Revenge

Samson’s adventures begin with a marriage to a Philistine bride that goes awry, leading him to burn the Philistines’ grain fields. Later, he sleeps with a Gazan prostitute and tears out the city’s gates. Finally, he leads Delilah, a courtesan, to believe that his hair is the source of his strength, and the Philistines capture him. Facing execution, Samson turns to God to help avenge him—only then does he fulfill his foretold role that he would begin to deliver Israel from the Philistines

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges the talion law of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” instructing his followers to turn the other cheek. While this may be admirable as a personal practice, society requires a policy for protecting its people. Positioned between the extremes of total annihilation of the enemy and passive acceptance of aggression, the principle of talion law advocates for measured justice.

I don’t defend the Torah’s ostensibly immoral laws, but I do try to understand what motivated them.

The Torah allows kin to take vengeance on a murderer; in cases of manslaughter, the killer is offered sanctuary at a refuge city. These laws highlight the struggle to limit clan justice in ancient Israel, a challenge found centuries earlier among the northern Amorites, as detailed in several letters to King Zimri-Lim of Mari.

“When Your Enemy Falls Do Not Exult” (Prov 24:17)