Roma 12:14

12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.

Roma 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ¹ 

Imamat 19:18

19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge ²  against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. ³  I am the Lord.

Imamat 19:1

Religious and Social Regulations

19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

1 Samuel 25:26

25:26 “Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live, it is the Lord who has kept you from shedding blood and taking matters into your own hands. Now may your enemies and those who seek to harm my lord be like Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:33

25:33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded ⁴  for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands!

Amsal 24:17-19

24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, ⁵ 

and when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice,

24:18 lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, ⁶ 

and turn his wrath away from him. ⁷ 

24:19 Do not fret because of evil people

or be envious of wicked people,

Amsal 24:29

24:29 Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me;

I will pay him back ⁸  according to what he has done.” ⁹ 

Yehezkiel 25:12

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom ¹⁰  has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable ¹¹  by taking vengeance ¹²  on them. ¹³ 

[12:17]  ¹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[19:18]  ² tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).

[19:18]  ³ sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).

[25:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “blessed.”

[24:17]  ⁵ sn The saying (vv. 17, 18) warns against gloating over the misfortune of one’s enemies. The prohibition is formed with two negated jussives “do not rejoice” and “let not be glad,” the second qualified by “your heart” as the subject, signifying the inner satisfaction of such a defeat.

[24:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “and [it is] evil in his eyes.”

[24:18]  ⁷ sn The judgment of God should strike a note of fear in the heart of people (e.g., Lev 19:17-18). His judgment is not to be taken lightly, or personalized as a victory. If that were to happen, then the Lord might take pity on the enemies in their calamity, for he champions the downtrodden and defeated. These are probably personal enemies; the imprecatory psalms and the prophetic oracles present a different set of circumstances for the downfall of God’s enemies – even the book of Proverbs says that brings joy to the community.

[24:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “repay to the man.” The verb is שׁוּב (shuv), which in the Hiphil stem means “to restore; to repay; to return” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “I’ll get even”). The idea is that of repaying someone for what he did.

[24:29]  ⁹ sn Rather than give in to the spirit of vengeance, one should avoid retaliation (e.g., Prov 20:22; Matt 5:43-45; Rom 12:9). According to the Talmud, Hillel said, “Do not do to others what you would not have them do unto you” (b. Sanhedrin 31a).

[25:12]  ¹⁰ sn Edom was located south of Moab.

[25:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.

[25:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”

[25:12]  ¹³ sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 23; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).