For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 38
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In the course of discussing whether a person who commits an act that will theoretically obligate him to receive two separate punishments will only receive the more severe one,
the Gemara quotes the teaching of Tanna dvei Rabbi Hizkiyya that a person who kills another as a consequence of poking out his eye will not be responsible for the eye and the murder.
The source brought for this is the famous passage, “Ayin tahat ayin – an eye for an eye” (Shemot 21:24) – which is interpreted to limit the punishment. “An eye for an eye,” but not “a life and an eye for an eye.”
We explore the history of the biblical command and its non literal interpretation comparing with the Roman Law of the 12 tablets and Rabbinic vs Roman Laws of personal Injury (Pomeranz) and Milgrom’s essay on Lex Talionis and the Rabbis.