An eye for an eye

Thursday, 2023-11-2, Phrase: An eye for an eye

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Phrase: An eye for an eye

Have you ever sought revenge for a wrongdoing that someone had committed against you?

Perhaps you didn’t do anything to them, but you thought about it.

Well, you may have wanted an eye for an eye.


The idea behind an eye for an eye is that justice should be served in a way that is proportional to the crime that was committed.


The phrase is derived from the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, which stated that if a person caused someone else to lose an eye, their own eye would be taken as punishment.

This concept has been adapted over the years and is now commonly used to refer to any situation where someone seeks retribution for a wrongdoing.

An eye for an eye is often seen as a controversial concept because it can lead to a cycle of unending violence.

If one person seeks revenge for a wrongdoing, the other person may feel the need to retaliate, and the cycle repeats indefinitely.

However, some argue that an eye for an eye is necessary to maintain order and prevent people from taking advantage of others.

My father told me that if someone hits you, you should hit them back three times.

If they get back up, you should hit them again.

Yes, it is violent, but some people only understand violence.

Despite the controversy surrounding the phrase, an eye for an eye is still used in many cultures and legal systems worldwide.

In some cases, it is used as a guiding principle for how punishments should be determined.

For example, if someone is found guilty of stealing, they may be required to repay the value of what they stole or an equivalent amount. 


Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test

This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 67.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100. 


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