ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Monite Me 22, 2023

עין תחת עין An Eye for an Eye

KO E MATA KI HE MATA

DEUTERONOMY 19:21

"YOUR EYE SHALL NOT PITY. IT SHALL BE LIFE FOR LIFE, EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH, HAND FOR HAND, FOOT FOR FOOT."

TEUTALONOME 19:21

Pea ‘e ‘ikai te ke mata mamae ki ai; ko e mo‘ui pē ma‘a ha mo‘ui, ko e mata pē ma‘a ha mata, ko e nifo pē ma‘a ha nifo, ko e nima pē ma‘a ha nima, ko e va‘e ma‘a ha va‘e.

Leviticus first informs us of this law: "whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him ayin tachat ayin ['eye for eye']" (24:20; cf.Exod. 21:22-25). This so-called law of retaliation (Latin: lex talionis) should not be read with wooden legalism. Rather, it's a general principle that the punishment should fit the crime. It's not "two arms and two legs for an eye" or "a firstborn child for an eye" but ayin tachat ayin. This principle was well known in ancient times; laws such as this are also found in the famous eighteenth-century BC Babylonian Code of Hammurabi.

Jesus quotes the "eye for eye" law but proceeds to add: "But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39). Jesus, rather than undoing the law, actually doubles down on it, for it is much easier to seek retribution than to demonstrate mercy. We are much more prone to rip our enemy's head off than offer him our cheek in love. And so we are caught. Even the keeping of ayin tachat ayin shows we have an eye only to self-interest. And so we pray: 

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.