Êxodo 21:23-27 NVT

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 21:22-36

Observe here, I. The particular care which the law took of women with child, that no hurt should be done them which might occasion their mis-carrying. The law of nature obliges us to be very tender in that case, lest the tree and fruit be destroyed together, Exod. 21:22, 23. Women with child, who are thus taken under the special protection of the law of God, if they live in his fear, may still believe themselves under the special protection of the providence of God, and hope that they shall be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:23

And if any mischief follow ,.... According as that is, so shall it be done to the smiter: if death follows: then thou shalt give life for life ; if death to the woman, so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it; to which agrees the Targum of Jonathan,"but if there is death in her, then ye shall judge or condemn the life of the murderer for the life of the woman;'about which, Jarchi says, there is a difference among their doctors; some say life properly, absolutely the person himself; others... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:24

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. This is "lex talionis", the law of retaliation, and from whence the Heathens had theirs; but whether this is to be taken strictly and literally, or only for pecuniary mulcts, is a question; Josephus F4 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 33. 35. understands it in the former sense, the Jewish writers generally in the latter; and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it;"the price of an eye for an eye, &c.;'Jarchi on the place observes,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:25

Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. This is to be understood of burning a man's flesh with fire; of wounds made by any means, so that the blood is let out; and of blows, and the prints and marks of them; of stripes and weals where the blood is settled, and the part is turned black and blue: the Targum of Jonathan is, the price of the pain of burning for burning, &c.; and indeed, in everyone of these cases, the law could not be well literally executed; for it would be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:26

If a man smite the eye of his servant ,.... Give him a blow on the eye in a passion, as a correction for some fault he has committed: or the eye of his maid, that it perish ; strike her on that part in like manner, so that the eye is beaten or drops out, or however loses its sight, and " is blinded", as the Septuagint version; or "corrupts" it F11 שחתה "et corruperit eum", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; so Ainsworth. , it turns black and blue, and gathers corrupt matter, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:27

And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth ,.... Give them such a slap on the face, or a blow on the mouth, as to strike out one of their teeth; this also the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi restrain to a Canaanitish servant or maid: he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake ; both him and her, the servant and the maid; this, though of lesser consequence than the loss of an eye, was punished in the same manner with the loss of the servant man or maid, to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:24

Eye for eye - This is the earliest account we have of the lex talionis , or law of like for like, which afterwards prevailed among the Greeks and Romans. Among the latter, it constituted a part of the twelve tables, so famous in antiquity; but the punishment was afterwards changed to a pecuniary fine, to be levied at the discretion of the praetor. It prevails less or more in most civilized countries, and is fully acted upon in the canon law, in reference to all calumniators: Calumniator,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:26

If a man smite the eye, etc. - See the following verse. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:27

If he smite out his - tooth - It was a noble law that obliged the unmerciful slaveholder to set the slave at liberty whose eye or tooth he had knocked out. If this did not teach them humanity, it taught them caution, as one rash blow might have deprived them of all right to the future services of the slave; and thus self-interest obliged them to be cautious and circumspect. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:26

Verse 26 26.And if a man smite the eye. Since, in the sight of God, there is neither slave nor free-man, it is clear that he sins as greatly who smites a slave, as if he had struck a free-man. Still, a distinction is made as regards the civil law and human justice, especially if any one have inflicted a wound on his own slave. For here a tooth for a tooth, or an eye for an eye, is not required, but the superiority, which he has improperly abused, is taken from the master; and in compensation... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 21:22-36

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:24

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:26

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 21:27

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:24

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:26

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:27

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 21:26

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