An Eye for an Eye

Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not contradict the Law, but showed a contrast “between the way the law had been mishandled by the Pharisees and how it should be handled.”

What Jesus was rejecting was not the Old Testament teaching but the human interpretations that distorted it.

Ray Comfort: When the Bible says, An eye for an eye, it encourages us to take the law into our own hands by avenging wrongdoing.

This verse is so often misquoted by the world. Many believe it is giving a license to take matters into our own hands and render evil for evil. In reality, it is referring to civil law concerning restitution.

If someone steals your ox, he is to restore the ox.

If someone wrecks your car, he is to buy you another one…a car for a car, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

The spirit of what Jesus was saying here is radically different from the “sue the shirt off the back of your neighbor” society in which we live.

The principle for an eye for an eye was part of the ancient Near Eastern law. This was not considered cruel and unusual punishment. It served as a means to ensure that justice was done and protected the offender from excessive punishment.

It made the punishment fit the crime.

The system may still seem cruel to modern readers, but this was one way in the ancient world to put limits on punishment.

In itself, “an eye for an eye” ensures that criminals are treated justly and are protected from malice and vengefulness. Thus, theft was punished by restitution, not by maiming, incarceration or execution.

Exodus 21:22–25 (NIV84)

22“If men who are fighting 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,

24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

The Romans called this principle Lex Talionis, the Law of Retribution.

It created a system of justice that avoided someone being lynched. It provided a framework for proportional justice, where the punishment would fit the crime.

When emotions got involved, especially when the crime was perpetrated on one’s loved one, they would want to exact a revenge that would often exceed the limits just punishment.

Jesus told the people they were wrong to focus on verses that refer to revenge and ignore those that call for a forgiving heart.

1 Samuel 25:4-13, 20-22, 32-35 (NIV84)

4While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was shearing sheep.

5So he sent ten young men and said to them, “Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.

6Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!

7“ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.

8Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’ ”

9When David’s men arrived, they gave Nabal this message in David’s name. Then they waited.

10Nabal answered David’s servants, “Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days.

11Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?”

12David’s men turned around and went back. When they arrived, they reported every word.

13David said to his men, “Put on your swords!” So they put on their swords, and David put on his. About four hundred men went up with David, while two hundred stayed with the supplies.

20As she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there were David and his men descending toward her, and she met them.

21David had just said, “It’s been useless—all my watching over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.

22May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!”

32David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.

33May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.

34Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”

35Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

Nabal was a wealthy but harsh man. He insulted David and his messengers who came seeking provisions.

Abigail, Nabal's intelligent and beautiful wife, intervenes by bringing gifts to David and apologizing for her husband's behavior. She convinces David not to seek revenge and averts bloodshed.

David sought vengeance that far exceeded the just punishment. He wanted to kill every male including Nabal.

Abigail appealed to David’s conscience and convinced him to restrain from killing all the men. Abigail related that “God would bless David and would eventually make him king. For him to kill the senseless Nabal would only burden his conscience needlessly.

Proverbs 11:24–26 (NIV84)

24One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

25A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

26People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.

Proverbs 28:22 (NIV84)

22A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.

Stinginess was not punishable by death; the punishment was poverty.

David’s emotions led him to want to exact vengeance in the form of a punishment upon Nabal that did not fit the crime.

Matthew 5:39 (NIV84)

39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

While the rights of the innocent were protected by the Law (of Retribution), the righteous need not necessarily claim their rights.

Do resist = ἀνθίστημι anthistēmi = ‘to resist,’ ‘to offer resistance to,’ ‘to take revenge on,’ ‘to try to get even with;’ to oppose; to be against; express opposition to.

Do not resist is a general principle, not an absolute requirement, for elsewhere the Bible teaches that we should resist some things.

Jesus is not requiring us to be pacifists or to never resist evil forces.

If a believer or his loved ones are threatened or attacked, it’s not wrong to take up a defense or to seek appropriate justice against the wrongdoer.

What Jesus does require by commanding us is to not retaliate.

We do not respond in kind, and we shouldn’t try to “get even.” And, when the offense is nothing more than a personal slight, we can ignore it altogether.

The type of submissive meekness can be very difficult to people who have never tried it. Those who have tried it affirm that it works.

Illustration: Colin Byrne Smith of Australia told of a missionary who called on a tribe of cannibals. Taking his life in his hands, he crossed the inlet in a small boat, and when confronted by the tribe, meekly endured every insult. Long afterwards, when he had succeeded in converting many and establishing a church among them, he asked, “Why did you not eat ME when I came to preach to you?” The old chief, then a Christian, said, “You see, none of us wanted to eat you, because the reason we eat people is to acquire their skills and bravery; but nobody wanted to be like YOU, taking all those insults, and patiently bearing every blow against you!”

When one strives honestly and faithfully to live up to Jesus’ teaching in this matter, forces far beyond the knowledge of any man are working for the success of the obedient follower of the Lord.

Do not resist therefore means that we do not retaliate, physically or legally, when an evil person harms us personally.

But we do resist evildoers who tempt us to sin.

We resist oppressors who ravage the helpless.

The scribes and Pharisees extended this principle of just retribution from the law courts (where it belongs) to the realm of personal relationships (where it does not belong).

They tried to use it to justify personal revenge, although the law explicitly forbade this: ‘You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people’ (Leviticus 19:18).

‘This excellent, if stern, principle of judicial retribution was being utilized as an excuse for the very thing it was instituted to abolish, namely personal revenge.’ – John W. Wenham

Jesus did not contradict the principle of retribution, for it is a true and just principle.

