Vindication, retribution
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G1557, ekdíkēsis, is a Greek noun for vindication or the execution of justice, with contextual renderings such as justice, punishment, retribution, and vengeance. Jesus promises that God will bring justice for elect people who cry out day and night.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐκδίκησις (G1557) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1557, ekdíkēsis, is a Greek noun for vindication or the execution of justice, with contextual renderings such as justice, punishment, retribution, and vengeance. Jesus promises that God will bring justice for elect people who cry out day and night.
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Vengeance [is] (2), avenged [him] (1), justice (1), justice for (1), of vengeance (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 18:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), 1 Peter (1), 2 Corinthians (1), 2 Thessalonians (1).
G1557, ekdíkēsis, is a Greek noun for vindication or the execution of justice, with contextual renderings such as justice, punishment, retribution, and vengeance. Jesus promises that God will bring justice for elect people who cry out day and night. Paul forbids believers from avenging themselves and leaves repayment to God. Hebrews repeats that divine claim, while Second Thessalonians and Luke 21 speak of judgment. Other passages apply the noun to a governor's punitive task, Moses' violent defense of an oppressed Israelite, and a congregation's earnest response after godly sorrow. The noun does not grant every claimant the same authority to punish.
Luke 18 provides the pastoral center: a widow repeatedly petitions an unjust judge, and Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater that God hears His people's persistent cries for justice. Her vulnerability, endurance, and need for a responsive judge remain visible. Romans 12 then places a boundary around personal retaliation. Refusing private vengeance does not mean suppressing reports, abandoning victims, avoiding courts, or declining protective action. It means believers do not seize God's final prerogative or answer evil by becoming agents of retaliatory evil.
Judgment passages require particular care. Second Thessalonians describes the Lord Jesus' eschatological judgment; Luke 21 addresses days of judgment around Jerusalem; Hebrews warns God's covenant people. None authorizes Christians to target unbelievers, Jewish people, political enemies, or accused persons. Acts 7 reports Moses killing an oppressor, but the speech immediately notes that his act was misunderstood and that he fled; it is not a vigilante template. Pastoral use should seek timely justice, protect the harmed, respect jurisdiction and evidence, reject retaliation, and leave final judgment to God.
G1557 gathers persistent appeals for justice, divine and public authority to address wrongdoing, attempted defense through lethal force, congregational vindication after godly sorrow, eschatological judgment, and the prohibition of personal revenge.
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them?
Jesus centers people who keep crying for justice and contrasts God with an unjust judge. Persistence is heard; delay does not mean their grievance is trivial or unbelieving.
I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”
The promise of justice leads to a question about persevering faith. Prompt divine action is framed eschatologically and must not become a deadline for every human case or a reason to neglect timely institutions.
For these are the days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
Jesus describes days of judgment within the Jerusalem discourse. The saying does not authorize later violence against Jewish people or allow readers to claim each disaster as a transparent divine sentence.
And when he saw one of them being mistreated, Moses went to his defense and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian who was oppressing him.
Moses responds to real oppression with lethal force, then faces rejection and flight. Stephen reports the act within Moses' contested story; he does not give the church a vigilante method.
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Paul prohibits personal vengeance and entrusts final repayment to God. The surrounding call to overcome evil with good does not prohibit reporting harm, boundaries, or the public authority discussed next in Romans.
Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
The Corinthians' response demonstrates earnest corrective action in the matter Paul addressed. Vindication follows godly sorrow and observable change, not image management or a declaration that no wrong occurred.
In blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
The letter locates vengeance in the revelation of the Lord Jesus, not in the hands of persecuted believers. Eschatological judgment must not be converted into coercion or violence toward non-Christians.
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”
Hebrews applies the warning within the covenant community and names God as judge. The verse calls for perseverance and holy fear, not threats against outsiders or private punishment.
Or to governors as those sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.
Peter states the public vocation of governors as punishment of wrong and praise of right. The ideal function does not make every regime or decision just and does not remove the church's duty to name abuses of authority.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Vindication of the wronged through divine justice, not mere personal revenge or retaliation
Vindication of the wronged through divine justice, not mere personal revenge or retaliation
(ἐκδικέω), [in LXX chiefly for נָקָם ;] vengeance, vindication: Luk.21:22, Rom.12:19 (see MM, Exp., xii), Heb.10:30 (LXX), 2Co.7:11; of the injured person, with genitive, Luk.18:7-8; with dative, Act.7:24; of the offender, with genitive obj., 1Pe.2:14; with dative, 2Th.1:8 (cf. Sir.12:6).
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
Read versea defense, vengeance, full punishment
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
ἐκδίκησις is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G1557 places the cry for justice and the power to punish under accountable authority. Jesus begins with a widow whose repeated petition exposes an unjust judge and assures God's people that their cries are heard. Romans then forbids personal vengeance, not because harm is unreal, but because retaliation can reproduce evil and usurp God's final repayment. Public authorities have a vocation to address wrong, though Scripture's description does not certify every government as just.
Moses' violent defense of an oppressed man shows zeal without a governed process and leads to flight, while the Corinthians' vindication follows godly sorrow, earnestness, and observable action. Churches should receive complaints, protect people at risk, cooperate with lawful investigation, pursue restitution, and distinguish consequences from revenge. They must never turn eschatological vengeance into human hostility toward unbelievers, Jewish people, or political opponents.
Luke.18.7
G1557 is a feminine noun used in nominative, genitive, and accusative singular forms. English justice, vindication, punishment, retribution, vengeance, and avenging represent its contextual range. The noun emphasizes action that answers wrong, but the surrounding passage identifies the legitimate actor, temporal or final horizon, and moral purpose.
Torah assigns remedies to judges and communities while reserving final vengeance to the Lord. The prophets plead for justice and warn rulers. Jesus receives violence without private retaliation, protects the vulnerable, and promises final judgment. The apostles carry these strands into patient endurance, public order, church accountability, and hope in God's final setting-right of all things.