Deuteronomy 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
This prescription is stated at least two more times in the Bible, Exodus 21:24, and Leviticus 24:20
And you believe this, even though you know the Bible clearly teaches that God determines who the rulers of countries are, and chooses the basest of man as those rulers: Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. Or maybe you only believe those parts of the Bible you like pertain to the government today.
Hank
Yes.
Of course, many modern Christians misunderstand this passage. I could go into some depth here, but maybe a quick "squib" from our Messianic Jewish brethren will serve to re-connect our understanding to the original Hebrew wording of, and meaning of, the Text.
There are several issues here.
Do you understand what this passage means? It provides just compensation. An individual who is a great doctor receives different compensation for the loss of an eye, G-d forbid, than a janitor. A doctor who loses sight in one eye may not be able to continue his practice whereas a janitor should be able to continue in his profession. That being the situation, the doctor is compensated for every year of his normal working life at the normal rate of pay for an individual of his profession. The janitor would be compensated but not to the same extent because he would probably be able with some difficulty to continue on with his profession. However if he were unable to continue on with his profession then he too would be compensated for every year of his working life at his normal rate of pay. However the rate of compensation for the doctor would be much greater than for the janitor.
Torah compensation HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH POKING OUT A PERSON'S EYE BECAUSE THEY CAUSED SOMEONE TO LOSE AN EYE, G-d forbid! This holds true for every issue.
One must understand that G-d as the Eternal Judge, judges fairly. G-d rights every wrong. NOTHING escapes his Divine Judgment!! G-d balances measure for measure. I cannot explain the extent to which G-d balances the scales, but in the end all scales are balanced. Everyone will receive their just reward or their just punishment. That is how the Creator of the universe established this world we live in. -- Parshas Mishpatim {Exodus 21:1 - 24:18} An Eye For An Eye by Akiva G. Belk
As Protestants, we are Sola Scriptura Christians. But this does not prevent us from working back from our somewhat-fallible English translations to attend to the original sense of the Text.
God forbid that we should understand these passages as the Pharisees understood them. But we are not remiss in our duty to Scripture if we seek to understand them as MOSES understood them!!
And you believe this, even though you know the Bible clearly teaches that God determines who the rulers of countries are, and chooses the basest of man as those rulers: Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. Or maybe you only believe those parts of the Bible you like pertain to the government today. Hank
The basest of men may govern, but they are still under God's Commands to organize the State according to Biblical Principle.
Recognizing the temporal power of the Magistrate, and exhorting him to conform his Government to Biblical Authority (and, by the example of Jehu, to slay the King if he will not Repent!!), are not mutually exclusive concepts. They are mutually necessary concepts.