Monday, January 25, 2010

Lex Talionis and Abortion

Exodus 21:23-25

"But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth , hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."

This statement here has been termed the lex talionis, "the law of retribution." This is not mentioned for all the laws in the Bible. One great myth that liberals like to bring up is that the lex talionis was meant for all circumstances. There are times when the law of retribution is not carried out, for instance if a man had killed someone accidentally, then the punishment will not be life for life (20:13). It is interesting to me that this law of retribution is only stated here in a case of a pregnant woman being struck so that she gives birth prematurely. The injury here could mean the injury done to the mother, but from context it seems to point to the injury done to the prematurely born baby. This tells me that God here is protecting the life of the unborn, treating the baby in the womb as a person worthy to be defended by the Divine Law. God used such descriptive language and laid out a severe punishment with such emphasis, it should be no wonder as to what God's position is concerning abortion. God protected the unborn in His Law; we should strive to protect the unborn in ours, even if it is protecting them from their own mothers.

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