Revenge
In Scripture, personal revenge is generally forbidden to God’s people. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, who judges justly and calls believers to pursue forgiveness and overcome evil with good.
At a Glance
In Scripture, personal revenge is generally forbidden to God’s people. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, who judges justly and calls believers to pursue forgiveness and overcome evil with good.
Description
In biblical teaching, revenge usually refers to personal retaliation driven by anger, hatred, or a desire to repay harm with harm, and this is not presented as a proper calling for God’s people. Scripture consistently teaches that vengeance in the ultimate sense belongs to the Lord, whose justice is righteous and sure, while believers are commanded to forgive, love their enemies, and refuse to return evil for evil. At the same time, the Bible distinguishes personal revenge from legitimate justice: God may judge directly, and he has also ordained human governing authorities to punish wrongdoing in a lawful way. A careful definition, therefore, is that personal revenge is condemned, while righteous divine judgment and lawful civil justice are affirmed.