merciless execution of justice? What does the Bible really teach about “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth?” A misguided interpretation of a Biblical passage It is taught that we should do our best to get even with those who have wronged us. Since it is in the Bible, many people claim that it is our duty not to let anyone take advantage of us. The expression “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” has been widely used to justify vengeful feelings.

An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth