Exodus 21:22-25

"And if men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart, and yet no harm follow; he shall be surely fined, according as the woman's husband. shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."

They are grossly in error who find this law harsh or unjust. Let it be remembered that this glimpse of Divine Light fell in a world darkened by ages of the grossest paganism, the societies of which wallowed in the most primitive and debased emotional darkness. The law as practiced by that shameful world was: (1) If you kill my child, I will kill you, your family, and your whole generation. (2) If you knock out my tooth, I will knock out all of yours and gouge out your eyes in additional! Etc., etc. Thus, the introduction of the law called the "Lex Talionis,"[23] was a vast improvement over what preceded it. This law was known as early as the Code of Hammurabi (circa 2,000 B.C.). It had the effect of limiting revenge. Also, as the Jews interpreted it, it gradually led to the substitution of monetary penalties for the retaliative dismemberment of enemies, as when a victim would confront the relative benefit to himself of seeing his neighbor's hand cut off (for example), or of receiving a money reward instead of it. "The Hebrew words here carry the sense of `substitute.' What is meant is that whoever causes another to lose his eye ... must make financial restitution."[24] We are not qualified to decide whether that interpretation is authentic or not, but one thing is clear, the Code of Hammurabi demanded that the penalty be executed, whereas, there are no instances in the Bible where the "Lex Talionis" was applied in any such brutal manner.

The world still has a long way to go in the matter of handling the revenge motive. The law here was a sign of progress in human relationships, but if men ever desire to have a truly desirable social climate in which to live, "They must accept the law taught by Christ, the law of unlimited forgiveness: `If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink' (Romans 12.20).[25]