A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
Vengeance is mine, says the Lord
Altered wording
Romans 12:19 says “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”; the short form omits the promised repayment and modernizes the speech tag.
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
Romans 12:19Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Compare the evidence
Paul’s “it is written” points back to this song, where vengeance belongs to God. It is a direct source for Romans 12:19.
Deuteronomy 32:35To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Hebrews also quotes the vengeance line, providing a second New Testament use in a different argument.
Hebrews 10:30For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
What the context adds
Romans 12:19 tells beloved readers not to avenge themselves and to give place unto wrath, then quotes the LORD’s claim to vengeance. The popular form “says the Lord” updates the introduction but can easily lose Paul’s surrounding commands. Verses 20–21 turn toward feeding an enemy and overcoming evil with good. Deuteronomy 32:35 is the older text Paul invokes; Hebrews 10:30 quotes it in another setting. Keeping those links visible shows both the source of the quotation and Paul’s immediate alternative to personal revenge. Paul’s instruction and its older source should be read before applying the saying to any particular dispute.
A question to carry forward
What action toward an enemy follows the quotation in Romans 12?
Keep reading
Read Romans 12:17–21 and list the actions Paul asks readers to take.
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