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Why does the Bible say "an eye for an eye" but also teach forgiveness?

9/25/2011

Exodus 21:24 - Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (KJV)
Mark 12:31 - And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (KJV)
Matthew 5:38-39 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (KJV)

            Like most people, I always knew that the Bible said "an eye for an eye" and also taught us to turn our other cheek and to love my neighbor as myself. But it wasn't until a friend pointed them out side by side to me that I realized that they seem to contradict each other. And like I said before, I don't believe the Bible holds contradictions, so I decided to look further into this question.

            Just for the sake of putting a definition on it, let's define the phrase "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". According to http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/31800.html, the phrase is defined as "The notion that for every wrong done there should be a compensating measure of justice." I think we all agree on that definition. That being said, why would Jesus command us to forgive "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22) ?

        This article by Rich Deem was very helpful - (http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/eye_for_an_eye.html). He, too, examined the verses that I've mentioned and asked the same question that I have - "Eye for an Eye or Love Thy Neighbor?" The most enlightening part of his article was where he actually examined where the notion of "an eye for an eye" came from. Most people, including me, just know the phrase is in the Bible and simply quote it for face value to condone their revenge on someone else's ill behavior. However, if you delve into it to see where the phrase originated, you'll find that it actually comes from the Old Testament law. As Deem notes, "...it was the prescribed punishment for crimes committed by one person against another. However, unlike Jesus' examples of slapping one on the cheek or making one carry a heavy load, these were serious crimes, such as assault against a pregnant woman and murder. For these kinds of crimes, judges were given the authority to determine guilt and punishment - no different than we do in modern society. The authority to take an 'eye for an eye' was never given to an individual, but always reserved for the legal system of the state."

            Angel Manuel Rodriguez, in his article http://biblicalresearch.gc.adventist.org/Biblequestions/eyeforeye.htm, reiterates the point made by Rich Deem by saying that "the formulation 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,' etc., seems to have been a technical phrase used to express the idea of equivalency, leaving the court to determine the nature and extent of the equivalence." He also makes an interesting point when he says that the intention of the law was to eliminate personal revenge. I've never thought of it that way.

            As to my conclusion of this question, it seems pretty obvious to me that "an eye for an eye" wasn't a command to us when someone does us wrong but was rather a law in major cases of indecency which the courts and judiciaries were to handle. However, we are commanded to love our neighbor and turn the other cheeck, ultimately to practice forgiveness daily. Forgiveness is the command. Justice is for the courts. I am satisfied.

Courtesy of http://www.learningtoserve.net/images_template1/gvlxparent.png.

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Jewelry and pigs?

9/18/2011

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Matthew 7:6 (KJV) - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Courtesy of http://rlv.zcache.com/do_not_cast_your_pearls_before_swine_matthew_7_6_poster-p228182723553709362t5wm_400.jpg

             I have often heard the phrase “pearls before swine” but
have never really known its meaning. What is this phrase's meaning in the literal sense and how can it apply to me?

            Google brought me to a phrase dictionary. Did you know there were such things as dictionaries for phrases? I didn't. Anyway, the phrase dictionary here - http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/pearls-before-swine.html- defines this phrase as "Items of quality offered to those who aren't cultured enough to appreciate them." It is often used, like in the Bible, in the negative form - "don't cast your pearls before swine..." The phrase dictionary also adds that this text is "generally interpreted to be a warning by Jesus to his followers that they should not offer biblical doctrine to those who were unable to value and appreciate it." That seems simple enough.

            While looking up "swine" and "pearls" in Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, I found it interesting that the terms aren't just defined as "pigs/hogs" and "a precious stone". The pearl is given much more worth than just a pretty stone to look at that is also relatively valuable. The dictionary indicates that the pearl was of great importance. It states, "In John's vision of the New Jerusalem, 'the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each individual gate was of one pearl' (Rev. 21:21). Jesus taught that people could possess the world's greatest treasure, the 'one pearl of great price' (Matt. 13:46) - the spiritual wealth of the kingdom of heaven." In contrast, the swine was considered one of the lowest, dirtiest animals. As stated in the dictionary, "Jesus told a story of a prodigal son who really hit bottom when he had to take care of pigs and even eat food intended for them (Luke 15:15-16)." So we can see how the two definitely don't belong together, especially if your "pearl" is something you do not want trampled by one of the most degrading animals there are.

            Now that I've researched and looked into the meaning of this phrase, I now see how simple it really is and can't believe I didn't understand it before by just simply reading it. I'm sure when some of you saw my question, you were like "What? Everyone knows what that means!" I didn't. Now I do. And I believe it can VERY much apply today in just about any situation in which you consider something to be important or of value to you whether it be literal, like a sentimental keepsake, or something not seen, like a belief. I don't think it has to be just Biblical doctrine that is being offered to someone who doesn't appreciate it. I believe it can be anything that's of importance, value, or worth to you.

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God bless you.

9/11/2011

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While perusing our last reading assignment, I noticed several instances in which a parent blessed a child. The blessings were not treated lightly. They were no joke. Those happenings got me to thinking, "What was so important about blessing a child?" and "Can this still affect us today?"

