GEN1420 [Is revenge ever justified? … T]here is considerable disagreement about whether or not Simon and Levi did the right thing.   On the surface, Jacob was still angry at them many years later for their act of revenge, and he cursed Simeon and Levi on his deathbed. Genesis 49:5-7.  Nachmanides states that the brothers were indeed wrong and sinful in their act of revenge.  Commentary on Genesis 34:13, 49:5.  Even those commentaries that defend the action of these brothers explain their actions differently, never legitimizing revenge.   Maimonides writes that the attack of the people of the town was indeed justified, as they deserved the punishment of death under Noahide law for allowing the rape and kidnapping to continue without protest. Law of Kings 9:14.  [See also, 34:14 AMJV 67].  Maharal justified Simeon and Levi’s action as an act of war between two nations, not one family pitted against another family.   Gur Aryeh commentary on Genesis 34:13.   But no commentary justifies the act of revenge by Simeon and Levi as legitimate.  AMJV 275-6