What does ἐκδικέω (ekdikéō) mean in the Bible?
ἐκδικέω (ekdikéō): Vindication of the oppressed or enforcement of justice, not personal revenge or retribution.
Greek · G1556
ἐκδικέω
To vindicate, retaliate, punish
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ἐκδικέωG1556
Pronunciationekdikéō
What does ἐκδικέω (ekdikéō) mean in the Bible?
ἐκδικέω (ekdikéō): Vindication of the oppressed or enforcement of justice, not personal revenge or retribution.
Full entry for ἐκδικέω (G1556) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1556?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include avenge (2), Give me justice (1), He has avenged (1), I will give her justice (1), to punish (1).
Where does ἐκδικέω (ekdikéō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 18:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Revelation (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Romans (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itavenge2×Romans 12:19, Revelation 6:10
Give me justice1×Luke 18:3
He has avenged1×Revelation 19:2
I will give her justice1×Luke 18:5
to punish1×2 Corinthians 10:6
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 18:3ἘκδίκησόνtoGive me justiceVerb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person SingularLuke 18:5ἐκδικήσωtoI will give her justiceVerb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person SingularRomans 12:19ἐκδικοῦντεςtoavengeVerb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural2 Corinthians 10:6ἐκδικῆσαιtoto punishVerb - Aorist Infinitive ActiveRevelation 6:10ἐκδικεῖςtoavengeVerb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person SingularRevelation 19:2ἐξεδίκησενtoHe has avengedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 18:3
Aligned rows6
Books represented4
Luke2Romans12 Corinthians1Revelation2
Source forms
ἐκδικεῖς1xekdikeisRevelation 6:10
ἐκδικῆσαι1xekdikēsai2 Corinthians 10:6
Ἐκδίκησόν1xEkdikēsonLuke 18:3
ἐκδικήσω1xekdikēsōLuke 18:5
ἐκδικοῦντες1xekdikountesRomans 12:19
ἐξεδίκησεν1xexedikēsenRevelation 19:2
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular1xLuke 18:3
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xRevelation 19:2
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active1x2 Corinthians 10:6
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular1xLuke 18:5
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular1xRevelation 6:10
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural1xRomans 12:19
Evidence Summary
JusticeMessiah
Greek word. Vindication of the oppressed or enforcement of justice, not personal revenge or retribution.
Strong'sG1556
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms4 forms6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to vindicate, retaliate, punish
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Vindication of the oppressed or enforcement of justice, not personal revenge or retribution.
(ἔκδικος), [in LXX for פָּקַד, נָקַם, שָׁפַט, etc. ;]
1to vindicate: with accusative of person(s), Luk.18:3, 5.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 18:3Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Imperative
Ἐκδίκησόνekdikhson
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verseLuke 18:5Verb First Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ἐκδικήσωekdikhsw
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verseRomans 12:19Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
ἐκδικοῦντες,ekdikountev
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verse2 Corinthians 10:6Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
ἐκδικῆσαιekdikhsai
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verseRevelation 6:10Verb Second Person Singular Present Active Indicative
ἐκδικεῖςekdikeiv
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verseRevelation 19:2Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐξεδίκησεexedikhsen
I give justice over, defend, avenge, vindicate
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups4Aligned forms6TensesAorist, Future, PresentVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Imperativecommand or strong request1×
Aorist ActiveLuke 18:31×
Indicativestates a fact or reality3×
Future ActiveLuke 18:51×
Present ActiveRev 6:101×
Aorist ActiveRev 19:21×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Present ActiveRom 12:191×
Infinitiveverbal noun — the action in abstract1×
Aorist Active2 Cor 10:61×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist3present2future1
Voice
active6
Mood
indicative3infinitive1imperative1participle1
NT Occurrences
Luke 18:3Ἐκδίκησόνaorist active imperativeimperativeLuke 18:5ἐκδικήσωfuture active indicativeprospectiveRomans 12:19ἐκδικοῦντεςpresent active participleparticiple2 Corinthians 10:6ἐκδικῆσαιaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveRevelation 6:10ἐκδικεῖςpresent active indicativeongoingRevelation 19:2ἐξεδίκησενaorist active indicativecompleted
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 18:1–8ἐκδίκησόνekdikéō
Grant justice, vindicate
Showing 1 selected witness from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐκδικέω is built from this root:
Canonical Themes
JusticeMessiah
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.