Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

Ye have heard that it hath been said ( ; ; ), An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth - that is, whatever penalty was regarded as a proper equivalent for these. This law of retribution-designed to take vengeance out of the hands of private persons and commit it to the magistrate-was abused in the opposite way to the commandments of the Decalogue. While they were reduced to the level of civil enactments, this judicial regulation was held to be a warrant for taking redress into their own hands, contrary to the injunctions of the Old Testament itself (; ).

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