Difference between revisions of "Vengeance"

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== Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_44525" /> ==
<i> vengeance </i> <i> nqm </i> <i> ekdikeo </i> <i> nqm </i> <p> Human revenge against an enemy or enemies is demonstrated in a broad range of circumstances in the Old [[Testament]] documents (&nbsp;Genesis 4:23-24; &nbsp;Jeremiah 20:10 ). Samson's reaction to his enemies (&nbsp;Judges 15:7 ) is so described. [[Vengeance]] might be punishment directed toward another who has committed adultery with one's wife (&nbsp;Proverbs 6:32-34 ) or toward a whole ethnic group such as the [[Philistines]] (&nbsp;1 Samuel 18:25 ). On occasion, the enemies of the people of God are described as acting vengefully (&nbsp;Ezekiel 25:12 ,Ezekiel 25:12,&nbsp;25:15 ,Ezekiel 25:15,&nbsp;25:17 ). In the context of loving one's neighbor, human revenge toward fellow Hebrews was forbidden (&nbsp;Leviticus 19:17-18; compare &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35 ), but <i> nqm </i> may be used of legitimate punishment for a wrong (&nbsp; Exodus 21:20; compare &nbsp;Exodus 21:23-25; &nbsp;Leviticus 24:19; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 19:21 ). </p> <p> As an activity of God on behalf of His people, <i> nqm </i> is sometimes best understood as retribution (&nbsp; Judges 11:36 ). David was often the recipient of such favor (&nbsp;2 Samuel 4:8; &nbsp;2 Samuel 22:48; &nbsp;Psalm 18:47 ). The motif occurs in this sense in the prayers of Jeremiah (&nbsp;Jeremiah 11:20; &nbsp;Jeremiah 15:15; &nbsp;Jeremiah 20:12 ) and of the psalmist (&nbsp;Psalm 58:10; &nbsp;Psalm 79:10; &nbsp;Psalm 94:1 ). Note that <i> deliverance </i> is involved in several of these instances. The wrath of God was exhibited toward [[Babylon]] (&nbsp; Jeremiah 51:6 ,Jeremiah 51:6,&nbsp;51:11 ,Jeremiah 51:11,&nbsp;51:36; &nbsp;Isaiah 47:3; &nbsp;Ezekiel 24:7-9 ). In the song of Moses, such retribution is attributed to God alone (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35 ,Deuteronomy 32:35,&nbsp;32:41 ,Deuteronomy 32:41,&nbsp;32:43 ). Yet, the wrath of God might be extended toward the people of [[Israel]] because of their sin (&nbsp;Leviticus 26:25 ). </p> <p> <i> Nqm </i> has a sense of eschatological deliverance. This can be combined with an expression of God's wrath against Israel's enemies (&nbsp; Isaiah 34:8 ). The parallel Isaianic phrases “day of vengeance” and “year of my redemption” have the same import (&nbsp;Isaiah 63:4; compare &nbsp;Isaiah 61:1-3 ). </p> <p> In the New Testament, the motif of “vengeance” ( <i> ekdikeo </i> and cognates) occurs on relatively few occasions. Of the evangelists, Luke alone uses both the verb and the noun. In Jesus' parable of the unjust judge, a widow's persistent request for vindication from her enemy is grudgingly granted. Luke displayed the parable as a worst-case model of God's vindication (“deliverance”) of His people (&nbsp; Luke 18:1-8 ). In another teaching of Jesus, “vengeance” has an eschatological dimension which is reflective of &nbsp;Isaiah 63:4 (&nbsp; Luke 21:22 ). A further Lukan example is found in Stephen's speech this time retribution (&nbsp;Acts 7:24 ). </p> <p> Paul forbade human vengeance much in the way of &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35 (compare &nbsp; Leviticus 19:18 ), asserting that the Lord is the Avenger of wrong (&nbsp;Romans 12:19; &nbsp;1 Thessalonians 4:6-7 ). In the [[Corinthian]] correspondence, Paul used both noun and verb in the sense of “punishment.” The usage seems designed to bring about repentance (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 7:10-11; &nbsp;2 Corinthians 10:5-6 ). On one occasion, Paul wrote of the ruler of a state as a servant of God, “a revenger to execute wrath upon him who doeth evil” (&nbsp;Romans 13:4 ). Once, he wrote of the eschatological wrath (judgment) of God (&nbsp;2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; compare &nbsp;Isaiah 66:15; &nbsp;Psalm 79:6 ). </p> <p> The author of Hebrews also cited the Deuteronomic prohibition against human vengeance (&nbsp;Hebrews 10:30; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35; compare &nbsp;Romans 12:19; &nbsp;Leviticus 19:18 ), and the author of 1Peter referred to human governors as persons sent by God to punish evildoers (&nbsp;1 Peter 2:14; compare &nbsp;Romans 13:4 ). </p> <p> In Hebraic fashion, the author of Revelation viewed God as the Avenger who vindicates His people against their enemies (&nbsp;Revelation 6:10; &nbsp;Revelation 19:2 ). Both of these usages have eschatological overtones (compare &nbsp;Isaiah 63:1-6 ). See [[Avenger]]; Punishment; Wrath. </p> <p> [[Donald]] E. Cook </p>
       
== Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology <ref name="term_18298" /> ==
<p> An injured party's desire for retribution or repayment from those who harmed him or to demonstrate his innocence against false accusations. Vengeance demonstrates God's righteousness in compensating the wrong with right. He takes vengeance against the murderers of the helpless (&nbsp;Psalm 94:1-6 ) and enemies of his people (&nbsp;Joel 3:19-21 ). The idea of vengeance is incorporated into Israel's moral code, making them as his people accountable for their infractions. Vengeance most frequently translates the [[Hebrew]] <i> naqam </i> and is used of God (&nbsp;Isaiah 1:24 ) and human beings (&nbsp;Exodus 20:20-21 ) in meting out legally deserved punishments. Personal vengeance from a designated family member was required to avenge an unlawful death (&nbsp;Numbers 35:19-21 ). In cases of uncertainty over unintentional death, the perpetrator could find protection from the victim's surviving relatives in the cities of refuge (&nbsp;Numbers 35:22-29 ). As Israel developed from a loose confederation into a kingdom, carrying out vengeance became a state function (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 24:16 ). The lex talonis, requiring "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (&nbsp;Exodus 21:23-25 ), is widely understood as prohibiting disproportionate punishment. Still basic to this principle is that wrongs had to be avenged. Without the perpetrator's execution the land remained defiled (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 19:11-13 ). Vengeance reflects a sense of justice in restoring the right. It was also a national function, as Israel retaliated against its neighbors. [[Samson]] kills three thousand Philistines for blinding him (&nbsp;Judges 14-16 ). God is the avenger of last resort in destroying the [[Egyptians]] as Israel's enemies (&nbsp;Exodus 15:1-18; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35-36 ). Vengeance is approached differently in the New Testament. [[Government]] remains as the executor of divine vengeance against law breakers (&nbsp;1 Peter 2:14 ), but personal vengeance is prohibited. Jesus requires that an ethic of helping one's enemies replace retaliation (&nbsp;Matthew 5:38-48 ). Similarly Paul forbids returning evil for evil and seeking personal vengeance (&nbsp;Romans 12:17-21 ). This apparent dissimilarity lead [[Marcion]] in the second century, Schleiermacher in the eighteenth century, and some scholars since then to conclude that the Old Testament religion was inferior to that of the New Testament. Such a view characterizing the Old Testament as absolute demand for vengeance overlooks Joseph's forgiving his brothers (&nbsp;Genesis 45:1-4 ) and David's sparing the lives of Saul (&nbsp;1 Samuel 26 ) and later Saul's family (&nbsp;2 Samuel 9:9-13 ). God does not completely destroy Israel but forgives them, preserving a remnant in spite of their transgressions (&nbsp;Micah 7:18-20 ). [[Divine]] vengeance in the Old Testament is not to be understood as God's desire for self-gratification in exacting punishment, but as an expression of displeasure over all unrighteousness to restore the original balance (&nbsp;Joel 3:19-21 ). Vengeance anticipated redemption. The relative seeking revenge was called the <i> ga'al haddam </i> [ &nbsp; Numbers 35:19 ), the avenger or redeemer of blood. This provides a necessary background for understanding Christ's death as satisfying God's vengeance to provide redemption. Divine retributive righteousness seeking revenge against the sinner becomes in Christ redemptive. [[Forgiveness]] rather than vengeance is the basis for [[Christian]] morality. Vengeance incapable of being placated is reserved for Christ's and the church's enemies who unbelievingly reject its resolution in Christ's death. </p> <p> David P. Scaer </p> <p> <i> See also </i> [[Accursed]]; [[Devoted Devote]]; [[Judgment]]; [[Justice]]; [[Providence Of God]]; [[Punishment]]; [[Worship]]; [[Wrath Of God]] </p> <p> <i> Bibliography </i> . H. McKeating, <i> Exp T, </i> 74:239-45; G. E. Mendenhall, <i> The Tenth [[Generation]] </i> . </p>
       
== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_57745" /> ==
<p> The word ‘vengeance’ (ἐκδίκησις), with its corresponding substantive ‘avenger’ (ἔκδικος, &nbsp;1 Thessalonians 4:6, &nbsp;Romans 13:4), is an essentially NT word and never carries with it the suggestion of arbitrary or vindictive reprisals: it is always a just retribution, and a retribution inflicted by God Himself or His instruments (&nbsp;1 Peter 2:14). If the idea of wrath is associated with the use of the word, as in &nbsp;Romans 3:5; &nbsp;Romans 13:4, such ‘wrath’ (ὀργή) is the eternal righteousness or justice of God acting in harmony with His revealed will. In both &nbsp;Romans 12:19 and &nbsp;Hebrews 10:30 the words’ Vengeance is mine; I will repay’ are quoted somewhat loosely from &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35 (ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐκδικήσεως ἀνταποδώσω). The verb (ἐκδικέω) occurs in the parable of the Unjust Judge (&nbsp;Luke 18:3; &nbsp;Luke 18:7-8) in the sense of affording protection from a wrong-doer and so vindicating the right of the injured person. It is then applied by our Lord to the Divine vindication of the ‘elect,’ the phrase used being ποιεῖν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν, which suggests the protection of persevering saints as well as the just penalty inflicted on their aggressors. </p> <p> In the ethics of [[Christianity]] the [[Golden]] Rule solves the problem of private and personal revenge. [[Revenge]] at the bidding of momentary passion or as the gratification of a selfish emotion is resolutely condemned by the teaching of Christ, and forgiveness takes the place of the old savage law of retaliation (see &nbsp;Matthew 5:38-48). Of the assertion ‘Vengeance is mine,’ W. H. Moberly (in <i> [[Foundations]] </i> , London, 1912, p. 280) writes: ‘This limits, but at the same time consecrates, the notion of retribution. The disinterested infliction of retribution is sometimes a moral necessity’; and he further quotes T. H. Green ( <i> [[Principles]] of Political [[Obligation]] </i> , § 183): ‘Indignation against wrong done to another has nothing in common with a desire to revenge a wrong done to oneself. It borrows the language of private revenge just as the love of God borrows the language of sensuous affection.’ </p> <p> Punishment, if it is to carry any moral weight, must involve the vindication of law, and consequently the new ethic of Christianity which controlled the conduct of the [[Apostolic]] Church is based on love, which rules out of revenge the element of private and personal malevolence (see some cogent remarks by J. S. Mackenzie, <i> Manual of Ethics </i> 4, London, 1900, p. 404 f.). The repetition of the quotation from &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35, in the form in which it comes to us in two such representative Christian writings as the [[Epistles]] to the Romans and the Hebrews, shows clearly that the Christian consciousness had grasped the idea of punishment as in effect a Divine prerogative. The private individual has not to assume judicial functions which properly belong to a recognized legal tribunal or ‘powers’ regarded as Divinely ordained (&nbsp;Romans 13:1-6). </p> <p> On the relation of the subject to war, E. Will-more ( <i> J. Hibbert Journal </i> xiii. [1915] 340) describes how the doubts of a friend-a Territorial soldier-as to the moral Tightness of war (based on ‘Vengeance is mine,’ etc.) were resolved by reading of the atrocities of [[Belgium]] and the nature of German atheism. ‘Vengeance belongs to God,’ he wrote; ‘then we are God’s instruments.’ War as a method of giving expression to the law of international righteousness is admittedly repugnant to the Christian conscience; but until the method is superseded as the result of a <i> consensus gentium </i> , a Christian nation is not absolved from the duty of vindicating either by offensive or by defensive warfare the eternal principles of right and justice. </p> <p> R. Martin Pope. </p>
       
== Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words <ref name="term_79805" /> ==
<div> '''1: ἐκδίκησις ''' (Strong'S #1557 — Noun [[Feminine]] — ekdikesis — ek-dik'-ay-sis ) </div> <p> lit., "(that which proceeds) out of justice," not, as often with human "vengeance," out of a sense of injury or merely out of a feeling of indignation. The word is most frequently used of Divine "vengeance," e.g., &nbsp;Romans 12:19; &nbsp;Hebrews 10:30 . For a complete list see [[Avenge]] , B, No. 2. The judgements of God are holy and right (&nbsp;Revelation 16:7 ), and free from any element of self-gratification or vindictiveness. </p> &nbsp;Acts 28:4&nbsp; Jude 1:7Justice.&nbsp; Romans 3:5[[Anger]]Wrath.
       
== King James Dictionary <ref name="term_64084" /> ==
<p> VENGEANCE, n. venj'ance. L. vindico. </p> <p> The infliction of pain on another, in return for an injury or offense. Such infliction, when it proceeds from malice or more resentment, and is not necessary for the purposes of justice, is revenge, and a most heinous crime. When such infliction proceeds from a mere love of justice, and the necessity of punishing offenders for the support of the laws, it is vengeance, and is warrantable and just. In this case, vengeance is a just retribution, recompense or punishment. In this latter sense the word is used in Scripture, and frequently applied to the punishments inflicted by God on sinners. </p> <p> To me belongeth vengeance and recompense. &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32 . </p> <p> The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries. &nbsp;Nahum 1 . </p> <p> With a vengeance, in familiar language, signifies with great violence or vehemence as, to strike one with a vengeance. </p> <p> Formerly, what a vengeance, was a phrase used for what emphatical. </p> <p> But what a vengeance makes thee fly? </p>
       
== American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_17465" /> ==
<p> In &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:35 &nbsp; Romans 12:19 &nbsp; Hebrews 10:30 &nbsp; Jude 1:7 , means retributive justice- a prerogative of God with which those interfere who seek to avenge themselves. So also in &nbsp;Acts 28:4; though many suppose that the islanders meant the goddess of justice, Dike, whom the [[Greeks]] and Romans regarded as a daughter of Jupiter, and feared as an independent, just, and unappeasable deity. </p>
       
== Webster's Dictionary <ref name="term_192190" /> ==
<p> '''(1):''' ''' (''' n.) Punishment inflicted in return for an injury or an offense; retribution; - often, in a bad sense, passionate or unrestrained revenge. </p> <p> '''(2):''' ''' (''' n.) Harm; mischief. </p>
       
== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_64404" /> ==
<p> (Gr. Δίκη ), the heathen goddess of retribution (Lat. ''Justitia'' )'','' described as the daughter of [[Zeus]] (Hesiod, Op. 266) and [[Themis]] (''Theog.'' 902) and the coadjutor (πάρεδρος ) of the former (Sophoc. (''Ed. Col.'' 1384; Arrian, ''Alex. 4'' :9; see Montfaucon, ''Antiq.'' I, 2, 8). The punishment of murderers is particularly ascribed to her; and, therefore, besides being the goddess of punishment in a general sense, she is often to be considered the same as [[Nemesis]] or Vengeance (Eurip. ''Med.'' 1390; Dion Halic. 11:37; see Mitscherlich, [[Ad]] Horace, ''Od.'' 3, 2, 32; Palaiset, ''Observ.'' p. 347). The word occurs in &nbsp;Acts 28:4, but its significance is there disguised in the A.V., which renders it "justice." (See Revenge). </p>
       
==References ==
<references>


Vengeance <ref name="term_57750" />
<ref name="term_44525"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/vengeance Vengeance from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
<p> <b> [[Vengeance.]] </b> —The word ‘vengeance’ (ἐκδίκησις) occurs in Authorized and Revised [[Versions]] of the [[Gospels]] only in &nbsp;Luke 21:22, where it refers to God’s providential punishment of sin. ἐκδίκησις occurs also in the phrase ποιεῖν ἐκδίκησιν (Authorized and Revised Versions ‘avenge’) in the parable of the Unjust Judge (&nbsp;Luke 18:7-8), and the corresponding verb ἐκδικέω (also rendered ‘avenge’; cf. (Revised Version margin) ‘do me justice of’) is found in the same parable (&nbsp;Luke 18:3; &nbsp;Luke 18:5). Outside the Gospels these words and the cognate ἔκδικος occur exactly a dozen times. Some of the passages will call for reference in the course of this article. We are not left, however, to the very rare use of this small group of words for our Lord’s teaching on vengeance. We gather it from several passages of direct instruction, from His continual insistence on an unrevengeful, a forgiving, loving spirit, and from His own conduct throughout His ministry, but especially at its close. </p> <p> Our word ‘vengeance’ is closely related to two others,—‘avenge’ and ‘revenge,’—between which, at least in modern usage, an important distinction is made. Both have to do with the redress of wrong. In ‘avenge’ the idea of the justice of the redress or punishment is prominent. In ‘revenge,’ on the other hand, the predominant thought is that of the infliction of punishment or pain, not necessarily unjust, for the gratification of resentful or malicious feelings (note, <i> e.g. </i> , in &nbsp;Jeremiah 15:15 the substitution in Revised Version [[Nt]] 1881, [[Ot]] 1885 of ‘avenge’ for Authorized Version ‘revenge,’ and on the other hand the retention of ‘avenge’ in &nbsp;Romans 12:19). ‘Vengeance’ leans, now to the one, now to the other of these meanings. It may be just, it may be malicious; even when it is just, the motive may be wrong. </p> <p> <b> 1. </b> The aim of Christ was to create in His disciples a new attitude towards those who had wronged them. [[Evidently]] He was preparing them, at least in part, for injuries that must come to them as His followers (&nbsp;Matthew 5:10 ff.); but His teaching has, of course, a much wider application. The permission, even encouragement, of retaliation by the [[Ot,]] and still more the interpretations, exaggerations, limitations of the scribes and Pharisees, Christ swept away with an authority which astounded His hearers. He denounced the attitude of retaliation and hatred, and commanded His disciples to accept the sufferings which fell to their lot. But this was more than a demand for a new attitude. It was the exorcizing of an evil spirit, and the opening of the doors of the heart to a new spirit. An attitude may be merely external and mechanical. Christ wants more. The negative must have a corresponding positive or be morally worthless. [[Forgiveness]] and benevolence must take the place of vengeance; love, not hatred, must be the motive of thought and act. ‘Enemy’ must be blotted out of the vocabulary of the follower of Christ, at least as a category in which any of his fellow-men may be included. Others may hate and persecute him; he must love and pray for them, and do them good. It is this new spirit that is the supreme moral difficulty; it is here that all questions of interpretation and application must find their solution. We must remember, not only Christ’s ‘resist not,’ but also His ‘pray for,’ and His ‘love.’ </p> <p> This teaching of Christ is found constantly throughout the Gospels. He pronounced ‘blessed’ the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted (&nbsp;Matthew 5:5; &nbsp;Matthew 5:7; &nbsp;Matthew 5:9-10 ff.). He rebuked James and John when they would have called down fire from heaven on the [[Samaritan]] village that would not receive Him (&nbsp;Luke 9:51 ff.). He taught His disciples to forgive a sinning but penitent brother, not with a niggard, but with a generous and inexhaustible forgiveness (&nbsp;Luke 17:3 f., cf. &nbsp;Matthew 18:21 ff.). He even makes God’s forgiveness of a man depend on the man’s forgiveness of his fellow (&nbsp;Matthew 6:14; &nbsp;Matthew 18:35, &nbsp;Mark 11:25 f.). He taught His disciples to pray that they might be forgiven as they forgave others (&nbsp;Matthew 6:12, &nbsp;Luke 11:4). He warned the Twelve, as He sent them out on their mission (Matthew 10), that they would suffer hatred, persecution, even death, for His sake; and charged them to be, in the midst of wolves, ‘wise as serpents and harmless as doves’ (&nbsp;Matthew 10:16), in the endurance of their sufferings to have no fear, but to rely on God. </p> <p> <b> 2. </b> His own conduct during His ministry is the best commentary on His teaching. It is true that there is much denunciation of evil ( <i> e.g. </i> Matthew 23), that He upbraided for their unbelief the cities where He had wrought His great