Retributive Justice – The Eighth Commandment

Retributive Justice

Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19

“You shall not steal.”

Exodus 22:1

“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.”

Justice against thieves.

Retributive justice comes into play when malice aforethought is involved in the loss or damaging of one’s person or property. In the area of property it was not enough for a thief simply to replace what he had stolen – as in the case of restorative justice. Retribution was exacted against his willful violation of the Law of God in an effort to discourage him and all the members of the community from such unloving acts. If he stole a sheep, four sheep must be returned (Zacchaeus seems to have invoked this statute upon himself in Luke 19.8; note that Jesus affirmed him as a true son of Abraham for his obedience to the Law). In the case of injury done to a person, the same injury was to be exacted against the person who willfully caused the injury. This is the lex talionis law: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But such exactions were only to be made after a trial in the gates of the city in which claims and evidence would be weighed by the judges of the city and the teaching of the Law considered. Thus due process helped to ensure that retribution was not exacted beyond what was reasonable, according to the nature of the crime. No private citizen could invoke retribution; this was an act of the entire community as embodied in its chosen leaders.

In our day, when crimes are often described as against “the people”, retribution lands people in jail. Should there bbe other solutions besides this?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.