Leviticus 24:20
in Leviticus 24fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he injured the other person, the same must be inflicted on him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be rendered unto him.
KJV
Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
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This verse in Leviticus 24
Commentary
5 notes on this verseBreach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,.... Which is not to be taken strictly or literally, but for the price or value of those, which is to be given in a pecuniary way; See Gill on Exo 21:24, Exo 21:25, as he hath caused a blemish in a man, shall it be done to him; unless he gives satisfaction, and pays a valuable consideration for it.
This site's exposition
if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour
on Leviticus 24:19-20
Eye for eye is a ceiling on what a court may exact. It stands three times in the Torah, at Exodus 21:23-25, here, and at Deuteronomy 19:21, and each time it ties the penalty to the exact size of the injury so that a family cannot answer a tooth with a life. The Mishnah, the rabbinic law code compiled about 200 AD, reads the rule as payment in money rather than matching wounds at Bava Kamma 8:1, and John Gill reports that reading on this verse. Matthew 5:38-39 quotes the same words and tells a disciple to let the claim go.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And, it should seem, this is it that brings in these laws here, to show how equitable it was that strangers as well as Israelites should be punished for blasphemy, because strangers as well as Israelites were punishable for other crimes.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death--These verses contain a repetition of some other laws, relating to offenses of a social nature, the penalties for which were to be inflicted, not by the hand of private parties, but through the medium of the judges before whom the cause was brought.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Breach for breach - This is a repetition of the lex talionis, which See explained Exo 21:24 (note).
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שֶׁ֚בֶר | shever | a fracture | H7667 → | 45 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | for | H8478 → | 505 times |
| שֶׁ֔בֶר | shever | a fracture | H7667 → | 45 times |
| עַ֚יִן | ʾayin | an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | for | H8478 → | 505 times |
| עַ֔יִן | ʾayin | an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| שֵׁ֖ן | shen | a tooth | H8127 → | |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | for | H8478 → | 505 times |
| שֵׁ֑ן | shen | a tooth | H8127 → | |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִתֵּ֥ן | yiten | he will make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| מוּם֙ | mum | a blemish | H3971 → | 21 times |
| בָּֽאָדָ֔ם | baadam | on <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| כֵּ֖ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| יִנָּ֥תֶן | yinaten | it will be made | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| בּֽוֹ׃ | bo | on <the> him |
שֶׁ֚בֶרa fracture
sheverH7667 →45 times
תַּ֣חַתfor
tachatH8478 →505 times
שֶׁ֔בֶרa fracture
sheverH7667 →45 times
עַ֚יִןan eye
ʾayinH5869 →887 times
תַּ֣חַתfor
tachatH8478 →505 times
עַ֔יִןan eye
ʾayinH5869 →887 times
שֵׁ֖ןa tooth
shenH8127 →
תַּ֣חַתfor
tachatH8478 →505 times
שֵׁ֑ןa tooth
shenH8127 →
כַּאֲשֶׁ֨רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
יִתֵּ֥ןhe will make
yitenH5414 →2011 times
מוּם֙a blemish
mumH3971 →21 times
בָּֽאָדָ֔םon <the> person
baadamH120 →551 times
כֵּ֖ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
יִנָּ֥תֶןit will be made
yinatenH5414 →2011 times
בּֽוֹ׃on <the> him
bo
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
Matthew 5:38You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’
it leads to
- Leviticus 24:19–20
If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him:
- Deuteronomy 19:21
You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
- Exodus 21:22–27
If men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband demands and as the…
- Deuteronomy 19:19
you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- Leviticus 24:19–20
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
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
About Leviticus
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.