Leviticus gives the lex talionis within a judicial setting of proportional justice; Jesus cites that formula before teaching disciples how to respond personally to injury, insult, coercion, and demands without retaliation.

Leviticus 24 states the lex talionis principle—life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth—in a judicial setting. Deuteronomy 19 applies the same proportionality formula to false witnesses, showing that the principle functions as measured legal justice rather than a command for private revenge.

Leviticus restates the lex talionis proportional-injury formula already found in Exodus 21, preserving the same legal principle of measured justice rather than uncontrolled retaliation. The later Torah passage confirms that “eye for eye” language belongs to Israel’s legal order as a limit on disproportionate punishment.