Thoughts from Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20:22

²² Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
    wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

The history of society beginning in Genesis reveals an evolution of civic justice. From what began in the early chapters of Genesis through the history of the patriarchs and Israel as a nation is a progression of a system of an organized legal framework.  What began as the Lex Talonis by the time of the Proverbs is a justice system that does not allow retaliation or revenge. The establishment of justice by the established government is in Romans 13:1-7.

In verse 22 retaliation is disallowed.  It is this principle asserted when Jesus instructs  to “turn the other cheek”.  This is not forbidding protection of life and property.  It is confirming the prohibition of personal retaliation.