וְכִי-יִנָּצוּ אֲנָשִׁים...וְאִם-אָסוֹן, יִהְיֶה—וְנָתַתָּה...עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, שֵׁן תַּחַת שֵׁן – And if men strive together.... if any harm follow, then thou shalt give... eye for eye, tooth for tooth. (Exodus 21:22-24) These verses in the Torah are vividly clear and unambiguous, and yet, Judaism has never understood this instruction in literal terms but as the basis for monetary compensation to the injured. The Talmud vociferously makes arguments of logic against the literal interpretation as lex talionis. Ultimately, it is a verse elsewhere in the Torah that provides scriptural proof that these verses cannot be understood literally as corporal punishment identical to the offense. Why does our Tradition stridently fight to persuade, convince and genuinely force us to accept this idea of monetary compensation? The answer is found in Judaism's focus of concern: retribution and punishment against the perpetrator is not the goal of the Jewish legal system, but of protecting the well being of the victim – an idea that ultimately gets adopted by the Westernized legal systems...thank Gd.
