A medical instrument having a force-limiting apparatus that, upon reaching the borderline force, ensures maintenance of the applied resistance force. It is proposed that the force-limiting apparatus should include a housing in which two components that can move in opposite directions to one another in the longitudinal direction of the housing are disposed in such a way that both components are disposed so that they can slide axially in the housing against the force of at least one spring element disposed in the housing, such that the two components are coupled with one another by at least one force transmission element that is acting on both components.
