Exodus 21:23

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.

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,

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

Darby Translation
But if mischief happen, then thou shalt give life for 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 "Two men might be fighting and hurt a pregnant woman. This might make the woman give birth to her baby before its time. If the woman was not hurt badly, the man who hurt her must pay a fine. The woman's husband will decide how much the man must pay. The judges will help the man decide how much the fine will be. ²³ 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. ²⁴ You must trade an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, ²⁵ a burn for a burn, a bruise for a bruise, a cut for a cut. ²⁶ "If a man hits a slave in the eye, and the slave is blinded in that eye, then the slave will be allowed to go free. His eye is the payment for his freedom. This is the same for a man or a woman slave. ²⁷ If a master hits his slave in the mouth, and the slave loses a tooth, then the slave will be allowed to go free. The slave's tooth is payment for the slave's freedom. This is the same for a man or a woman slave. ²⁸ "If a man's bull kills a man or woman, then you should use stones and kill that bull. You should not eat the bull. The owner of the bull is not guilty. ²⁹ But if the bull had hurt people in the past, and if the owner was warned, then the owner is guilty. That is because he did not keep the bull tied or locked in its place. So if the bull is allowed to be free and kills someone, the owner is guilty. You should kill the bull with stones and also kill the owner. ³⁰ But the family of the dead man may accept money. If they accept money, the man who owned the bull should not be killed. But he must pay as much money as the judge decides. ³¹ "This same law must be followed if the bull kills someone's son or daughter.

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
So Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham. Abimelech also gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and slaves.

Genesis 21:21
His mother found a wife for him in Egypt. They continued to live in the Paran desert.

Genesis 21:22
Then Abimelech and Phicol spoke with Abraham. Phicol was the commander of Abimelech's army. They said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do.

Genesis 21:23
So make a promise to me here before God. Promise that you will be fair with me and with my children. Promise that you will be kind to me and this country where you have lived. Promise that you will be as kind to me as I have been to you."

Genesis 24:3
Now I want you to make a promise to me. Promise to me before the Lord , the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry a girl from Canaan. We live among these people, but don't let him marry a Canaanite girl.

Genesis 26:28
They answered, "Now we know that the Lord is with you. We think that we should make an agreement. We want you to make a promise to us.

Genesis 31:44
So I am ready to make an agreement with you. We will set up a pile of stones to show that we have an agreement."

Genesis 31:53
May the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their ancestors judge us guilty if we break this agreement." Jacob's father, Isaac, called God "Fear." So Jacob used that name to make the promise.

Deuteronomy 6:13
Respect the Lord your God and serve only him. You must use only his name to make promises.

Joshua 2:12
So now, I want you to make a promise to me. I was kind to you and helped you. So promise me before the Lord that you will be kind to my family. Please tell me that you will do this.

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.