Exodus Chapter 21 Verses 12-21 

:12 “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. 13 And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. 14 But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. 15 And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. 16 And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. 17 And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. 18 And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: 19 If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. 20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.”

The above passage of scripture deals with the judgments of men who caused the death of others.  The various circumstances are examined and the sentence is appropriate to the circumstances.   

“He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.”  The sentence for murder is death.  Anything less than death for premeditated murder is not equitable.  Remember the guiding principle of God’s judgments for men is that the sentence is to be equitable to the crime.  The death sentence is most appropriate for premeditated murder.   

“And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.”  If the death was an accident and not premeditated, then God promised a place for the man who accidentally killed another to flee to.  Later, we are told that God provided cities of refuge in the land of Canaan for the man who killed another by accident that he may flee to and find refuge from the avenger of blood.  The details for this are given to us in Numbers chapter 35.   

Moreover, four more situations for which the death penalty is to be meted out are set forth for us:

   1.  But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.

    2.  And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.

    3.  And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

    4.  And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

    5.  And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. 

We are also given the circumstance of men fighting and one smiting another with his fist or with a stone and the other man not dying: “And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed: If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.”  Notice that the punishment is equitable with the crime: healing his wounds and paying for loss of time.   


Verses 22-27 

:22 “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. 27 And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.” 

“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”  It appears here that the case of two men fighting and a woman being hurt with child and the child being aborted as a result, that the husband would set the penalty and the judges would determine the equity of the penalty. 

“And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 26 And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. 27 And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.” 

The principle of equity is clearly stated above.  The punishment is to be equitable with the offense: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.   

Likewise, the Lord established the equity of a master smiting out the eye of a servant or the eye of a maid, or the tooth of a servant: that equity is for the servant to go free for the loss of a limb or body part.