Exodus 21:23

Complete Jewish Bible

But if any harm follows, then you are to give life for life,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,

King James Version
And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

Lexham English Bible
And if there is serious injury, you will give life in place of life,

New Century Version
But if there is further injury, then the punishment that must be paid is life for life,

New English Translation
But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life,

Amplified Bible
"But if there is any further injury, then you shall require [as a penalty] life for life,

New American Standard Bible
"But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,

Geneva Bible (1587)
But if death followe, then thou shalt paye life for life,

Legacy Standard Bible
But if there is any further injury, then you shall pay life for life,

Contemporary English Version
But if she is seriously injured, the payment will be life for life,

Darby Translation
But if mischief happen, then thou shalt give life for life,

Easy-to-Read Version
But if the woman was hurt badly, then the man who hurt her must be punished. The punishment must fit the crime. You must trade one life for another life.

English Standard Version
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,

George Lamsa Translation
But if any mischief follow, then you shall give life for life,

Good News Translation
But if the woman herself is injured, the punishment shall be life for life,

Christian Standard Bible®
If there is an injury, then you must give life for life,

Literal Translation
But if injury occurs, you shall give life for life,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But yf there come harme vnto her there thorow, then shal he paye soule for soule,

American Standard Version
But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

Bible in Basic English
But if damage comes to her, let life be given in payment for life,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And if any destruction folowe, then he shall geue life for life,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But if any harm follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

King James Version (1611)
And if any mischiefe follow, then thou shalt giue life for life,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
But if it be perfectly formed, he shall give life for life,

English Revised Version
But if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

Berean Standard Bible
But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life-

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But if the deeth of hir sueth,

Young's Literal Translation
and if there is mischief, then thou hast given life for life,

Update Bible Version
But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

Webster's Bible Translation
And if [any] mischief shall follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

World English Bible
But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,

New King James Version
But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

New Living Translation
But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life,

New Life Bible
But if there is other hurt also, then it is life for life,

New Revised Standard
If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, if mischief follow, then shalt thou give life for life;

Douay-Rheims Bible
But if her death ensue thereupon, he shall render life for life,

Revised Standard Version
If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life,

Contextual Overview

²² "If people are fighting with each other and happen to hurt a pregnant woman so badly that her unborn child dies, then, even if no other harm follows, he must be fined. He must pay the amount set by the woman's husband and confirmed by judges. ²³ But if any harm follows, then you are to give life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound and bruise for bruise. ²⁶ "If a person hits his male or female slave's eye and destroys it, he must let him go free in compensation for his eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out his male or female slave's tooth, he must let him go free in compensation for his tooth. ²⁸ "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox is to be stoned and its flesh not eaten, but the owner of the ox will have no further liability. ²⁹ However, if the ox was in the habit of goring in the past, and the owner was warned but did not confine it, so that it ended up killing a man or a woman; then the ox is to be stoned, and its owner too is to be put to death. ³⁰ However, a ransom may be imposed on him; and the death penalty will be commuted if he pays the amount imposed. ³¹ If the ox gores a son or daughter, the same rule applies.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

life for life: Numbers 35:31

Reciprocal: Leviticus 24:20 - General Deuteronomy 19:21 - life shall Judges 1:7 - as I have Revelation 13:10 - that leadeth Revelation 18:6 - Reward

Cross-References

Genesis 20:14
Avimelekh took sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Avraham; and he returned to him Sarah his wife.

Genesis 21:21
He lived in the Pa'ran Desert, and his mother chose a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Genesis 21:22
(vi) At that time Avimelekh and Pikhol the commander of his army spoke to Avraham. They said, "God is with you in everything you do.

Genesis 21:23
Therefore, swear to me here by God that you will never deal falsely with me or with my son or grandson; but according to the kindness with which I have treated you, you will treat me and the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.

Genesis 24:3
because I want you to swear by Adonai , God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from among the women of the Kena‘ani, among whom I am living;

Genesis 26:28
They answered, "We saw very clearly that Adonai has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there be an oath between us: let's make a pact between ourselves and you

Genesis 31:44
So now, come, let's make a covenant, I and you; and let it stand as a testimony between me and you."

Genesis 31:53
May the God of Avraham and also the god of Nachor, the god of their father, judge between us." But Ya‘akov swore by the One his father Yitz'chak feared.

Deuteronomy 6:13
You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him and swear by his name.

Joshua 2:12
So, please, swear to me by Adonai that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father's family. Give me some evidence of your good faith,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 say money, but not life properly; for he that intends to kill one and kills another is acquitted from death, but must pay to the heirs the price (of the person killed) as that person might be sold for in the market: and indeed it seems hard that a person that kills another at unawares should die for it; it is more reasonable that the punishment should in such a case be commuted for something less than life; and that though no satisfaction was to be taken for a wilful murderer, Numbers 35:31, yet it seems to imply that it might be taken for one that was so without design; as by another law cities of refuge are appointed for the manslayer at unawares: the canons of the Jews, according to Maimonides b, run thus;

"he that strikes a woman, and she miscarries and dies, although it is done ignorantly; lo, such an one is free from payment, and he does not pay anything, as it is said, "if there is no mischief, c." the Scripture does not distinguish between what is done ignorantly and presumptuously, in a thing in which there is not death by the sanhedrim, to free him from payment in what things? when he intends the woman; but if he intends his neighbour and strikes the woman, though she dies, since her death is, without intention, lo, this is a thing in which there is not death by the sanhedrim, and he pays the price of the birth:''

the Septuagint version interprets this, not of the woman that miscarries and dies, but of the child that becomes an abortive; if that was not formed and shaped, then only a fine was to be laid, but if it was come to its proper form and shape, and so was animated or quickened, then life was to go for life: and so, according to the Salic laws, he that killed an infant in its mother's womb was to pay 8000 pence, which made two hundred shillings; but if he was the cause of a woman's miscarriage, by blows or otherwise, if the birth was animated, according to the civil law, he was to be punished with death c: but one would think, where this is only accidental and not intended, such a punishment is too rigid and severe: however, neither this nor what follows were left to the will of a private person to inflict at his pleasure, but to the civil magistrate; and therefore no ways encourages private revenge, in favour of which it was applied by the Pharisees in Christ's time, whose gloss he refutes, Matthew 5:38 nor are the words directed to the offender in this and the following cases, but to Moses, and so to all judges under him and in succession, who were to see these laws put in execution.

b Chobel Umazzik, c. 4. sect. 5. 6. c Vid L'Empereur in Misn. Bava Kama, c. 3. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The rule would seem to refer to a case in which the wife of a man interfered in a quarrel. This law, “the jus talionis,” is elsewhere repeated in substance, compare the marginal references. and Genesis 9:6. It has its root in a simple conception of justice, and is found in the laws of many ancient nations. It serves in this place as a maxim for the magistrate in awarding the amount of compensation to be paid for the infliction of personal injury. The sum was to be as nearly as possible the worth in money of the power lost by the injured person. Our Lord quotes Exodus 21:24 as representing the form of the law, in order to illustrate the distinction between the letter and the spirit Matthew 5:38. The tendency of the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees was to confound the obligations of the conscience with the external requirements of the law. The law, in its place, was still to be “holy and just and good,” Romans 7:12, but its direct purpose was to protect the community, not to guide the heart of the believer, who was not to exact eye for eye, tooth for tooth, but to love his enemies, and to forgive all injuries.