David H. Stewart, in his “Anna Karenina: The Dialectic of Prophecy” (PMLA, lxxix, 266–282), mentions the epigraph of the novel (“Vengeance is mine, I shall repay, saith the Lord”) without making it clear that it is a well-known Biblical quotation (Romans xii.19) and without considering the implications of this fact. I shall give the verse and the two which follow it in full (in the King James version) because of the importance of the original context of the statement:
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written [a reference to Deut: xxxii.35] Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore, if thine enemy hunger feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.