The meaning of the principle, **an eye for an eye** , is that a person who has
injured another person receives the same injury in compensation. The exact
Latin _(lex talionis)_ to English translation of this phrase is actually “The
law of retaliation.” At the root of this principle is that one of the purposes
of the law is to provide equitable retribution for an offended party.

The phrase, “ **an eye for an eye** “, (ayin tachat ayin, literally ‘an eye in
place of an eye’), is a quotation from several passages of the Hebrew Bible in
which a person who has injured the eye of another is instructed to pay
compensation. It defined and restricted the extent of retribution in the laws
of the Torah.

The English word _talion_ means a punishment identical to the offense, from
the Latin _talio_. The principle of “an eye for an eye” is often referred to
using the Latin phrase _lex talionis_ , the law of talion.

This is the doctrine of revenge, preached against by Jesus Christ in his
sermon on the mount: ‘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.’

##### See also:

* Revenge is sweet