ABSTRACT
The power of the desire for vengeance can be inferred from the very existence of the Law of Talion. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The law of Talion is stated in the book of Exodus (21:24), among a number of other prescriptions that God gave to Moses, and which were to serve to regulate interactions within the tribe. The law of Talion represented a major advance in lawfulness. It served to hem in blind vengeance. For an eye, no more than an eye; for a tooth no more than a tooth; that is the significance of the law of Talion (Hirzel, 1907-10; Jacoby, 1983). Evidently a need existed for such regulation, then as now. Were it not so, no law of the kind would have been needed. Desire for revenge itself is immoderate.
