an eye for an eye

The now commonly-used English idiom “eye for an eye” (meaning revenge or retribution) was first coined in 1526 in the English New Testament translation of William Tyndale. (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 285)

Likewise in Mandarin Chinese, the phrasing that was coined to translate “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” — yǐyǎn huányǎn, yǐyá huányá (以眼还眼，以牙还牙 / 以眼還眼，以牙還牙) — has also become a Chinese proverb (see here ).

Other languages that have idioms based on the Hebrew that is translated “an eye for an eye” in English include:

In Alekano it is translated as “if someone gouges out your eye, gouge out his eye,” since in that language body parts need to have an obligatory possessive designator attached. (Source: Larson 1998, p. 42)

complete verse (Leviticus 24:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 24:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “If he has broken a bone, his bone is also to be broken. If he has gouged the eye of another, his eye shall also be gouged. And if he has pulled the tooth of another, his tooth shall also be pulled. It shall be done to a person the way he has done to the other one.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If a bone was broken, his bone will be broken in return, an eye in return for an eye, a tooth in return for a tooth. Just as he/she injured someone, so just like that it must be done to him/her.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a person destroys/harms his fellowmen, he must be-destroyed/be-harmed according- also -to what he has-done: If he has-broken the bone of another (person) his bones also are-to-be-broken, if he plucks-out the eye of another (person), his eye also is-to-be-put-out, and if he knocks-out the tooth of another his tooth also is-to-be-knocked-out.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If someone breaks one of another person’s bones, that person is allowed to break one of the bones of the person who injured him. If someone gouges out an eye of another person, that person is allowed to gouge out the eye of the person who injured him. If someone knocks out the tooth of another person, that person is allowed to knock out one of his teeth. What is done to the offender must be the same as what he did to the other person.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 24:20

The wording of Revised Standard Version follows very closely that of the Hebrew. Good News Translation has chosen to render this more explicitly by making a separate sentence out of each phrase, thus describing three possible examples. The three examples are then followed by a general rule that is the same as expressed in a slightly different way in verse 19.

If the Good News Translation model is followed, the passive structure in the last half of each of the examples may have to be rendered “they [indefinite] shall break … blind … knock out a tooth….”

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .