AVENGER OF

BLOOD  , the person, usually the nearest kinsman of the murdered man, whose duty it was to avenge his death by killing the murderer . In primitive societies, before the evolution of settled government, or the uprise of a systematized criminal law, crimes of violence were regarded as injuries of a personal character to be punished by the sufferer or his kinsfolk . This right of vengeance was common to most countries, and in many was the subject of strict regulations and limitations . It was prevented from running into excesses by the law of sanctuary (q.v.) and in many lands the institution of blood-money, and the wergild offered the wrong-doer a mode of escaping from his enemies' revenge . The Mosaic law recognized the right of vengeance, but not the money-compensation . The Koran, on the contrary, while sanctioning the vengeance, also permits pecuniary commutation for murder .