The third time the expression appears is at Exodus 21:22-25, where we read:

if a fatal accident should occur, then you must give soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, branding for branding, wound for wound, blow for blow.”

In this case the sacredness of life was again stressed. Two lives, or possibly more, were involved​—the woman and her child or children. The man who was not her husband pushed her violently or struck her. There was great disregard for life here, and the man might strike the woman out of a vicious desire to hurt the husband. If the woman or her offspring, or both, died or were seriously injured, the man would incur the penalty prescribed. However, even in such cases, as in others, circumstances, degree of deliberateness, and so forth, were taken into consideration before the judges applied the “eye for eye” penalty.​—Compare Exodus 21:28-30.