One of the most famous passages in the Bible about justice comes in the book of Exodus, when God gives the Israelites the laws that are to govern their nation. Regarding justice for a specific crime, it says:
“23 But if there is harm,[a] then you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
Many people have mistaken these verses as a license to get even. If someone strikes you and knocks out your tooth, then justice demands that you strike them back and knock out their tooth as well, right?
Wrong.
The “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” passage is about proportionality – when justice is administered, the punishment for wrongdoing should fit the harm that was done.
But often what is missed in that passage is the preceding sentence: “you shall pay as the judges determine.” And later in Romans, Paul writes:
“17 Repay no one evil for evil,” and he reminds us that, “it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.”
True justice means a fair punishment for a bad act, administered by those with authority. We must not confuse our impulse for revenge with the virtue of justice—for it is never just to repay evil with more evil.
