NUM317 In verse after verse, God tells us that revenge is to be left only to God. Even though normally Jews are supposed to imitate the ways of God (Deuteronomy 28:9, Nachmanides commentary on Deuteronomy 11:1), the realm of revenge is God's alone. Thus, it states in Psalms that vengeance and revenge belong only to God (Psalms 94:1). ... There is one place in the Torah where God does command the Jews to take revenge, and perhaps this exception proves the rule. When that Midianites confronted the Jewish people in the desert, it is the only time in the Torah when the Jews were attacked spiritually and not physically. God's name was publicly shamed. Therefore, it is possible that this is why only here God asked the Jews to avenge these actions and take revenge upon the Midianites (Numbers 31:1-2). In a related incident, Pinchas took revenge against the Midianite woman and Jewish man who were publicly fornicating as a religious act before the Ba'al Pe'or idol. Pinchas' action caused the plague that killed "only" 24,000 Jews to cease. God immediately praises this act of revenge by Pinchas, and rewards him with the covenant of peace (Numbers 25:7-12). But why is Pinchas praised for taking revenge, if revenge is the exclusive domain of God? The Talmud explains that, indeed, Pinchas was viewed by the Rabbis as wrong and sinful for taking revenge and for doing this act without receiving legal Rabbinic permission (Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 48b). It is for this reason that God had to "step in" and publicly declare Pinchas as a hero in this specific situation, before the Rabbis put him to death for his actions. But why did God praise Pinchas' action if revenge is not generally considered "Jewish" or in the domain of human beings? Once again, this exception proves the rule. Because in this instance God's name was being desecrated by the idol worship and people were dying as a result, Pinchas was correct to "take the law into his own hands" and avenge this sin against God. But in general, revenge is forbidden by Jews or by human beings.