IT’S IRONIC that in her column on forgiveness (“The crucial act of forgiveness,” Op-ed, Dec. 25), Farah Stockman implies that the Biblical passage, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” etc., endorses revenge. Albeit inadvertently, Stockman joins those who have misinterpreted the passage in a way that casts aspersions on Jewish ethical values.
Biblical scholars hold that, even in ancient times, “an eye for an eye” simply required just compensation to those who had been wronged — that punishments must be proportionate to the offenses.
Comments
Thank you for this thoughtful clarification. At a New Year's gathering this evening, it was the topic of conversation. None of us gathered had thought of the "eye for an eye" phrase as a statement of proportionality, but rather as having to do only with vengence.