"If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief 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. And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake." - Ex 21:22-27

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." Mt 5:38-42

Lex Talionis (latin) or the law of talion (english). The english word talion from the latin talio,means a retaliation authorized by law, in which the punishment corresponds in kind and degree to the injury ('eye for an eye').Its probably the most well known feature of the Mosaic Law, and one also referred to by Jesus in the Sermon on the mount.

Last week, we saw this in operation in the capital punishments authorized for crimes against the name, image/representation, or authority of God. Those crimes (murder, kidnapping, idolatry) are so severe in the eyes of God (we saw they were directly linked to the 10 commandments), that they merited death as the only appropriate punishment.This week, we will look at the punishments prescribed for injuring ones fellow man, both from the perspective of Moses, and from that of Christ (our texts above). There are some extremely beautiful and valuable insights to be gained here, so please read on even if you think this is going to be a depressing post :-). Exodus 21:18-36 contains the list of judgements set before Israel for injury. Let us look at them one by one.

"And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed." : Ex 21:18-19. The prescribed penalty for injuring a person was to recompense him/her for the time he/she was unable to work, and for ALL costs related to his/her medical treatment for a FULL recovery. Here is the OT version of Temporary Disability and Health Insurance! Please note: there are no additional damages for "pain and suffering" (a.k.a. - I spilled hot coffee on myself in the drive through so McDonalds needs to pay me $1M). The compensation is restricted to making the person whole again in terms of income and health. How fair do you think that is? What does that tell you about the correctness of God's justice to both (injured and injuring) parties?

"And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money. (Ex 21:20-21)."

This one seems to be much more harsh, because it seems to let a slave-owner get away with murder. Here is the crucial importance of reading the whole Law and not taking one verse out of context. Once we understand the other elements of the law we can clearly see how they apply in this case.

- First of all, please note that the first thing this law says is - if the person dies under his hand, he shall SURELY be punished. There is no escape. And the penalty for death is death. 
- Second, in the text with which we opened this week it says if even a servants/slaves tooth fell out as a result of an assault, the servant/slave was to be set FREE. These two laws would surely make any person think twice about the implications of mistreating his servants. If the intent of the punishment was discipline, and the master did not intend to kill his servant (he died a day or two after the beating), the loss of the servant was considered punishment enough
- Third - please note that the law makes no distinction between male/female. They are treated as equal whether they are servants or free-born! The OT Law treated men and women equally from day 1.(also note v:29, if a man or woman is killed, the penalty is the same)

If you combine the laws against kidnapping, mistreatment of servants, the protection of their property rights, and their rights and privileges you will see that the Law has a v high regard for the condition of those serving out a term of labor, and should sober those who think slavery is justified in the OT.

v 22-27 have the lex talionis and are what we opened with. It is very instructive to notice that these verses apply to the injury of a yet unborn child! If two men were fighting, and the pregnant wife of one of them were to try to break them up and be injured, the law prescribes both what should be done for the woman (recompense for time and healing), and the punishment for injuring the child. The child was treated as EQUAL to a fully grown human being. His/Her death would result in the death penalty, and injuries likewise. This was for inadvertently injuring the unborn child. What do you think God thinks of people who WILFULLY kill it?

v 28-32 deal with injuries sustained by other human beings because of an animal (Ox) owned by another person. If the person died, the ox would be stoned, and the owner would be under the death penalty too, unless it was an accident. God holds even animals accountable for shedding human blood! If however, the owner knew that his/her animal was dangerous, he was liable for the injury and the death. This is a great principle here - even if your agents cause death, you are also personally liable! (Applied to David and Uriah!). v 32, says that the ransom price for an Ox goring a male/maidservant was 30 pieces of silver!... and that brings us to the second text we opened with.

Our Lord was well aware of these laws. In the Sermon on the Mount/Beatitudes in Matthew 5, Murder is equated with anger as the root, and our Lord says to avoid being angry. When it comes to injury, He asks us to forgive and not seek restitution! He says, Do not resist evil, but turn the other cheek. !

He exemplified it too... when they struck Him he did not revile and curse them. "He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him.." : Lam 3:30, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and 
spitting." : Isaiah 50:6 Many Oxen gored him.. "Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round." :Ps 22:12. And the price that was paid for Him was the price of a servant gored by an Ox! Yet He did not strive with them but actually forgave and died for them! Oh how great our God is to have written these things down way before any of them were to be fulfilled!!!!!!

As per the Law, we are entitled to restitution for wrongdoing caused by our enemies. Yet our Lord encourages us to be kind to them, and let Almighty God repay them! This is how we heap coals of fire on the head of our enemy... this is how as Christians we are to live. Not seeking revenge, but extending forgiveness, as we ourselves have been forgiven. To show forth the nature of our our Lord, by obeying His commands. Let us be ready to give of ourselves, knowing that our God will give back to us in the proportion that we give out, whether that is time, talent, money, grace, forgiveness, or kindness!

Hallelujah!