"Eye for an Eye" — What the Torah Really Says, and Why Yeshua Quoted Lamentations

Mishpatim & Yeshua — How to Study the New Testament

Mishpatim is an extremely important Torah portion, and there are several issues addressed in this reading that also occupy the mind of Yeshua and His teaching. When one studies the New Testament writings, one of the most interesting and important things that one must do is look from where the New Testament writers took their ideas. If the student of the Bible does not look for the sources and the cross references, it would be hard to understand the texts of the New Testament. In our modern world many of the English Bible translations have the Old Testament references included in the central columns or in a footnote. This makes it easy.

"Turn the Other Cheek" — It Comes from Lamentations

Let me give you an example of how we can understand the teaching of Yeshua that we must turn the other cheek when someone strikes us in the face. If you hear famous pastors of the present and the past preach on this text, you will get a Greek salad with Bulgarian cheese. However, if you know that Yeshua is actually quoting from the book of Lamentations and the context of the Lamentations of Jeremiah that paints the situation, you will have a much better opportunity to know the what and where and how and why Yeshua is commanding the disciples to turn their face in front of their assailant and not cower and allow him to strike you a second time. Here is the quotation from the book of Jeremiah's Lamentations:

When you see the general context of this statement and you transpose the situation in Jerusalem in the time of Jeremiah and look at the situation of the nation of Israel under Roman occupation, and knowing the Roman law called "Angaria," you will understand much better what was the circumstance in which Yeshua was giving this instruction to His disciples. You notice from Lamentations that turning the other cheek is not a sign of weakness — on the contrary it was a sign of defiance and strength. This is a kind of action that would happen in a public place, maybe the marketplace, and the one who strikes your face in such a context actually puts himself and whomever he represents to shame and reproach.

"Eye for an Eye" — About Money, Not Retaliation

Christians seem to condemn this law without understanding what is written. The law never said that if there is an accident, or even on purpose, you take somebody's eye out, that you or your relatives have a right to go and take the eye of the person who damaged you. There is no such teaching in the Law of Moses — not here, and not in Leviticus, in the two places that it appears.

Another principle introduced in this portion is the issue of "an eye for an eye." The real issue is not that of retribution for damage inflicted on another person, but the compensation that the guilty person has to give in order to compensate for an accidentally committed bodily damage to a person. The compensation is the value of an eye for an eye. The value of a tooth for a tooth. The value of a hand for a hand. The value of a foot for a foot. The value of a burn for a burn. The value of a wound for a wound. The value of a bruise for a bruise. The fact that the Torah elaborates the principle with so many examples is a clear indication that the Torah is dealing with financial compensation that is normally appointed by the rules of the court.

The Torah is dealing with justice, with what is right to do, and is instructing us what is right to do. Here are more examples of the specific practical laws in this portion:

Can a society live righteously without laws like these? The Torah is actually the greatest demonstration of God's grace for humanity, and a true revelation of His nature. Just read Exodus 34:5,6 and see the very revelation of God's nature and relationship to humanity.

The Death of the High Priest — Atonement for Accidental Killing

The Torah teaches that if you commit premeditated murder, you will pay with your own life. However, if you kill a person by accident, God has provided for you a city of refuge, and when the high priest dies, you and all the other people who are in the city of refuge will go free, and no one can harm you. This is an important principle of the Torah that demonstrates that the death of a third party can atone and release a person of guilt for such a serious crime as killing a person out of things like negligence or accident.

The Mishnah confirms how seriously this was taken. Here is a quotation dated no later than 210 A.D.:

This text from the Mishnah is proof that execution of a criminal was a very rare thing. This also explains why the Apostle Paul was feeling so guilty for participating in the court case of Steven as the prosecuting attorney that twisted the trial in order to achieve an execution of an innocent convert to Judaism like Steven. Paul says:

Mishpatim helps us understand Yeshua more deeply: its justice, mercy, restitution, and atonement form the foundation of His teaching and reveal God’s heart through the Messiah of Israel.