Who was the first to say vengeance is mine?

Who was the first to say vengeance is mine? Many people know that as something from the Bible. If it was early on, then it’s likely God was the first to say it. If it’s early enough, then God said it before any of today’s major religions were established. But do we understand where it came from what it really means?

And, did you know, depending on which translation of the Bible you read, there’s a good chance you won’t find those three words – vengeance is mine?

It’s pretty much impossible to come up with a reliable history of that little voodoo doll pictured here.

It feels like no one really wants credit for it.

Some try to give credit, especially to Haiti or New Orleans. I’ve been to New Orleans many times, and they’re quite popular with tourists. And yet, there’s also lots of stuff out there saying it has nothing to do with the way voodoo is practiced in either location.

Even James Bond was involved with voodoo in Live And Let Die.

Whatever the reality is, right or wrong, the voodoo doll is symbolic of vengeance to many people today. Vengeance that we take, on our own, against our enemy by doing things to the doll.

Hopefully, you’re not into that. Not seriously, anyway

Why does it matter who was the first to say vengeance is mine?

Why does it matter who was the first to say vengeance is mine? It matters a lot, if we’re looking at the God of the Bible as the first one to say it. Why? Because if God claimed vengeance as something that was His and His alone, then we are probably not supposed to take vengeance on our own.

Did God say vengeance is mine or not?

As I mentioned above, depending on your Bible translation, you may not even find “vengeance is mine” if you search for it. I normally use the 1984 NIV when I write, because it’s supposedly the most popular one around the world. Also, it’s often used in dual language Bibles, with English on one side of the page and another language on the other side.

When I searched for “vengeance is mine”, it came up “not found”. The same was true for the 2010 version. Huh. I know those words, so it’s got to be in some Bible somewhere. Since I grew up using the King James variants, I tried both the KJV and the NLJV. Sure enough, there it was in the New King James Version. Three times.

For all of you using the NIV, here are those three verses, side by side, from both the NIV and the NKJV translations.

Vengeance Is Mine

Verse	NIV	NKJV
Deuteronomy 32:35	“It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”	“Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.”
Romans 12:19	Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.	Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
Hebrews 10:30	For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”	For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”

As you can see, the verses from Romans and Hebrews both refer back to the one in Deuteronomy. That means our earlier question of when did God say, “vengeance is mine”, was very early. Certainly before Christianity. In the case of Judaism, it was one of the laws given by God to His chosen people.

However, while the verses do refer back to Deut. 32:35, that’s not actually the origin of the command from God.

Here’s the thing about this reference back to yet another reference. The Jewish people in Biblical times had something of an “advantage” over us. They couldn’t read. That’s why I put ” ” around the word advantage. While not being able to read was certainly problematic in many ways, it did mean they had to memorize their scriptures. There were scrolls containing them in the Synagogues. But only those who were literate could read them.

What that did mean though is that they knew their scriptures much better than most of us do today. So, when Paul wrote Romans or when an unknown person wrote Hebrews, the person listening would automatically make the connection back to Deuteronomy and then connect back to Leviticus. Just the mention of Leviticus will prove to most people that we don’t know our Bible all that well, because so many people don’t even read Leviticus today.

Maybe that’s why we don’t understand and appreciate what “‘vengeance is mine’, sayeth The LORD” really means? BTW – that quote goes back even before the NKJV.

Vengeance Is Mine – From Romans and Hebrews to Deuteronomy to Leviticus

Since we obviously don’t understand vengeance is mine, let’s trace the roots. Not backwards, but from the middle to the origin as a command from God to His chosen people, and then to Christianity.

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Conclusion – Who was the first to say vengeance is mine?

Yes, God was the first to say, Vengeance in Mine.

And sure, lots of people, each of us included, have had times when we wanted, even got revenge for ourselves. We didn’t wait for God.

These days, there are so many people in public offices, friends in high places, friends in low places, just plain lots of people, who live for revenge. And those people are celebrated by our culture today. They’re culture warriors and people love them.

For those of us who claim to be Christian, who truly want to spend eternity with God in His Heaven, in the next life as He set the rules for, we’d best better remember what we just looked at.

“Vengeance is Mine”, said God.

And if we’re not happy with that, there is an alternative. An alternative in which we are warned about a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not a happy place.

Not where I hope to be.