Victim
Victim. Any individual or community that has suffered unjustified harm, injury, or loss due to natural causes or actions of moral agents.
The concept finds its theological grounding in the doctrine of the image of God, which, in turn, entails two key ideas: first, the bestowal of a special status such as inherent rights, personal worth, and the sacredness of human life more general (e.g., Gen 9:6); and second, the recognition of basic human goods and needs essential for human flourishing, including, but not limited to, sustenance, bodily integrity, shelter, and self-determination (e.g., Isa 32:15–18). To become a victim as an individual or a community, then, means to be harmed along one or both of those vectors, violating a person’s claim and liberty rights. Accordingly, while the harm perpetrated by moral agents can come in different forms—emotional abuse, exploitative precarity, scapegoating, and the denial of dignity, to name a few—the act of victimization always entails some failure of recognition.
While the word “victim” as defined above does not appear in the OT or the NT, several terms or phrases convey such meaning. For instance, we have the “helpless” in Psalm 10:14, those “cast down” in Proverbs 7:26, the “victims of famine,” the “prey” in Nahum 3:1 (NKJV “victim”), and the “little ones” in Matthew 18:6. We should note that the Bible frequently spotlights disenfranchised groups as being on the receiving end of various abuses, most notably so, perhaps, the “quartet of the vulnerable” (Wolterstorff)—the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the sojourner (Job 29:12–17; Zech 7:10–11). The function of “rectifying justice” (mishpat) often concerns redressing the harm perpetrated against such groups and individuals (e.g., Lev 24:22). On that note, it cannot be overemphasized just how central the idea of God siding with innocent victims is to the biblical narrative. His preferential treatment of the victims is conveyed through numerous laws in the Pentateuch (e.g., Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17–21), the preaching of the prophets (e.g., Amost 2:6-16), and narratives such as the fratricide of Abel (Gen 4:1–16), the selling of Joseph (Gen 37:8–36), the arranged killing of Uriah (2 Sam 11:14–26), the slaughter of innocents in Bethlehem (Matt 2:16–18). While many more examples could be offered in this regard, it is Jesus who epitomizes in the Bible what it means to be an innocent victim (e.g., Mat 27:4), as do the believers who are persecuted in His name (e.g., 1 Pet 2:19).
In closing, it is essential to note that to have a rightful claim to victimhood as presented in the Bible does not require as its corollary the notion of “pure innocence,” i.e., the contention that there has been no wrongdoing committed from the side of the victim. Personal culpability in the Bible does not warrant asymmetrical violence, the prohibition of which is the moral force of the lex talionis principle. See also Justice; Peace; Wellness.