Avenge

AVENGE', AVEN'GER. Luke 18:8; 1 Thess 4:6. Vengeance is an act of justice; revenge is an act of passion. Hence injuries are revenged, crimes are avenged. God is avenged of his enemies when he vindicates his own law and government and character and punishes their transgressions. An avenger is the agent or instrument by whom the avengement is visited on the offending party. Avenger of Blood was a title given to one who pursued a murderer or man-slayer, by virtue of the ancient Jewish law, to avenge the blood of one who had been slain. He must be a near relative of the murdered man. Deut 19:6.

Part of speech: noun (n.)

Vengeance; revenge. [Obs.] Spenser.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

1. To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer. He will avenge the blood of his servants. Deut. xxxii. 43. Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold. Milton. He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen. Macaulay.

2. To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. [Obs.] Thy judgment in avenging thine enemies. Bp. Hall.

Synonyms: Avenge, Revenge. To avenge is to inflict punishment upon evil doers in behalf of ourselves, or others for whom we act; as, to avenge one's wrongs; to avenge the injuries of the suffering and innocent. It is to inflict pain for the sake of vindication, or retributive justice. To revenge is to inflict pain or injury for the indulgence of resentful and malicious feelings. The former may at times be a duty; the latter is one of the worst exhibitions of human character. I avenge myself upon another, or I avenge another, or I avenge a wrong. I revenge only myself, and that upon another. C. J. Smith.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To take vengeance. Levit. xix. 18.