Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
Ye have heard that it hath been said— (Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:21).
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth—that is, whatever penalty was regarded as a proper equivalent for these. This law of retribution—designed to take vengeance out of the hands of private persons, and commit it to the magistrate—was abused in the opposite way to the commandments of the Decalogue. While they were reduced to the level of civil enactments, this judicial regulation was held to be a warrant for taking redress into their own hands, contrary to the injunctions of the Old Testament itself (Proverbs 20:22; Proverbs 24:29).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Matthew 5:38:
Exodus 21:23-25
Matthew 5:37
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