Punishment, Vengeance
Punishment, Vengeance
The moral relationship between sin and punishment is illustrated by the fact that the latter is expressed by the words Chattath and Aven (see chap. vi. 1, 4) in Gen 4:13; Lev 26:41; Lev 26:43; 1Sa 28:10; Lam 3:39; Lam 4:6; Lam 4:22; Zec 14:19. Yasar (), to chastise, is found in Lev 26:18, ‘If ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.’ Nacah (), to smite, is used in Lev 26:24; Nakam (), to avenge, in Exo 21:20-21; Raa (), to bring evil, in Zec 8:14; Anash (), to amerce or fine, five times in the Book of Proverbs in the remaining passages, all of which are in the prophetical books, Pakad (), to visit, is used, punishment being regarded as a visitation from God.
The avenging or revenging the blood of the slain is referred to under the word Gaal in Num 35:12, al. From the earliest period of human history God is represented as taking the part of the injured, of the oppressed, and even of the slain. Their cries ascend into his ears; their blood calls to Him even from the ground. Thus the Redeemer is necessarily an avenger, and must exercise retributive justice. Shaphath, to judge, is used in this sense in 2Sa 18:19; 2Sa 18:31. for a .similar reason, perhaps, Yasha, to save, is rendered to avenge in 1Sa 25:26; 1Sa 25:31; 1Sa 25:33. The R. V. offers a marginal correction in the first of these verses.
In Deu 32:42 (‘The beginning of revenges up on the enemy’), and in Jdg 5:2 (‘Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel’), a word is used which is derived from Para (), to strip.
The most usual word for revenging or avenging is Nakam (). It first appears in Gen 4:15, ‘Vengeance shall be taken on him (or rather for him, e.g. for Cain) sevenfold.’ Compare verse 24, ‘If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.’ The word is used altogether about seventy-five times in the O.T. Personal and private revenge was forbidden to Israel, ‘Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ (Lev 19:18). The children of Israel were always taught to leave vengeance in God’s hand, as He would avenge the blood of his servants, and would take their part against their enemies. See, for example, Deu 32:35; Deu 32:43; Psa 18:47; Psa 94:1; Jer 11:20; Nah 1:2. The Lord’s vengeance is regarded as retribution, but not as retaliation; it is set forth not as an evil passion, but rather as the righteous and unerring vindication of his own people and of his own course of action, to the discomfiture of those who had set themselves in opposition to Him. He metes it out with justice, and on such a day or at such a time as seems fitting to Him. See Isa 34:8; Isa 61:2; Isa 63:4; Jer 46:10; Jer 51:6.
The words and stand occasionally both for Shaphath and also for Nakam. They imply the visitation of due penalty up on the criminal, whether by the h and of the human judge (Luk 18:3; Act 7:24; Rom 13:4; 1Pe 2:14), or by the agency of God (Luk 18:7-8; Luk 21:22; 1Th 4:6; 2Th 1:8; Rev 6:10; Rev 19:2).
There is no place given in the N.T., any more than there is in the O.T., for the avenging of personal injuries. on the contrary, the feeling of revenge is studiously condemned. Where the magistrate is not called up on to vindicate the sufferer, there God will step in. ‘Vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord’ (Rom 12:19, Heb 10:30). [These words are quoted from Deu 32:35, and are translated from the Hebrew, not from the LXX, which reads instead of .]