Is Qur'an 22:39-40 permission only for self-defense, or also permission for retribution?

From the Arberry English translation > Leave is given to those who fight because they were wronged...who were expelled from their habitations without right... I have always understood this as permission to take revenge. But I've found a couple of authors who take it as a reference to self-defense, saying that it was revealed just as Muhammad fled Mecca, when he was in real danger of being attacked by the Quraysh, and applied only under similar circumstances. These authors don't mention anything about retribution. [Tafsir Ibn Kathir](http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2499&Itemid=77) doesn't specify either option, referring to the topic only as jihad. [Al-Tabari](http://muflihun.com/22/37-43?tafid=8167) is in Arabic. [Tafhim-ul-Quran](http://muflihun.com/22/37-43?tafid=8165) is also not specific. Do any Muslim scholars talk specifically about whether this allows self-defense, retribution, both, neither?