Read & explore together
Justice and Equal Penalties
This law passage sets out penalties for killing and injury, then ends by showing Israel doing what Yahweh commanded through Moses. It teaches that judgment was to match the offence and that the same law applied to different people.
Understanding the passage
Understanding the setting
In these verses, Yahweh gives laws about killing a person, killing an animal, and injuring a neighbour. The wording repeats key ideas such as “make it good”, “put to death”, and “as he has done”. The passage closes with Moses speaking to Israel and the people carrying out Yahweh’s command.
Leviticus 24:17–23Main takeaway
Leviticus 24:17–23 teaches that penalties were to fit the harm done and that the same law applied to foreigner and native-born alike.
Explore the instructions
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A human life and an animal are not treated the same wayThe passage begins by distinguishing between two cases. One who strikes a person mortally is to be put to death, while one who strikes an animal mortally must “make it good”.
Explanation
The passage begins by distinguishing between two cases. One who strikes a person mortally is to be put to death, while one who strikes an animal mortally must “make it good”. That phrase points to restitution for the loss. The text gives different penalties for human life and animal loss.
02Injury is answered with a matching penaltyThe next lines speak about injury to a neighbour. The wording is very exact: “as he has done” and “as he has injured someone”.
Explanation
The next lines speak about injury to a neighbour. The wording is very exact: “as he has done” and “as he has injured someone”. The examples, “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth”, show a penalty that corresponds to the injury rather than something unrelated or unlimited.
03The law repeats its pattern clearlyVerse 21 restates the difference already given. Killing an animal requires making it good, but killing a human brings the death penalty.
Explanation
Verse 21 restates the difference already given. Killing an animal requires making it good, but killing a human brings the death penalty. This repetition helps the reader hear the pattern of the law plainly. The penalties are not random. They are stated in a measured and deliberate way.
04One law for foreigner and native-bornThe passage then states that there is to be “one kind of law” for both the foreigner and the native-born.
Explanation
The passage then states that there is to be “one kind of law” for both the foreigner and the native-born. The reason given is, “for I am Yahweh your God.” The final verse simply says Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and they did what Yahweh commanded Moses.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What difference does the passage make between killing a person and killing an animal?
Compare the penalties in the repeated statements: one says “make it good” and the other says “put to death”.
02What do the words “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” show about the kind of justice described here?
Notice how each example matches the injury named, and how the verses repeat “as he has done” and “as he has injured someone”.
03Who was to be under this law?
Look at the verse that names both the foreigner and the native-born and says there is “one kind of law”.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Leviticus 24:17–23
17“ ‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death.
18He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life.
19If anyone injures his neighbor, it shall be done to him as he has done:
20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone.
21He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death.
22You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’ ”
23Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses.