Exodus 21:23-25

21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. ¹ 

Leviticus 24:17-21

24:17 “‘If a man beats any person to death, ²  he must be put to death. 24:18 One who beats an animal to death ³  must make restitution for it, life for life. ⁴  24:19 If a man inflicts an injury on ⁵  his fellow citizen, ⁶  just as he has done it must be done to him – 24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth – just as he inflicts an injury on another person ⁷  that same injury ⁸  must be inflicted on him. 24:21 One who beats an animal to death ⁹  must make restitution for it, but ¹⁰  one who beats a person to death must be put to death.

Matthew 5:38-39

Retaliation

5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ¹¹  5:39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. ¹²  But whoever strikes you on the ¹³  right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

[21:25]  ¹ sn The text now introduces the Lex Talionis with cases that were not likely to have applied to the situation of the pregnant woman. See K. Luke, “Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth,” Indian Theological Studies 16 (1979): 326-43.

[24:17]  ² tn Heb “And if a man strikes any soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] of mankind.” The idiom seems to derive from the idea of striking a fatal blow to the very “life” (literally, “soul”) of a human being, not just landing a blow on their body (HALOT 698 s.v. נכה hif.2). On the difficult of the meaning and significance of the term נֶפֶשׁ see the notes on Lev 17:10-11.

[24:18]  ³ tn Heb “And one who strikes a soul of an animal.”

[24:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “soul under soul.” Cf. KJV “beast for beast”; NCV “must give…another animal to take its place.”

[24:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “gives a flaw in”; KJV, ASV “cause a blemish in.”

[24:19]  ⁶ tn Or “neighbor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); TEV, NLT “another person.”

[24:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the man [אָדָם, ’adam].”

[24:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “just as he inflicts an injury…it must be inflicted on him.” The referent (“that same injury”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:21]  ⁹ sn See the note on v. 18 above.

[24:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and,” but here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is adversative, contrasting the consequences of beating an animal to death with those of beating a person to death.

[5:38]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20.

[5:39]  ¹² tn The articular πονηρός (ponhro", “the evildoer”) cannot be translated simply as “evil” for then the command would be “do not resist evil.” Every instance of this construction in Matthew is most likely personified, referring either to an evildoer (13:49) or, more often, “the evil one” (as in 5:37; 6:13; 13:19, 38).

[5:39]  ¹³ tc ‡ Many mss (B D K L Δ Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1424 pm) have σου (sou) here (“your right cheek”), but many others lack the pronoun (א W ˹ 33 892 1241 pm). The pronoun was probably added by way of clarification. NA²⁷ has σου in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.