If Vengeance is God's, what about Revenge?

Question

"Vengeance is mine, ... saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head."

Definition of Vengeance according to Merriam-Webster dictionary:
1: with great force or vehemence
2 : to an extreme or excessive degree

This leads me to believe that the bible is not speaking of "revenge" belonging to the Lord. God was speaking of vengeance being the first punishment. If we accept this as a given, that should make many understandings of the verse moot. According to this line of thought, revenge is perfectly fine to carry out.
There is a law in the bible at Ex 21:23-25 stating:
23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
That would seem to support this.

So, with that said, is revenge left to man, while God hands out initial punishments?

Jesus said in the gospels: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

So if this is examined further, one would think that this means it's alright to take revenge on others. For surely, if someone else does something unto me, he must want me to do unto him. Correct?

And to clarify, I'm simply asking, because all my life, I've been told that revenge is a bad thing and it's only for God to do for us etc. But I'm finding all these scriptures that, when further examined, seem to support me taking revenge on anyone who has wronged me, as long as it is not unjust.

Answer 1

Guess where "venge" in revenge comes from!

You got it! It is the start of vengeance. So revenge means return some vengeance on someone. So, guess who "revenge" belongs to too? Sorry, you will have to answer this one yourself.

Answer 2

No! First of all how can you quote the Lord and then compare him to Websters dictionary? There is no other than the Lord Webster was just a man not the Almighty Savior. The battle is not ours it is the Lords. Therefore leave it up to the Lord to judge and punish the unjust. It will be only the Lord and the individual on judgment day. So many of us misinterpret the scriptures. An eye for an eye is all you will get if you take revenge in your own hands. That is why the battle is the Lords. He came and died so that our sins could be forgiven and we would have a chance to go to heaven if we repent and follow Him. The Lord is only Love and peace not war.
God Bless you and put it in God's hands.

Answer 3

NO, we are NOT to take revenge. Please forget the dictionary; we're talking God's definitions. When someone does something evil to you, the scripture that applies is Romans 12: 19 please see below. If you want to look at this from a perspective of human anger wanting revenge, then refer to: Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; AND Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
God can do SO MUCH BETTER AT REVENGE AND VENGEANCE, BUT WE HAVE TO LEAVE IT ALONE AND LET HIM. Psa 94:1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself.

When there is a CRIMINAL IN SOCIETY and we are to be subject to the authorities that God has placed there; then Romans chapter 13 is what Apostle Paul tells us. Incidentally, when a criminal is sentenced to die by a judge and a jury, this is not "murder" by society. It is execution of a just sentence:

Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. And wouldest thou have no fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the same:
Rom 13:4 for he is a minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him that doeth evil.

As far as the scripture you're quoting, glad to see you read the Bible, but we're living in the New Testament. :)

Answer 4

When you mince words you can take things out of context. Vengeance does take in revenge. When you seek revenge or vengeance you harm yourself not those who have wronged you. God is a God of justice and from my experience He does take care of those who try to harm His children. They will reap more than they sowed latter than they sowed. Even so I pray that they may come to know Jesus and yet be saved.

Answer 5

But what about verses such as this:

Matthew 5:38-44
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Here is the definition for vengence from dictionary.com:
venge·ance /ˈvɛndʒəns/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ven-juhns] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. infliction of injury, harm, humiliation, or the like, on a person by another who has been harmed by that person; violent revenge: But have you the right to vengeance?
2. an act or opportunity of inflicting such trouble: to take one's vengeance.
3. the desire for revenge: a man full of vengeance.
4. Obsolete. hurt; injury.
5. Obsolete. curse; imprecation.
—Idiom6. with a vengeance, a. with force or violence.
b. greatly; extremely.
c. to an unreasonable, excessive, or surprising degree: He attacked the job with

So yes, vengence can mean a desire for revenge, according to this dictionary.

Revenge is not something that Christian should practice, for we are to love our fellow man. Let God take care of those people, for they have their reward if they do not accept Christ and continue in their evil ways.
God Bless!

Edit:
To clarify the "do unto others" verse, this means that you should do to people what you would WANT them to do to you. Do you want someone to take revenge on you? No, you would want to be treated with patience and kindness and love. That is how we should treat others, not return evil for evil.

Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Answer 6

You see not all people who insult and hurt us are really guilty. Sometimes we were mistaken, misinformed and misunderstood certain situation. Getting revenge will only escalate the problem instead of solving it.
If someone really wronged us and we are commanded not to take revenge, it will cut our pride deeply. We can view that us suffering. It is one way of getting rid of our ego and share the suffering of Christ.
It is one way of proving to God of loving His way and completely surrendering our heart and soul to Him including our very own selfish ego.

Answer 7

You have twisted scripture.
The whole verse says, "vengeance is mine, I will repay..."
There is no misunderstanding that meaning.

The definition you gave from the M-W Dictionary is flawed.

Answer 8

And you wonder why people say that Christians twist scripture to mean whatever they want it to mean.

Answer 9

Revenge is of Satan, but Satan lost . . . so it's worthless.