Post by Mark on Dec 19, 2008 4:55:41 GMT -8
I don’t know how many times I’ve said one thing to my children and the interpretation was thus applied to every circumstance that was convenient.
"You said we were going to get ice cream!"
"No, I said we could go get ice cream if you chose not to stay another hour at the park." (That one was fairly recent.)
One of the most common mistakes in hermaneutics, the way that we study Scripture, is that one concept is applied universally to the dismissal of another; when the intent of the given text is balance and equity. Maybe the most inflated example of this is passages in
which demand eye for eye and tooth for tooth: equal retribution for offense under any circumstance.
The phrase actually occurs three times in. The first specifically deals with a pregnant woman who is caught in a fight between two fellas. If the child is injured in any way, the offending party must be punished in like manner (Exodus 21:22-25). The second occurs in Leviticus 24 where a young man had blasphemed Adonai while fighting against another. Contextually, Moses is declaring simply that the punishment must fit the crime. The third case, Deuteronomy 19:16-21, is in reference to a false witness who is attempting to bring unjust judgment on another person. When this occurs, the required punishment is to bring the verdict upon the accuser that he (or she) was trying to place on the accused.
There is one thing present in each of these situations that was absent in the understanding that many came to hold in Messiah’s culture: the judges. The verdict and penalty for offense must be handled under due process by legitimate authority.
Messiah was speaking to the masses, not the court, when He said,
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."
(Matthew 5:38-42 KJV)
It becomes ingrained in us to get back at those who have done us wrong. We feel entitled to retribution, when someone else has harmed us physically, emotionally or financially. We use whatever means available, and all the better if they are legal. But this attitude is absolutely against the teachings of.
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
(Deuteronomy 32:35 KJV)
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
(Proverbs 25:21-22 KJV)
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.
(Leviticus 19:17-18 KJV)
So, eye for eye and tooth for tooth is a biblical concept… just not with universal application. And Messiah’s words must not be construed as in any way negating or contradicting, rather re-establishing the balance and equity that was given to us through Moses’ teachings.
If you are a judge, and most of us are if we are parents or teachers, employers or leaders, judge fairly: giving the fitting punishment for the crime. It is our inclination to be soft on some but hard on others. commands that we be fair.
But, if you are not a judge, and the offense that you feel toward another feels unvindicated, and bitterness swells when you are reminded of the circumstance, commands that you respond with grace, as Paul would put it, "repaying no one evil for evil… living peaceably with all men." (Romans 12:17-18).
"You said we were going to get ice cream!"
"No, I said we could go get ice cream if you chose not to stay another hour at the park." (That one was fairly recent.)
One of the most common mistakes in hermaneutics, the way that we study Scripture, is that one concept is applied universally to the dismissal of another; when the intent of the given text is balance and equity. Maybe the most inflated example of this is passages in
which demand eye for eye and tooth for tooth: equal retribution for offense under any circumstance.The phrase actually occurs three times in
. The first specifically deals with a pregnant woman who is caught in a fight between two fellas. If the child is injured in any way, the offending party must be punished in like manner (Exodus 21:22-25). The second occurs in Leviticus 24 where a young man had blasphemed Adonai while fighting against another. Contextually, Moses is declaring simply that the punishment must fit the crime. The third case, Deuteronomy 19:16-21, is in reference to a false witness who is attempting to bring unjust judgment on another person. When this occurs, the required punishment is to bring the verdict upon the accuser that he (or she) was trying to place on the accused. There is one thing present in each of these situations that was absent in the understanding that many came to hold in Messiah’s culture: the judges. The verdict and penalty for offense must be handled under due process by legitimate authority.
Messiah was speaking to the masses, not the court, when He said,
"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away."
(Matthew 5:38-42 KJV)
It becomes ingrained in us to get back at those who have done us wrong. We feel entitled to retribution, when someone else has harmed us physically, emotionally or financially. We use whatever means available, and all the better if they are legal. But this attitude is absolutely against the teachings of
.To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
(Deuteronomy 32:35 KJV)
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
(Proverbs 25:21-22 KJV)
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.
(Leviticus 19:17-18 KJV)
So, eye for eye and tooth for tooth is a biblical concept… just not with universal application. And Messiah’s words must not be construed as in any way negating or contradicting
, rather re-establishing the balance and equity that was given to us through Moses’ teachings.If you are a judge, and most of us are if we are parents or teachers, employers or leaders, judge fairly: giving the fitting punishment for the crime. It is our inclination to be soft on some but hard on others.
commands that we be fair.But, if you are not a judge, and the offense that you feel toward another feels unvindicated, and bitterness swells when you are reminded of the circumstance,
commands that you respond with grace, as Paul would put it, "repaying no one evil for evil… living peaceably with all men." (Romans 12:17-18). 
