TRADITION
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Explaining The Bible's
Most Vilified Phrase
UNDER
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"An eye for an eye" teaches that
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52
FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1991
quent entries, will be
taken from a new book by
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
aimed as a sourcebook of
the fundamentals of Jew-
ish tradition. The book,
entitled Jewish Literacy:
The Most Important
Things to Know About
the Jewish Religion, Its
People and Its History,
represents a major ac-
complishment in helping
Jewish and non-Jewish
readers increase their
knowledge of things Jew-
ish.
Please let us know your
reactions and, if there are
particular subjects you
would like us to address.
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duce this page, Tradition,
which is intended to pro-
vide basic information
about the fundamentals
of Jewish history,
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f one could speak of bibli-
cal verses as being vili-
fied, then "an eye for an
eye" would be the most vili-
fied verse in the Bible.
It is commonly cited to
"prove" the existence of an
"Old Testament" ethic of
vengefulness, and then con-
trasted with the New Tes-
tament's supposedly higher
ethic of forgiveness. "An eye
for an eye" is often associa-
ted with modern Jews as
well, and invariably in a pe-
jorative manner. Israel's
critics, for example, com-
monly accuse her of practic-
ing "eye for an eye" morali-
ty when she retaliates
against Arab terrorist acts.
In actuality, the biblical
standard of "an eye for an
eye" stood in stark contrast
to the legal standards pre-
vailing in the societies that
surrounded the ancient
Hebrews. The Code of
From the book JEWISH
LITERACY by Joseph
Telushkin. Copyright (c) 1991
by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin.
Reprinted with permission of
William Morrow and Co., Inc.
Hammurabi, a legal code
hundreds of years older than
the Torah, legislated retalia-
tion even against innocent
parties. Thus, if A con-
structed a building for B,
and the building collapsed
and killed B's daughter,
then A's daughter was put
to death (Law number 229).
The biblical law of "an eye
for an eye" restricted pun-
ishment solely to the perpe-
trator. Furthermore, unlike
Hammurabi's code, one who
caused another's death acci-
dentally was never executed.
"An eye for an eye" also
served to limit vengeance; it
did not permit "a life for an
eye" or even "two eyes for
an eye." The operative
bibical principle was that
punishment must be com-
mensurate with the deed,
not exceed it. Blood feuds
and vendettas were long
practiced among the Israe-
lites' neighbors — indeed,
they have persisted in the
Middle East until this cen-
tury — and revenge was of-
ten carried out without re-
straint.
Christians often contend
that Jesus went beyond the
standard of "an eye for an
eye," that he advocated for-
giveness and saw retaliation