Exodus 21:23
in Exodus 21But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
KJV
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
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This verse in Exodus 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
hurt a woman with child
on Exodus 21:22-23
This is the most argued pair of verses in the chapter, and the whole question is what mischief covers. One reading takes mischief as harm to the mother alone, so the loss of the child is settled by the fine the husband lays and the judges determine, and the Septuagint's distinction between a formed and an unformed child carried a version of that reading into the early church through Philo and others. The other reading takes mischief as harm to either the mother or the child, so life for life at verse 23 reaches the child, and Keil and Delitzsch argue it that way. The Hebrew at verse 22 says her children come out, using the ordinary verb for going out with the ordinary noun for a child rather than a word for miscarriage, which is why the dispute has never closed.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And if any mischief follow,....
God often executes it in the course of his providence, making the punishment, in many cases, to answer to the sin, as Judg. i. Magistrates ought to have an eye to this rule in punishing offenders, and doing right to those that are injured.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
eye for eye--The law which authorized retaliation (a principle acted upon by all primitive people) was a civil one. It was given to regulate the procedure of the public magistrate in determining the amount of compensation in every case of injury, but did not encourage feelings of private revenge.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אָס֖וֹן | ʾason | harm | H611 → | |
| יִהְיֶ֑ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| וְנָתַתָּ֥ה | venatatah | and you will give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| נֶ֖פֶשׁ | nefesh | a life | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| נָֽפֶשׁ׃ | nafesh | a life | H5315 → | 754 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
אָס֖וֹןharm
ʾasonH611 →
יִהְיֶ֑הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
וְנָתַתָּ֥הand you will give
venatatahH5414 →2011 times
נֶ֖פֶשׁa life
nefeshH5315 →754 times
תַּ֥חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
נָֽפֶשׁ׃a life
nafeshH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 19:21You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:38–39
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’
- Exodus 21:23–25
But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life—
- Deuteronomy 19:13
You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
- Leviticus 24:17–21
And if a man takes the life of anyone else, he must surely be put to death.
- Matthew 5:38–39
Through
Leviticus 24:19If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him:
it leads to
- Matthew 5:38
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’
- Matthew 7:2
For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Deuteronomy 19:21
You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
- Matthew 5:38
Through
Numbers 35:31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:28–34
When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah but not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar.
- 1 Kings 2:28–34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.