miracles (&nbsp;Matthew 11:20 ff. ||), that He swept the [[Temple]] clear of those who had robbed it of its sanctity (&nbsp;John 2:14 ff., &nbsp;Matthew 21:12 ff. ||). But these are echoes of the [[Divine]] wrath; they are not in any single instance the expression of personal anger, of retaliation, of hatred. On the other hand, we have His patient endurance of all manner of personal abuse, His heart-broken lament over [[Jerusalem]] (&nbsp;Matthew 23:37 ||), His bearing during and after His trial (Matthew 26, 27), and above all, His prayer on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do’ (&nbsp;Luke 23:34). </p> <p> <b> 3. </b> This teaching of Christ, forbidding vengeance, requiring forgiveness and love, is built on a firm religious basis. His aim as a religious Teacher, as the Sent of God, was to renew the sin-broken fellowship between men and God, to make men sons of God; but the indispensable condition of sonship is unity of nature. The essence of the Divine nature is love, and the highest manifestation of the Divine love is forgiveness and benevolence. The spirit of malevolence, of retaliation, of vindictive dealing with men, is alien to the spirit of God. Therefore it must be banned out of the heart of those who would be sons of God, and replaced by the spirit of forgiveness, of ungrudging love. It is this conception of the essential love of God issuing in forgiveness, in love, that is the basis of the high demands of Christ, and the inspiration and possibility of our response (&nbsp;Matthew 5:43-45; &nbsp;Matthew 5:48; &nbsp;Matthew 18:23-35, &nbsp;Luke 6:35. Note, also, how Christ links the Second [[Commandment]] to the First as ‘like unto it,’ &nbsp;Matthew 22:39 ||). </p> <p> <b> 4. </b> If the teaching of Christ seem at first sight impracticable, destructive of moral order, and delivering wrong-doers from the fear of punishment, the answer to these objections is not far to seek. In the first place, liberation from the spirit of vengeance is a moral triumph for the sufferer of wrong. [[Revenge]] is evil. It belongs at best to a lower stage of morality and of the knowledge of God. It cannot justify itself to those who have seen God in the face of Jesus Christ. The sons of God must be like the Son of God, like God Himself, who loves and forgives without limit. Further, love is the most potent moral force that the world has ever known. To meet wrong with revenge may be a satisfaction, and may seem a right thing to the natural man. [[Vengeance]] may accomplish its object, may fully punish and even crush the wrong-doer. But it does not conquer him, it does not crush the wrong out of his heart, it does not make him ashamed of his sin, it does not win him to good and to God. Love does—not always indeed, but often—and nothing else can. Love is a heaping of coals of fire on an enemy’s head (&nbsp;Romans 12:20), the kindling of a burning shame in his heart, the overcoming of evil with good, the triumph of God. See art. Retaliation. </p> <p> <b> 5. </b> There is a further and a very solemn strain in the teaching of Christ, in which we find the final answer to the fear that moral anarchy may arise from the exorcism of the spirit of vengeance. The clearest expression of it is found outside the Gospels (&nbsp;Romans 12:19): ‘Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto wrath [τῇ ὁργῇ, <i> the </i> wrath, the wrath of God]: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; [[I]] will recompense, saith the Lord.’ To avenge ourselves is to assume the prerogative of God. So Christ teaches, <i> e.g. </i> , in the parable of the Unjust Judge: ‘Shall not God avenge his own elect?… [[I]] say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily’ (&nbsp;Luke 18:7 f.). It is in this light that we must read all Christ’s words of denunciation, His parables of Judgment, His judicial acts (such as the cleansing of the Temple), His lament over impenitent Jerusalem. ‘It shall be more tolerable … <i> in the day of judgment </i> ’ (&nbsp;Matthew 10:15; cf. &nbsp;Matthew 10:33; &nbsp;Matthew 11:20 ff; &nbsp;Matthew 12:36 f., &nbsp;Matthew 16:3 f., &nbsp;John 8:44). The moral order of the world will be vindicated by Him whose right alone it is to mete out vengeance to evildoers, who alone has adequate knowledge and wisdom to do justice to sin. </p> <p> It would, of course, be easy to hold this teaching of Christ in a wrong spirit, to cherish a sense of satisfaction that, even if we may not avenge ourselves, yet vengeance is certainly in store for wrong-doers. This would be entirely contrary to the spirit of Christ. It would be the old evil spirit of vengeance in a new form, a more subtle and therefore a worse form. It would mean an utter absence of the love which Christ inculcates, which desires and prays for the good of the enemy. It would be the conquest of ourselves by evil, not of the evil in others by good. But, on the other hand, the moral sense which God has implanted in us, and which He has strengthened by His revelation of Himself, could not rest satisfied unless it were assured that evil shall not go unpunished, that unrepented wrong shall receive its due reward from an all-wise and, let us add, an all-loving God. </p> <p> Literature.—Grimm-Thayer, <i> Lex. s. vv.; [[Egt]] </i> [Note: [[Gt]] Expositor’s Greek Testanent.] <i> , ad locc. cit. </i> ; Maclaren, <i> [[Expositions]] of [[Holy]] [[Scripture]] </i> , ‘Matthew’; Tholuck, <i> Com. on [[Sermon]] on the Mount </i> ; Goebel, <i> [[Parables]] </i> ; Sanday-Headlam, <i> Romans </i> ; Moule, <i> Romans </i> ; Stevens, <i> Teaching of Jesus </i> ; Wendt, <i> Teaching of Jesus </i> ; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, artt. ‘Anger (Wrath) of God,’ ‘Avenge,’ ‘Ethics,’ ‘Forgiveness,’ ‘Goel’; <i> [[Je]] </i> [Note: [[E]] [[Jewish]] Encyclopedia.] , artt. ‘Forgiveness,’ ‘Goel,’ ‘Retaliation.’ </p> <p> [[Charles]] [[S.]] Macalpine. </p>
       
 
<ref name="term_18298"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/baker-s-evangelical-dictionary-of-biblical-theology/vengeance Vengeance from Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology]</ref>
== References ==
       
<references>
<ref name="term_57745"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/vengeance Vengeance from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
<ref name="term_57750"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/vengeance+(2) Vengeance from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_79805"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/vine-s-expository-dictionary-of-nt-words/vengeance Vengeance from Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_64084"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/king-james-dictionary/vengeance Vengeance from King James Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_17465"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/vengeance Vengeance from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_192190"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/webster-s-dictionary/vengeance Vengeance from Webster's Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_64404"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/vengeance Vengeance from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
       
</references>
</references>

Revision as of 10:01, 13 October 2021

Holman Bible Dictionary [1]

vengeance nqm ekdikeo nqm

Human revenge against an enemy or enemies is demonstrated in a broad range of circumstances in the Old Testament documents ( Genesis 4:23-24;  Jeremiah 20:10 ). Samson's reaction to his enemies ( Judges 15:7 ) is so described. Vengeance might be punishment directed toward another who has committed adultery with one's wife ( Proverbs 6:32-34 ) or toward a whole ethnic group such as the Philistines ( 1 Samuel 18:25 ). On occasion, the enemies of the people of God are described as acting vengefully ( Ezekiel 25:12 ,Ezekiel 25:12, 25:15 ,Ezekiel 25:15, 25:17 ). In the context of loving one's neighbor, human revenge toward fellow Hebrews was forbidden ( Leviticus 19:17-18; compare  Deuteronomy 32:35 ), but nqm may be used of legitimate punishment for a wrong (  Exodus 21:20; compare  Exodus 21:23-25;  Leviticus 24:19;  Deuteronomy 19:21 ).

As an activity of God on behalf of His people, nqm is sometimes best understood as retribution (  Judges 11:36 ). David was often the recipient of such favor ( 2 Samuel 4:8;  2 Samuel 22:48;  Psalm 18:47 ). The motif occurs in this sense in the prayers of Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 11:20;  Jeremiah 15:15;  Jeremiah 20:12 ) and of the psalmist ( Psalm 58:10;  Psalm 79:10;  Psalm 94:1 ). Note that deliverance is involved in several of these instances. The wrath of God was exhibited toward Babylon (  Jeremiah 51:6 ,Jeremiah 51:6, 51:11 ,Jeremiah 51:11, 51:36;  Isaiah 47:3;  Ezekiel 24:7-9 ). In the song of Moses, such retribution is attributed to God alone ( Deuteronomy 32:35 ,Deuteronomy 32:35, 32:41 ,Deuteronomy 32:41, 32:43 ). Yet, the wrath of God might be extended toward the people of Israel because of their sin ( Leviticus 26:25 ).

Nqm has a sense of eschatological deliverance. This can be combined with an expression of God's wrath against Israel's enemies (  Isaiah 34:8 ). The parallel Isaianic phrases “day of vengeance” and “year of my redemption” have the same import ( Isaiah 63:4; compare  Isaiah 61:1-3 ).

In the New Testament, the motif of “vengeance” ( ekdikeo and cognates) occurs on relatively few occasions. Of the evangelists, Luke alone uses both the verb and the noun. In Jesus' parable of the unjust judge, a widow's persistent request for vindication from her enemy is grudgingly granted. Luke displayed the parable as a worst-case model of God's vindication (“deliverance”) of His people (  Luke 18:1-8 ). In another teaching of Jesus, “vengeance” has an eschatological dimension which is reflective of  Isaiah 63:4 (  Luke 21:22 ). A further Lukan example is found in Stephen's speech this time retribution ( Acts 7:24 ).

Paul forbade human vengeance much in the way of  Deuteronomy 32:35 (compare   Leviticus 19:18 ), asserting that the Lord is the Avenger of wrong ( Romans 12:19;  1 Thessalonians 4:6-7 ). In the Corinthian correspondence, Paul used both noun and verb in the sense of “punishment.” The usage seems designed to bring about repentance ( 2 Corinthians 7:10-11;  2 Corinthians 10:5-6 ). On one occasion, Paul wrote of the ruler of a state as a servant of God, “a revenger to execute wrath upon him who doeth evil” ( Romans 13:4 ). Once, he wrote of the eschatological wrath (judgment) of God ( 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8; compare  Isaiah 66:15;  Psalm 79:6 ).

