Exodus 21:24

Exodus 21:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
• English Standard Version (ESV)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
• New King James Version (NKJV)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
• New Living Translation (NLT)an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,

Context of Exodus 21:24

22“If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. 26“An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.

Exodus 21:24 word by word

עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת שֵׁ֑ן יָ֚ד תַּ֣חַת יָ֔ד רֶ֖גֶל תַּ֥חַת רָֽגֶל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• toothשֵׁןshên · toothH8127
• handיָדyâd · handH3027
• footרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272

Cross-references for Exodus 21:24

• Exodus 21:26“An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.
• Leviticus 24:19Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner:
• Deuteronomy 19:21Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
• Judges 1:6Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
• 1 Samuel 15:33But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.
• Matthew 5:38“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
• Matthew 7:2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
• Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
• Revelation 16:6for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”

Commentaries on Exodus 21:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Eye for eye - This is the earliest account we have of the lex talionis, or law of like for like, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter, it constituted a part of the twelve tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the praetor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the canon law, in reference…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22-25Verses 22-25 The rule would seem to refer to a case in which the wife of a man interfered in a quarrel. This law, “the jus talionis,” is elsewhere repeated in substance, compare the marginal references. and Genesis 9:6. It has its root in a simple conception of justice, and is found in the laws of many ancient nations. It serves in this place as a maxim for the magistrate in awarding the amount of compensation to be paid for the infliction of personal…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-36Verses 22-36 The cases here mentioned give rules of justice then, and still in use, for deciding similar matters. We are taught by these laws, that we must be very careful to do no wrong, either directly or indirectly. If we have done wrong, we must be very willing to make it good, and be desirous that nobody may lose by us.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22-25her child is born prematurely: It appears that if a child’s birth was caused prematurely and the child died (that is, there was further injury), the penalty for murder was to be enacted. The law of retaliation (the lex talionis) called for a penalty that matched the injury inflicted on a victim. But this law also served to limit the punishment so it was not more severe than the original injury. Compare Matthew 5:38–39.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2523-25. eye for eye--The law which authorized retaliation (a principle acted upon by all primitive people) was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge. The later Jews, however, mistook it for a moral precept, and were corrected by our Lord (Mt 5:38-42).Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 21:24

• Assault and Battery
• Quotations and Allusions
• Retaliation

In the dictionaries

• Book
• Crucifixion
• Determine
• Gore
• Push
• Quit
• Ransom
• Tooth
• Wont
• Bible, the

Commentaries on Exodus 21

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings