How? Once again, we turn to the original language – in this instance Hebrew!
Perhaps the most misunderstood verse of Scripture is, “an eye for an eye”. Any number of secular movies or TV shows have a character use this verse. Inevitably it’s used as though it’s okay to take revenge. Uninformed people seeing this think it means “take revenge”. They also can get a very wrong and unfortunately very misleading impression about the Bible!
For followers of Yeshua who seek the truth, it seems to portray a picture of the LORD as “the OT God of wrath”. This is then paired in Western Tradition teaching with the “NT God of love”. This can create questions and confusion about our wonderful and beyond description God, for both followers of Yeshua and those not yet followers.
We have an audio teaching that deals with this issue; it is very much designed to help those who wrestle with this question about God or how the Bible seems to portray God.
In short for here: Cf. Exodus 21:23-25 regarding probably the most misunderstood verse of Scripture.
In the wider context what are called in Hebrew Ten of the Words, known to the world as the Ten Commandments, were just given by the LORD in Ex. 20. Does it make any sense – whatsoever – that the LORD would follow the Ten of the Words with “an eye for an eye”, the way it’s generally understood?
Further, the context of the chapters following Ex. 20 have to do with the real, concrete but holy, ethical and moral treatment of others. A servant injured by his master is not told “…take an eye for an eye against your master”. Rather, the LORD teaches how an injured servant is either to be compensated or even set free!
The Hebrew translated “for” is not the Hebrew word “for” in Ex. 21:23-25. This is where the misunderstanding comes in!
Rather it is literally the word “under”; also used any number of times in the Hebrew Bible to indicate something in place of something else.
A quick example from the Torah. One of the most significant of the Torah’s teaching, Genesis 22, is very well known especially by Orthodox Jews as The Binding of Yitzchak (“Issac”, ” laughter”). When Abraham sees the ram caught in the bush at the end of Gen. 22:14, the same Hebrew word is used to indicate that the ram is “…in place of his son”.
So, it is in Exodus 21 the Hebrew – which is the Text that counts – is “(a) tooth in place of (a) tooth” “(an) eye in place of (an) eye” etc. Not “you knocked out my tooth, so I knock out yours”; God forbid! (Note: since the Torah did not always specify exactly what to do for some injuries caused by others, the rabbis instituted the idea of financial compensation. As one rabbi put it, “if everyone thought an eye for an eye meant exactly that the whole world would be blind”)!
The most cited Torah verse in the Renewed Covenant Scriptures – a much more accurate name than “New Testament”, as we explain? Leviticus 19:18; ….”love to/for your neighbor”… This is cited 10 times, according to a Greek text.