where does the expression eye for an eye come from
Eye for an eye First referenced in the Code of Hammurabi, (which predates the Hebrew bible.) In the Hebrew Law, the "eye for eye" was to restrict compensation to the value of the loss. Thus, it might be better read 'only one eye for one eye'.[3] The biblical phrase "an eye for an eye" in Exodus and Leviticus (עין תחת עין‬, ayin tachat ayin) literally means 'an eye in place of an eye' while a slightly different phrase (עַיִן בְּעַיִן שֵׁן בְּשֵׁן, literally "eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth") is used in another passage (in Deuteronomy) of the Hebrew Bible, specifically, in the first of its three subdivisions, the Torah.[9][10][11] For example, a passage in Leviticus states, "And a man who injures his countryman – as he has done, so it shall be done to him [namely,] fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he has injured a person, so it shall be done to him." (Lev. 24:19–21)[9]