The author of Hebrews also cited the Deuteronomic prohibition against human vengeance ( Hebrews 10:30;  Deuteronomy 32:35; compare  Romans 12:19;  Leviticus 19:18 ), and the author of 1Peter referred to human governors as persons sent by God to punish evildoers ( 1 Peter 2:14; compare  Romans 13:4 ).

In Hebraic fashion, the author of Revelation viewed God as the Avenger who vindicates His people against their enemies ( Revelation 6:10;  Revelation 19:2 ). Both of these usages have eschatological overtones (compare  Isaiah 63:1-6 ). See Avenger; Punishment; Wrath.

Donald E. Cook

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology [2]

An injured party's desire for retribution or repayment from those who harmed him or to demonstrate his innocence against false accusations. Vengeance demonstrates God's righteousness in compensating the wrong with right. He takes vengeance against the murderers of the helpless ( Psalm 94:1-6 ) and enemies of his people ( Joel 3:19-21 ). The idea of vengeance is incorporated into Israel's moral code, making them as his people accountable for their infractions. Vengeance most frequently translates the Hebrew naqam and is used of God ( Isaiah 1:24 ) and human beings ( Exodus 20:20-21 ) in meting out legally deserved punishments. Personal vengeance from a designated family member was required to avenge an unlawful death ( Numbers 35:19-21 ). In cases of uncertainty over unintentional death, the perpetrator could find protection from the victim's surviving relatives in the cities of refuge ( Numbers 35:22-29 ). As Israel developed from a loose confederation into a kingdom, carrying out vengeance became a state function ( Deuteronomy 24:16 ). The lex talonis, requiring "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" ( Exodus 21:23-25 ), is widely understood as prohibiting disproportionate punishment. Still basic to this principle is that wrongs had to be avenged. Without the perpetrator's execution the land remained defiled ( Deuteronomy 19:11-13 ). Vengeance reflects a sense of justice in restoring the right. It was also a national function, as Israel retaliated against its neighbors. Samson kills three thousand Philistines for blinding him ( Judges 14-16 ). God is the avenger of last resort in destroying the Egyptians as Israel's enemies ( Exodus 15:1-18;  Deuteronomy 32:35-36 ). Vengeance is approached differently in the New Testament. Government remains as the executor of divine vengeance against law breakers ( 1 Peter 2:14 ), but personal vengeance is prohibited. Jesus requires that an ethic of helping one's enemies replace retaliation ( Matthew 5:38-48 ). Similarly Paul forbids returning evil for evil and seeking personal vengeance ( Romans 12:17-21 ). This apparent dissimilarity lead Marcion in the second century, Schleiermacher in the eighteenth century, and some scholars since then to conclude that the Old Testament religion was inferior to that of the New Testament. Such a view characterizing the Old Testament as absolute demand for vengeance overlooks Joseph's forgiving his brothers ( Genesis 45:1-4 ) and David's sparing the lives of Saul ( 1 Samuel 26 ) and later Saul's family ( 2 Samuel 9:9-13 ). God does not completely destroy Israel but forgives them, preserving a remnant in spite of their transgressions ( Micah 7:18-20 ). Divine vengeance in the Old Testament is not to be understood as God's desire for self-gratification in exacting punishment, but as an expression of displeasure over all unrighteousness to restore the original balance ( Joel 3:19-21 ). Vengeance anticipated redemption. The relative seeking revenge was called the ga'al haddam [   Numbers 35:19 ), the avenger or redeemer of blood. This provides a necessary background for understanding Christ's death as satisfying God's vengeance to provide redemption. Divine retributive righteousness seeking revenge against the sinner becomes in Christ redemptive. Forgiveness rather than vengeance is the basis for Christian morality. Vengeance incapable of being placated is reserved for Christ's and the church's enemies who unbelievingly reject its resolution in Christ's death.

David P. Scaer

See also Accursed; Devoted Devote; Judgment; Justice; Providence Of God; Punishment; Worship; Wrath Of God

Bibliography . H. McKeating, Exp T, 74:239-45; G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation .

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [3]

The word ‘vengeance’ (ἐκδίκησις), with its corresponding substantive ‘avenger’ (ἔκδικος,  1 Thessalonians 4:6,  Romans 13:4), is an essentially NT word and never carries with it the suggestion of arbitrary or vindictive reprisals: it is always a just retribution, and a retribution inflicted by God Himself or His instruments ( 1 Peter 2:14). If the idea of wrath is associated with the use of the word, as in  Romans 3:5;  Romans 13:4, such ‘wrath’ (ὀργή) is the eternal righteousness or justice of God acting in harmony with His revealed will. In both  Romans 12:19 and  Hebrews 10:30 the words’ Vengeance is mine; I will repay’ are quoted somewhat loosely from  Deuteronomy 32:35 (ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ἐκδικήσεως ἀνταποδώσω). The verb (ἐκδικέω) occurs in the parable of the Unjust Judge ( Luke 18:3;  Luke 18:7-8) in the sense of affording protection from a wrong-doer and so vindicating the right of the injured person. It is then applied by our Lord to the Divine vindication of the ‘elect,’ the phrase used being ποιεῖν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν, which suggests the protection of persevering saints as well as the just penalty inflicted on their aggressors.

