So you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
- KJV And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
- BSB You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
- NKJV Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
- NLT You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Punishment must fit the crime: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. This principle limits vengeance to proportionate justice.
Overview
The lex talionis set a measured standard, ensuring penalties matched offenses and curbing excessive retaliation. Administered by judges, it was a principle of just proportion, not personal revenge. Jesus later corrects its misuse as a license for private vengeance, calling His followers to mercy and non-retaliation (Matt. 5:38-39).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Matt 5:38–39“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
- Exod 21:23–25But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,
- Deut 19:13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.
- Lev 24:17–21“‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 19:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.