091213-FN2 / Vengeance vs Retribution

In the passages here cited, I have substituted “just reparations” as more true to the sense for what is usually translated as “just vengeance”. Throughout the literature, authors will speak of “unjust or unbridled vengeance” or similar terms. Such statements can be misunderstood given current usage. During the period in question and unless the context indicated otherwise, “vengeance” meant the same as retribution - i.e. pay-back. Qualifiers indicated whether the vengeance was appropriate or excessive. To my knowledge, it was Immanuel Kant who first defined “vengeance” standing alone as meaning the lust for disproportionate and excessive pay-back.