21:24 eye for eye. The fundamental principle is that punishment should fit the crime (Lev. 24:19, 20; Deut. 19:21). Similar statements are found in the laws of Hammurabi (c. 1750 b.c.). It seems that “eye for eye” was idiomatic for the principle of proportional justice, and that such penalties were not literally imposed (Deut. 19:21 note).