batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6672-l6726
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l6672-l6726
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: SECTION V. / OF CERTAIN NEGATIVE PRECEPTS IN THE KORN. / SECTION VI. / OF
THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE KORAN IN CIVIL AFFAIRS.; lines 6672-6726
start: '6672'
end: '6726'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'The passage discusses penalties and legal principles attributed to the
Koran and related commentary: involuntary manslaughter and blood revenge, Jewish
cities of refuge, theft punished by cutting off the hand, retaliation for bodily
injury, and the interpretation of ''eye for eye and tooth for tooth'' as proportional
retribution or fines rather than literal mutilation.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says Mohammed imposed a heavy punishment on involuntary manslaughter
to deter people and to accommodate the revengeful temper of his countrymen.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage describes a Jewish manslayer who escaped to a city of refuge and
had to remain there until the death of the high priest in office at the time of
the killing.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: The passage says that if the manslayer left the asylum too early, the revenger
of blood could kill him without guilt.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: Theft is described as being punished by cutting off the offending part, identified
as the hand.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The passage says the Sonna forbids this punishment unless the stolen item
has a certain value.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The law of retaliation is said to have been ordained by the law of Moses and
approved by the Koran.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: The passage says the law of retaliation was allowed to prevent private revenge
among Arabians and Jews.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: The passage says retaliation is seldom executed literally and is generally
converted into a fine paid to the injured party.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The expression 'eye for eye and tooth for tooth' is interpreted as a proverbial
expression meaning punishment proportionate to the seriousness of the act.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Mohammed
description: Presented as the lawgiver who laid down or allowed regulations concerning
manslaughter and retaliation.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Mohammed's countrymen / Arabians
description: Described as prone to revenge and as a group for whom the law of retaliation
was allowed to prevent private revenge.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Jews
description: Described as similarly addicted to revenge and associated with the
practice of refuge for a manslayer.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:4
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Manslayer
description: A person who kills and escapes to a city of refuge, where he must remain
for a prescribed period.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: High priest
description: The office-holder whose death marks the end of the manslayer's required
stay in the refuge city.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Revenger of blood
description: A person who may kill the manslayer if he leaves the asylum before
the prescribed time.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Thief
description: A person subject to punishment by cutting off the hand if the stolen
item meets a certain value threshold.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Injured party
description: The person who receives a mulct or fine when retaliation is converted
into compensation.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Judges
description: Those who punish according to the seriousness of the act in the passage's
interpretation of retaliation language.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: lawgiver
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Mohammed is described as laying down regulations and allowing legal rules.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: revenge-prone community
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:3
basis: Arabians and Jews are described as addicted to revenge or prone to particular
revenge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:3
label: offender subject to regulated penalty
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:7
basis: The manslayer and thief are described as offenders under specific legal penalties
or restrictions.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: time-marker authority
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The death of the high priest determines when the manslayer may leave the
city of refuge.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: blood avenger
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The revenger of blood is permitted to kill the manslayer if found outside
the asylum before the appointed time.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: role:6
label: recipient of compensation
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The injured party receives a fine when literal retaliation is not executed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:7
label: proportional adjudicator
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: Judges are described as assigning punishment according to the heinousness
of the act.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: city of refuge / asylum
literal_form: city of refuge; asylum
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: death of the high priest
literal_form: death of the person who was high priest
associated_figures:
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: cut-off hand
literal_form: hand cut off as the offending part
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: eye and tooth retaliation formula
literal_form: eye for eye and tooth for tooth
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:5
label: mulct or fine
literal_form: pecuniary fine paid to the injured party
associated_figures:
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Manslayer confined in refuge until a death-marked term ends
summary: A manslayer who reaches a city of refuge must stay there until the high
priest dies; leaving early exposes him to killing by the revenger of blood.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Theft punished by hand amputation with a value threshold
summary: The passage describes theft as punishable by cutting off the hand, while
also noting a Sonna limitation requiring the stolen thing to have a certain value.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Retaliation converted into proportional compensation
summary: For bodily injuries, the passage links Koranic approval to Mosaic retaliation,
but says literal retaliation is generally replaced by a fine and interpreted as
proportional punishment.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: blood revenge contained by asylum and waiting period
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage describes a manslayer protected in a city of refuge until the
high priest's death, with early departure allowing the blood avenger to kill him.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: This is a legal-religious pattern rather than a mythic narrative motif
in the narrow sense.
- id: motif:2
label: bodily penalty mirrors the offending body part
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Theft is described as punished by cutting off the offending part, the hand.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage discusses legal penalty and commentary, not a narrative episode.
- id: motif:3
label: retaliation transformed into proportional retribution
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage treats 'eye for eye and tooth for tooth' as a proverbial formula
for punishment proportional to the crime, often converted into a fine.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly corresponds to this legal motif.
- id: motif:4
label: law as restraint on private revenge
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage says retaliation rules were allowed to prevent particular or
private revenges among Arabians and Jews.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is extracted as a social-legal pattern rather than as a mythological
symbol.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage explicitly compares Koranic retaliation law with the law of Moses,
presenting both as serving the function of restraining private revenge.
claim_level: same_function
target: Mosaic law / Pentateuch retaliation formula
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is made by the commentator in this translation/commentary
passage; it does not by itself establish historical dependence beyond the stated
textual comparison.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage compares the practice of converting retaliation into settlement
with the old Roman talio, noting that Roman retaliation was not inflicted if the
parties reached agreement.
claim_level: same_function
target: Roman talio in the laws of the twelve tables
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The Roman comparison appears in a note and is brief; it supports functional
similarity only.
- id: claim:3
claim: The passage compares the Jewish city of refuge rule with the broader theme
of containing revenge by enforced absence and time.
claim_level: same_function
target: Jewish city of refuge rule
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage describes the Jewish rule as an analogy for revenge mitigation,
not as a shared mythic narrative.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 6672-6676
quote_or_summary: Mohammed is said to have imposed a heavy punishment on involuntary
manslaughter to deter it and to satisfy the revengeful temper of his countrymen.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 6676-6686
quote_or_summary: Among the Jews, a manslayer who reached a city of refuge had to
stay there until the high priest's death; if he left before then, the revenger
of blood could kill him without guilt.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 6687-6696
quote_or_summary: Theft is described as punished by cutting off the hand, while
the Sonna is said to require the stolen object to be of a certain value before
this punishment is inflicted.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 6697-6710
quote_or_summary: For bodily injuries, the passage says the Koran approves Mosaic
retaliation; it explains this as a measure to prevent private revenge and notes
that the punishment is generally converted into a fine paid to the injured party.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: quote
locator: lines 6710-6719
quote_or_summary: '"eye for eye and tooth for tooth" is treated as a proverbial
expression meaning punishment according to the heinousness of the act.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short quotation used for identification.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 6720-6726
quote_or_summary: A note states that the old Roman talio under the twelve tables
was not inflicted if the delinquent could agree with the injured person.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is legal and comparative commentary rather than mythic narrative;
motifs are therefore extracted as legal-symbolic patterns and should be reviewed.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No available taxonomy symbol or motif reference was applied because the passage centers on legal punishment, refuge, retaliation, and compensation rather than the listed mythological motif families or symbols.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l6672-l6726
passage_sha256=cfc58c8c285442d13fb54122924256368dfd1dd55aafb3b915b881855ea98a67