an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

So God lays down a basic principle of justice that should apply across the board: the punishment must be proportionate to the offense-no more, no less. Partiality and favoritism were a major concern in the Old Testament legal system (cf. The passage in Deuteronomy specifically places the quote in the context of courts and judges (Deut. In this case, they do that by invoking a principle that wasn’t meant to apply to them in the first place. Like every other “ancient saying” in this section of the Sermon on the Mount, folks are trying to keep the letter of the law while missing the heart. “Folks are trying to keep the letter of the law while missing the heart.” He said, as strongly as he possibly could, that he is not arguing against the law (Matt. Remember, he already set the ground rules. Of all Jesus’ quotes from the law, this one looks the most like he’s flat-out saying, “Don’t do this any more.” But then, by his own account, he would be “least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. The saying Jesus quotes in Matthew 5:38, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” occurs not once, but at least three times, in the Old Testament (Ex. No version of this script takes us anywhere we want to go.

We could call this the “eye-for-eye, tooth-for-tooth” script. In the end, we get locked in a tit-for-tat until kingdom come and trumpet sound. So then I’m going to resist and/or try to “get even” with you. Or (2) you can resist and/or try to “get even.” Oddly enough, if you do this, I would feel like this retroactively justifies my initial behavior. In that case, you leave feeling like a victim, and I feel like, since it worked, I should keep doing it. You can respond in one of two ways: (1) You can passively take it. What are we to make of Jesus’ take on “An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”? Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount explains that there’s a better way forward than seeking retaliation in our relationships.

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.