Keluaran 21:24-26

21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. ¹ 

21:26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, ²  he will let the servant ³  go free ⁴  as compensation for the eye.

[21:25]  ¹ sn The text now introduces the Lex Talionis with cases that were not likely to have applied to the situation of the pregnant woman. See K. Luke, “Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth,” Indian Theological Studies 16 (1979): 326-43.

[21:26]  ² tn The form וְשִׁחֲתָהּ (vÿshikhatah) is the Piel perfect with the vav (ל) consecutive, rendered “and destroys it.” The verb is a strong one, meaning “to ruin, completely destroy.”

[21:26]  ³ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the male or female servant) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ⁴ sn Interestingly, the verb used here for “let him go” is the same verb throughout the first part of the book for “release” of the Israelites from slavery. Here, an Israelite will have to release the injured slave.