

- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind meaning full#
- An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind meaning code#
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind meaning full#
Instead of exacting the full recompense due under the law, the believer is to take a different line entirely. But what's clear is that an injury is to be met with a different kind of response. Others have pointed out that a slap on the right cheek from a right-handed person is a backhander, an insulting cuff – perhaps from a Roman to a Jew. Some have taken this as a command to absolute pacifism. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.' In Matthew 5: 38-39 he says: 'You have heard that it was said, "Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth." But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. Rather than just limiting revenge, he seems to forbid it entirely. Yes, the desire for justice is legitimate and has to be satisfied, but that's not excuse for surrendering to our instincts for violent revenge.įurthermore, in the New Testament Jesus takes this one step further.


It's a way of controlling the human instinct towards a spiral of violence, with an injury provoking a worse injury, which provokes a worse injury in return.
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind meaning code#
The rule is also found in other ancient law codes too - notably the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi – and what they all have in common is that the law is about limiting revenge rather than promoting it. The rule seems to have applied to social equals rather than relationships between masters and slaves – in Exodus 21:26, if a master blinds a servant in one eye he must let the servant go free rather than having his own eye knocked out. The law of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' is found in Exodus 23: 23-25, Leviticus 24:20 and Deuteronomy 19:21. But the saying demonstrates an uneasiness with a biblical quote that seems to approve of taking violent revenge on someone who has done you an injury. He probably didn't, in fact – at least, no one has been able to find the exact quote. 'An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind,' said Gandhi.
