Hard passagesDraft · awaiting advisor review
Doesn’t “an eye for an eye” teach revenge?
In short
No. It is a rule for judges, limiting punishment to what fits the harm, not permission for personal revenge, which the same law forbids. Jesus, speaking to individuals, goes further: don’t retaliate at all.
The Objection
The Old Testament commands “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”, a law of revenge. Jesus had to correct it.
Put as its strongest advocates would put it.
The Christian Case
- Scripture
The rule appears in laws for courts and judges, setting the penalty in proportion to the injury and no more.
- Scripture
The same law forbids personal revenge and commands love of neighbour.
- Scripture
Other laws show compensation in practice: a slave whose eye is struck goes free, and a ransom is ruled out only for a murderer, implying it was allowed for lesser harm.
- Scripture
Jesus addresses his followers’ personal response to insult and injury: turn the other cheek. He doesn’t abolish justice in courts but forbids revenge in our own hearts and hands.
Where the Evidence Is Weaker
Scholars debate how literally the rule was applied in ancient Israel; the evidence for compensation in place of bodily punishment is indirect.
Arguments to Avoid
- Saying the Old Testament teaches revenge and the New Testament love, as if the God of each were different.
Read for Yourself
Exodus 21:23–27
23And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 26And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.
Leviticus 19:18
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Matthew 5:38–42
38Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Further Reading
- Is God a Moral Monster? · Paul Copan (2011)
Drafted with Opened AI and awaiting review by Opened’s apologetics advisors. Labels show the kind of support each point has: Scripture is what the Bible says; historical evidence and philosophical arguments can be checked by anyone; “Christians differ” marks questions on which faithful Christians disagree.
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