It was ordered by the law of retaliation, that they should give
tooth for tooth, Exod. xxi, 24. The opinion that it is every man’s right
and duty to do himself justice, and to revenge his own injuries, is by
no means eradicated from among the Afghans, a people of India, to the
southward of Cashmere, and according to a paper in the Asiatic
Researches, supposed to be descended from the Jews; and the right of
society, even to restrain the reasonable passions of individuals, and to
take the redress of wrongs and the punishment of crimes into its own
hands, is still very imperfectly understood; or, if it is understood, is
seldom present to the thoughts of the people; for although, in most
parts of their country, justice might now be obtained by other means,
and though private revenge is every where preached against by the
_mollahs_, priests, and forbidden by the government, yet it is still
lawful, and even honourable in the eyes of the people, to seek that mode
of redress. The injured party is considered to be entitled to strict
retaliation on the aggressor. If the offender be out of his power, he
may wreak his vengeance on a relation, and, in some cases, on any man in
the tribe. If no opportunity of exercising this right occurs, he may
defer his revenge for years; but it is disgraceful to neglect or abandon
it entirely; and it is incumbent on his relations, and sometimes on his
tribe, to assist him in his retaliation. To gnash the teeth is a token
of sorrow, rage, despair, Psalm xxxv, 16, &c. God breaks the teeth of
the wicked, Psalm iii, 7. Cleanness of teeth denotes famine, Amos iv, 6.
The wicked complain, that the “fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their
children’s teeth are set on edge,” Ezek. xviii, 2, to signify, that the
children have suffered for their transgressions.
tooth for tooth, Exod. xxi, 24. The opinion that it is every man’s right
and duty to do himself justice, and to revenge his own injuries, is by
no means eradicated from among the Afghans, a people of India, to the
southward of Cashmere, and according to a paper in the Asiatic
Researches, supposed to be descended from the Jews; and the right of
society, even to restrain the reasonable passions of individuals, and to
take the redress of wrongs and the punishment of crimes into its own
hands, is still very imperfectly understood; or, if it is understood, is
seldom present to the thoughts of the people; for although, in most
parts of their country, justice might now be obtained by other means,
and though private revenge is every where preached against by the
_mollahs_, priests, and forbidden by the government, yet it is still
lawful, and even honourable in the eyes of the people, to seek that mode
of redress. The injured party is considered to be entitled to strict
retaliation on the aggressor. If the offender be out of his power, he
may wreak his vengeance on a relation, and, in some cases, on any man in
the tribe. If no opportunity of exercising this right occurs, he may
defer his revenge for years; but it is disgraceful to neglect or abandon
it entirely; and it is incumbent on his relations, and sometimes on his
tribe, to assist him in his retaliation. To gnash the teeth is a token
of sorrow, rage, despair, Psalm xxxv, 16, &c. God breaks the teeth of
the wicked, Psalm iii, 7. Cleanness of teeth denotes famine, Amos iv, 6.
The wicked complain, that the “fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their
children’s teeth are set on edge,” Ezek. xviii, 2, to signify, that the
children have suffered for their transgressions.