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An Eye for an Eye


Question:

I know that in Judaism "an eye for an eye" is not to be taken literally. Why not?



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

The phrase 'an eye for an eye' is one of the most well known yet misunderstood in the entire Torah.

Obviously, an eye is of inestimable value. You can never replace it or put a price on it. Certainly, blinding the offender will do nothing to help the victim.

However, an eye does indeed have a monetary aspect to it. Let's say, for example, that the victim is a football player who earns a million dollars a year. After losing an eye, he can no longer play big-league ball. His best job prospect is coaching a minor-league team, which pays an average salary. Losing his eye cost him millions of dollars in actual financial loss.

This financial loss is what the Torah refers to when it says "an eye to replace an eye." The eye can't really be replaced, but at least the victim can reclaim the financial loss caused by the loss of his eye.

If the verse were literal, what would happen if a blind person poked out someone's eye? Would he be exempt? And what if a person with only one eye poked the eye of someone with two eyes, or the other way around?

Above all, taking out someone's eye is dangerous and could easily cause his death. Would the Torah require that an offender be put at risk of death, especially in the case where his offense was accidental?

Probably the strongest indication that this verse is not literal is the very fact that the Jewish people say so. Our tradition is a faithful, unbroken chain dating back to Sinai. In all Jewish history there is absolutely no record of this verse ever having been implemented literally. The very idea is abhorrent to any Jew.

As a footnote, the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer of Vilna, 18th century) discovered an ingenious clue, hinting that "an eye to replace an eye" refers to paying money. Very literally, the verse reads 'an eye under an eye.’ Take the three letters 'under' the three letters of the word 'eye' in the Hebrew alphabet. They spell 'kesef' – money! [Eye in Hebrew is 'ayin' - spelled 'ayin yud nun.' The letters immediately after ('under') each of these letters are 'feh kaf samech.' ('Peh' and 'feh' are the same in the Torah.) These letters spell 'kesef' - money!]


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