Isaac blessing Jacob. Courtesy of http://www.biblelicious.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/isaacblessingjacob_3.jpg

             The blessing that probably struck me the most was Isaac's on Jacob. Jacob had already bought Esau's birthright. Now he intended to steal Esau's blessing. A blessing is worth stealing? It's worth lying to your father and dressing in animals' skin for? After he'd successfully stolen the blessing and Esau realized what had taken place, he begged his father saying, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!” But it was too late. Esau hated Jacob for what he'd done and vowed, "I will kill my brother Jacob.” Blessings are even worth murder? Wow! There must be something to these blessings!
            Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary states that a blessing is "the act of declaring, or wishing, favor and goodness upon others. The blessing is not only the good effect of words; it also has the power to bring them to pass." I like the next quote form this dictionary because it applies to Jacob's stolen blessing. It says, "Even if spoken by mistake, once a blessing was given it could not be taken back (Gen. 27:33)."
            The blessing that was given to Jacob, according to the ESV version of God's Word, is as follows:

        “See, the smell of my son
            is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
28     May God give you of the dew of heaven
            and of the fatness of the earth
            and plenty of grain and wine.
29     Let peoples serve you,
            and nations bow down to you.
        Be lord over your brothers,
            and may your mother's sons bow down to you.
        Cursed be everyone who curses you,
            and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

Who wouldn't want that blessing, especially when his words had the power to come to pass?

Jacob blessing Manasseh and Ephraim. Courtesy of http://www.pastorwynn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/jacob_ephraim_manasseh-300x224.jpg

            Another blessing that caught my attention was that of Jacob's on his grandchildren, Manasseh and Ephraim. When he blessed them, he put his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh, the older. Apparently, the one whom the right hand is place on receives dominance over the other sibling(s). When Joseph tried to correct his father, Jacob said that it was no mistake. Joseph was displeased. It is just my own wonderings as to if God revealed to Jacob that he should bless in that way or if Jacob was merely echoing his own experience. As in Jacob's circumstance, Ephraim was given precedence over Manasseh.
            As to the latter question, I think that it does affect us today to an extent. According to an artical by Sascha T. Moore on AmericanCatholic.Org, "Blessings are an important part of our faith. It's time we made them an important part of our lives." Her biggest argument is that we have become a nation of cursers, not blessers. While she may not be saying that words spoken by anyone always have the power to come to pass, she doesn't deny that blessings can still have an affect on those around us. She even gives examples of times when one could be more of a blessing to someone than a curse such as while shopping, on the road, at work, during sickness, etc.
            I wonder if the phrase "God bless you" somehow originated from this. Whether or not it did, it will probably have more meaning to me now every time I shake someone's hand at church and say "God bless you!"

Blessing others today. Courtesy of http://www.sitepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/shaking-hands.jpg

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Jonah and the (insert sea creature here).

9/6/2011

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Jonah 1;17- Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. (KJV)

Matthew 12:40- For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (KJV)

Question: In Jonah, it says that he was swallowed by a specially prepared fish. However, in the New Testament, Jesus says that it was a whale. Why is this so?

            Unlike many, I have never referred to Jonah's devourer as a whale. Every time I would see a children's book or something similar titled "Jonah and the Whale," I would think to myself, "The book of Jonah clearly states that it was a specially prepared fish by the Lord." However, when I was speaking with my grandmother just the other day, she made reference to in the New Testament where Jesus actually says whale. My mind was blown! I looked it up right away and, sure enough, there it was. And thus it was discovered, my first blog question.

            As is usual, one first "Googles it." I found a website (http://errancy.org/fish.html) which makes an interesting argument and with which many other Bible-believing sites agree. Basically, their stance on it is that it is a simple mistranslation from Greek into English. They say that the Greek word that was used in Matthew is "ketos," which does not specifically mean a whale but loosely refers to any sizable sea creature. It also states, "Most modern translations of Matthew read something like this: For just as Jonah was for three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth. (NRSV)

            I then checked with another source, http://www.icr.org/article/did-jonah-really-get-swallowed-by-whale/. It assented with errancy.org. It added that the word "whale" in Matthew was translated from a Greek word while "fish" in Jonah was translated from a Hebrew word. By saying, "Evidently any living thing other than the creeping things (Psalm 104:25) in the seas is placed in the category of 'fishes'", this source makes it more plain to see how the confusion between "great fish" and "whale" could come about.

            I turned to another source, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. It basically reiterates my previous sources. Under the term "sea monster," it states that, "Several terms are used in the Bible to describe large sea creatures: sea monsters or serpents, dragons, great fish, whales, and Leviathan. All of these do not refer to one animal, but it is impossible to match the terms with specific marine life."

            I am a Bible-believing Christian and do not believe, like many others, that the Bible holds contradictions. God cannot lie. I do not believe that it is a whale here but a great fish there, in the way that we understand "whale" and "great fish", that is. However, as suggested by my research, terms such as "whale" and "great fish" all meant relatively the same thing before they were translated. It was more of a collective term that English translators split into multiple parts.

            All in all, I am content to conclude that what seems like a contradiction between the verses in Jonah and Matthew was just a misunderstanding caused by translation.

Picture: http://nazareneblogs.org/kpprobst/files/2011/01/lastman-pieter-jonah-and-the-whale.jpg

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Why does the Bible say "an eye for an eye" but also teach forgiveness?

Jewelry and pigs?

God bless you.

Jonah and the (insert sea creature here).

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