And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. The same principle as verse 26 applied to a tooth. The progression — eye, tooth — works through the lex talionis of verse 24 systematically: the injuries that would require retaliation between equals require liberation when inflicted on the enslaved. The law is coherent: it cannot simultaneously require proportional justice between free persons and allow unlimited physical harm to the enslaved. The two principles press toward the same outcome: the body of every person has value, and harm to any body requires compensation. The enslaved person who loses a tooth or an eye is compensated with the most valuable thing the law can give: freedom.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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