This principle pertained to the law courts and to the judgment of God, not to our personal relationships.

Our personal relationships are to be based on love, not justice.

Leviticus 19:18 (NIV84)

18“ ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

This is very difficult, especially, when one’s pride is involved.

Matthew 5:39 (NIV84)

39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Strikes you on the right cheek. If a right-handed person strikes a blow (and most men are right-handed), his right hand strikes his foe’s left cheek. A right-handed person strikes the right cheek with the back of the hand. The back-handed blow is an insult, an affront to one’s honor.

The striking of the right cheek with the back of one’s right hand was considered an insult. This was more than just a strike; it was meant to be a demeaning insult to one’s honor.

We are not to retaliate, slap for slap.

Jesus is talking here about insult and slander. If someone insults you, do not respond by insulting him in return.

Especially now, in the twenty-first century, an age when the Internet provides a medium for any manner of insult or slander with impunity.

When someone insults you via Social Media, offer no response.

Turning the other cheek means not to return insult for insult in retaliation, which is what most people expect and how worldly people act.

When we respond in a manner that is unnatural, it displays the supernatural power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Jesus was the perfect example because He was silent before His accusers and did not call down revenge from heaven on those who crucified Him.

1 Peter 2:19–23 (NIV84)

19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.

20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

22“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

Romans 12:17–21 (NIV84)

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

20On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We are to leave vindication in the hands of the One who, unlike us, is perfect in His vindication. We do not want to get even; we want to get one up. God knows that, which is why He instructs His people to let Him handle vindication.

Matthew 5:40 (NIV84)

40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

The shirt (tunic) was worn as an undergarment, and the coat (cloak) was an outer garment that also served as a blanket at night.

Most people of that day owned only one coat and probably only one or two shirts. It was the outer garment, the coat, that Mosaic law required be returned to its owner “before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body” (Ex. 22:26–27).

Jesus is not speaking of a robbery, in which a person tries to steal your clothes, but of the legitimate claim of anyone who wants to sue you.

When a person had no money or other possessions, the court often would require the fine or judgment be paid by clothing.

The court could not demand the coat, but it could be voluntarily given to meet the required debt. And that is precisely what Jesus says we should be willing to do.

Exodus 22:25–27 (NIV84)

25“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest.

26If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset,

27because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

1 Corinthians 6:1–8 (NIV84)

1If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?

2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?

3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

4Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!

5I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

6But instead, one brother goes to law against another—and this in front of unbelievers!

7The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?

8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.

The dispute in Corinth concerned the things of this life, mere matters of business. Corinth was a city in which the rich would have employed working people of lower status to provide a wide range of services.

Quite possibly the situation Paul addressed involved a rich person suing a poor person over the services he or she had provided.

Or it could have been two rich people involved in a dispute over some business dealing.

In either case, the issue was not nearly as weighty as those which God has in mind for them in the end time!

If they cannot settle minor rifts between themselves, they are hardly worthy to participate in the judgment of the world, let alone of the angels.

They were suing each other, right in front of unbelievers. What kind of witness was this for the church?

Hebrews 10:32–39 (NIV84)

32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering.

33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

37For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.

38But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Publicly exposed = θεατρίζω theatrizō 1x = to be exposed as in a theater, to be made a gazing-stock, object of scorn.

to cause someone to be publicly exhibited as an object of shame or disgrace.

The believers were persecuted, publicly exposed and insulted. They were falsely accused, imprisoned, and suffered the loss of their homes and property.

Yet they had joy because they knew they had “better and lasting possessions” (v. 34).

They had learned not to “be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” and remained faithful to “the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28).

Their treasure was in heaven, not on earth “where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal” (Matt 6:19–20).

Can we even come close that?

Matthew 5:41 (NIV84)

41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Ancient Persian custom. The Persians introduced the use of regular couriers to carry letters or news.

The king’s courier had absolute command of all help that was necessary in the performance of his task. He could press horses into service, and compel the owners to accompany him if he desired.

To refuse compliance with his demands was an unpardonable offense against the king.

According to Roman law, the authorities had the right to compel someone to transport goods up to the length of one mile without compensation. It was under that law that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry the crossbeam of the instrument of Jesus’ execution.

Go the extra mile for others, including those who mistreat you.

Matthew 5:42 (NIV84)

42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

We are not required to respond to every foolish, selfish request made of us.

Giving a person what he wants, but does not need, is a detriment to that person, doing him more harm than good.

Giving that encourages a person to continue being lazy can only hurt that person.

It is never good to give to a man that is able to work but will not work. (Note: will vs. can)

The unlimited government policies which give money to those who are too lazy or unwilling to work or blow their earnings on gambling and drink has, in fact, destroyed their character.

Unlimited giving is never a good thing, for the poor or for your kids.

Teach your children the value of work by showing them how to earn and save for the things they want.

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV84)

10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”

If a lazy man is indeed hungry, give him a bite to eat; if he wants anything more, encourage him to get a job.

Jesus is not speaking of begrudging compliance to a plea for help, but a willing, generous, and loving desire to help others. He is speaking of generosity that genuinely wants to meet the other person’s need, not tokenism that does a good deed to buy off one’s own conscience.

Proverbs 23:6–8 (NIV84)

6Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies;

7for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost (for as he thinks in his heart, nkjv). “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

8You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

Proverbs 22:9 (NIV84)

9A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

Selah.

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