EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Leviticus 24:20
20If he has broken one of the person's bones, break one of his bones. If he hurt the person's eye, hurt his eye. If he has broken a person's tooth, break his tooth.
Leviticus 24:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
- New International Version (NIV)fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.
- English Standard Version (ESV)fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him.
Context of Leviticus 24:20
18A man might kill an animal that belongs to another man. Then he must give an animal that is alive to the man. You must give a living animal if you take a living animal's life. 19If a man hurts another person, you must punish him as he deserves. Hurt him in the same way that he has hurt the other person. If he has broken one of the person's bones, break one of his bones. If he hurt the person's eye, hurt his eye. If he has broken a person's tooth, break his tooth. 21A man might hit an animal so that it dies. That man must give back an animal that is alive. But if he kills a man, you must punish him with death. 22This rule is for all the people. It is the same rule for Israelites and foreigners. I am the Lord your God.’
Read all of Leviticus 24Leviticus 24:20 word by word
שֶׁ֚בֶר תַּ֣חַת שֶׁ֔בֶר עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת שֵׁ֑ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר יִתֵּ֥ן מוּם֙ בָּֽאָדָ֔ם כֵּ֖ן יִנָּ֥תֶן בּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Leviticus 24:20
- Exodus 21:23But if the man has hurt the woman a lot, you must punish him as he deserves. Take a life for a life,
- Deuteronomy 19:21Do not be sorry for people who are guilty. Punish people as they deserve: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
- Matthew 5:38Jesus then said, ‘You also know that God's Law says: “If somebody destroys your eye, then you should destroy that person's eye. If somebody destroys your tooth, then you should destroy that person's tooth.”
Commentaries on Leviticus 24:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Breach for breach - This is a repetition of the lex talionis, which See explained Exodus 21:24; (note).Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-23Verses 10-23 This offender was the son of an Egyptian father, and an Israelitish mother. The notice of his parents shows the common ill effect of mixed marriages. A standing law for the stoning of blasphemers was made upon this occasion. Great stress is laid upon this law. It extends to the strangers among them, as well as to those born in the land. Strangers, as well as native Israelites, should be entitled to the benefit of the law, so as not to suffer…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20eye for eye: This legal principle is often called lex talionis (which means “law of retaliation”). This means the punishment should match the crime. When an injured person sought revenge for their family member, excessive revenge often occurred instead of proper justice (see Numbers 35:19–21). This led to even more retaliation, creating a cycle of increasing violence. Lex talionis helped regulate how to prosecute crimes (see also Leviticus 6:2–7; compare…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 17-2217-22. he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death--These verses contain a repetition of some other laws, relating to offenses of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought.Read the comment
Topics related to Leviticus 24:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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