Thomas Aquinas, on Rom 12:19

“Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written: Revenge is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.”

“Then when he says, revenge not yourselves, he shows that we should not do evil to our neighbor in vengeance. First, he presents the teaching: revenge not yourselves, dearly beloved, but as is said of Christ: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard (Isa 50:6) and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isa 53:7). Hence, the Lord himself commanded: if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt 5:39). But, as Augustine says, the things done by holy men in the New Testament are valid examples for understanding the commands given in Scripture. For the Lord himself, when he was struck on the cheek, did not say: here is the other cheek, but if I have spoken ill, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why do you strike me. This shows that one must be prepared in the heart to offer the other cheek. For the Lord was prepared not only to offer the other cheek for man's salvation but his whole body to be crucified. And as Augustine says to Marcellinus, this commandment is rightly kept when it is believed that it will be profitable to him on whose account it is kept, to work in him correction and concord, even if another outcome follows. Thus, the precepts of patience are always to be held fast in preparation in the heart, and benevolence itself must always be completed in the will, lest evil be rendered for evil. These and many other things must be done in order to correct even the unwilling with a certain kind severity. Second, he assigns the reason when he says: but give place unto wrath, i.e., to divine judgment. As if to say: entrust yourself to God who can defend and vindicate you by his judgment, as it says in 1 Peter: cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you (1 Pet 5:7). But this applies to cases in which no opportunity is left to us to do otherwise according to justice. But because, as it says in Deuteronomy: judgment is the Lord's (Deut 1:17), when someone authorized by a judge seeks vengeance in order to repress malice and not because of hatred, or on the authority of his superior procures his own defense, he is understood to leave matters to the wrath of God, since magistrates are God's ministers. Hence even Paul obtained a bodyguard against the plots of the Jews (Acts 23:12ff.). Then when he says, as it is written, he proves what he had said: first, by an authority; second, by reason, at do not be overcome by evil. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he proves what he said about revenge being forbidden, saying: give place unto wrath, i.e., to divine judgment, for it is written: vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord (Deut 32:35). Our text has this: vengeance is mine, and I will repay in due time; God the Lord of vengeance (Ps 93:1); the Lord is a jealous God, an avenger (Nah 1:2).”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.