In the ethics of Christianity the Golden Rule solves the problem of private and personal revenge. Revenge at the bidding of momentary passion or as the gratification of a selfish emotion is resolutely condemned by the teaching of Christ, and forgiveness takes the place of the old savage law of retaliation (see  Matthew 5:38-48). Of the assertion ‘Vengeance is mine,’ W. H. Moberly (in Foundations , London, 1912, p. 280) writes: ‘This limits, but at the same time consecrates, the notion of retribution. The disinterested infliction of retribution is sometimes a moral necessity’; and he further quotes T. H. Green ( Principles of Political Obligation , § 183): ‘Indignation against wrong done to another has nothing in common with a desire to revenge a wrong done to oneself. It borrows the language of private revenge just as the love of God borrows the language of sensuous affection.’

Punishment, if it is to carry any moral weight, must involve the vindication of law, and consequently the new ethic of Christianity which controlled the conduct of the Apostolic Church is based on love, which rules out of revenge the element of private and personal malevolence (see some cogent remarks by J. S. Mackenzie, Manual of Ethics 4, London, 1900, p. 404 f.). The repetition of the quotation from  Deuteronomy 32:35, in the form in which it comes to us in two such representative Christian writings as the Epistles to the Romans and the Hebrews, shows clearly that the Christian consciousness had grasped the idea of punishment as in effect a Divine prerogative. The private individual has not to assume judicial functions which properly belong to a recognized legal tribunal or ‘powers’ regarded as Divinely ordained ( Romans 13:1-6).

On the relation of the subject to war, E. Will-more ( J. Hibbert Journal xiii. [1915] 340) describes how the doubts of a friend-a Territorial soldier-as to the moral Tightness of war (based on ‘Vengeance is mine,’ etc.) were resolved by reading of the atrocities of Belgium and the nature of German atheism. ‘Vengeance belongs to God,’ he wrote; ‘then we are God’s instruments.’ War as a method of giving expression to the law of international righteousness is admittedly repugnant to the Christian conscience; but until the method is superseded as the result of a consensus gentium , a Christian nation is not absolved from the duty of vindicating either by offensive or by defensive warfare the eternal principles of right and justice.

R. Martin Pope.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [4]

1: ἐκδίκησις (Strong'S #1557 — Noun Feminine — ekdikesis — ek-dik'-ay-sis )

lit., "(that which proceeds) out of justice," not, as often with human "vengeance," out of a sense of injury or merely out of a feeling of indignation. The word is most frequently used of Divine "vengeance," e.g.,  Romans 12:19;  Hebrews 10:30 . For a complete list see Avenge , B, No. 2. The judgements of God are holy and right ( Revelation 16:7 ), and free from any element of self-gratification or vindictiveness.

 Acts 28:4  Jude 1:7Justice.  Romans 3:5AngerWrath.

King James Dictionary [5]

VENGEANCE, n. venj'ance. L. vindico.

The infliction of pain on another, in return for an injury or offense. Such infliction, when it proceeds from malice or more resentment, and is not necessary for the purposes of justice, is revenge, and a most heinous crime. When such infliction proceeds from a mere love of justice, and the necessity of punishing offenders for the support of the laws, it is vengeance, and is warrantable and just. In this case, vengeance is a just retribution, recompense or punishment. In this latter sense the word is used in Scripture, and frequently applied to the punishments inflicted by God on sinners.

To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.  Deuteronomy 32 .

The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries.  Nahum 1 .

With a vengeance, in familiar language, signifies with great violence or vehemence as, to strike one with a vengeance.

Formerly, what a vengeance, was a phrase used for what emphatical.

But what a vengeance makes thee fly?

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [6]

In  Deuteronomy 32:35   Romans 12:19   Hebrews 10:30   Jude 1:7 , means retributive justice- a prerogative of God with which those interfere who seek to avenge themselves. So also in  Acts 28:4; though many suppose that the islanders meant the goddess of justice, Dike, whom the Greeks and Romans regarded as a daughter of Jupiter, and feared as an independent, just, and unappeasable deity.

Webster's Dictionary [7]

(1): ( n.) Punishment inflicted in return for an injury or an offense; retribution; - often, in a bad sense, passionate or unrestrained revenge.

(2): ( n.) Harm; mischief.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [8]

(Gr. Δίκη ), the heathen goddess of retribution (Lat. Justitia ), described as the daughter of Zeus (Hesiod, Op. 266) and Themis (Theog. 902) and the coadjutor (πάρεδρος ) of the former (Sophoc. (Ed. Col. 1384; Arrian, Alex. 4 :9; see Montfaucon, Antiq. I, 2, 8). The punishment of murderers is particularly ascribed to her; and, therefore, besides being the goddess of punishment in a general sense, she is often to be considered the same as Nemesis or Vengeance (Eurip. Med. 1390; Dion Halic. 11:37; see Mitscherlich, Ad Horace, Od. 3, 2, 32; Palaiset, Observ. p. 347). The word occurs in  Acts 28:4, but its significance is there disguised in the A.V., which renders it "justice." (See Revenge).

References

  1. ↑ Vengeance from Holman Bible Dictionary
  2. ↑ Vengeance from Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology
  3. ↑ Vengeance from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
  4. ↑ Vengeance from Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
  5. ↑ Vengeance from King James Dictionary
  6. ↑ Vengeance from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
  7. ↑ Vengeance from Webster's Dictionary
  8. ↑ Vengeance from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
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