Punishment in retribution for injury. God appears as a God of vengeance, particularly in the OT, exacting punishment both upon Israel for infidelity to the covenant (Lev 26:25; Luke 21:22) and upon other nations for their treatment of Israel (Deut 32:35; Isa 61:2). In Israelite society, private vengeance was the rule in cases of injury and death (Num 35:9-28; Gen 4:23-24). A tendency to mitigate this practice appears in the institutions of sanctuary (Exod 21:12-14) and cities of refuge (Num 35:9-28), and in the lex talionis (“an eye for an eye,” Exod 21:23-25), which limited retribution to the extent of the original injury. (Lev 19:18 enjoins one to “love your neighbor as yourself” rather than to seek revenge (Prov 25:21). Both Jesus (Matt 5:38-42) and Paul (Rom 12:19) eliminate vengeance as a legitimate motive for human behavior.
