ἐκδίκησις
vengeance
Full lexicon entry — Thayer's Greek Lexicon
From Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Where this word appears
See every Accusative-case word in the Greek New Testament →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Case
- Accusative
- The case of the direct object and of extent.
- Nominative
- The case of the subject (and the predicate nominative).
- Genitive
- The case of source, possession, or “of” — answers “whose / from what.”
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
1 distinct verse where G1557 appears in the Genitive case, across 1 book. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Greek form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Greek New Testament; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences of this word are not indexed here.
Luke 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
εκδικησις (ekdíkēsis) is a Greek noun most often rendered “vengeance.” It first appears in Luke 18:7. It turns up in 9 verses across 7 books, an uncommon footprint. It concentrates in Luke, which alone accounts for 33% of its uses. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's G1557 catalogs a Greek word from the Greek New Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Greek New Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 9
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 9 distinct verses.
- 7 / 27
- NT books
- The word appears in 7 of 27 New Testament books.
- #1,140
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Greek words (rank 1,140 of 5,347 Greek words by occurrence).
View all 9 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the New Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Some books belong to more than one corpus (Luke is in both the Gospels and the Lukan corpus, and so on), so these shares overlap and need not total 100%. Each figure is a share of the word’s 9 distinct verses.
- Lukan (Luke–Acts) 4 verses · 44%
- Gospels 3 verses · 33%
- Pauline corpus 3 verses · 33%
- Hebrews 1 verse · 11%
- General (Catholic) Epistles 1 verse · 11%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Vengeance 4×
- American Standard Version: Vengeance 5×, Avenge 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Vengeance 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Vengeance 5×, Vindication 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders G1557 across 9 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders G1557 across 9 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 2 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders G1557 across 9 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders G1557 across 9 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in Thayer's
The 1 sense Thayer's distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- a revenging, vengeance, punishment In 2 Cor 7:11 -- meeting out of justice; doing justice to allparties. See Luke 18:3 ,…
Word origin
Derived from εκδικεω (ekdikéō) (G1556) — to avenge.
From G1556 ; vindication retribution : - (a- re-) venge (-ance) punishment.
— Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (1890), public domain.
Forms in the corpus
The 3 distinct written forms G1557 takes in the Greek New Testament, most frequent first — each parse links to that case’s occurrences in the concordance.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἐκδίκησιν ekdíkēsin | Noun, Accusative, Singular, Feminine | Luke 18:7 | 6 |
| ἐκδίκησις ekdíkēsis | Noun, Nominative, Singular, Feminine | Romans 12:19 | 2 |
| ἐκδικήσεως ekdikḗseōs | Noun, Genitive, Singular, Feminine | Luke 21:22 | 1 |
Septuagint usage
The same Greek word εκδικησις appears 53 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), across 47 verses in 12 books.
- 53
- LXX occurrences
- Tagged occurrences of this Greek word in the Septuagint.
- 47
- verses
- Distinct Septuagint verses containing this word.
- 12 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 12 of the 39 Old Testament books.
Sample Septuagint occurrences
- Exodus 12:12 ἐκδίκησις
- Numbers 31:2 ἐκδίκησις
- Deuteronomy 32:35 ἐκδικήσις
- Judges 11:36 ἐκδίκησις
- 2 Samuel 4:8 ἐκδίκησις
- Psalms 17:48 ἐκδίκησις
- Isaiah 59:17 ἐκδίκησις
- Jeremiah 11:20 ἐκδίκησις
- Lamentations 3:60 ἐκδίκησις
- Ezekiel 5:15 ἐκδίκησις
- Hosea 9:7 ἐκδίκησις
- Micah 5:14 ἐκδίκησις
Septuagint occurrences (same lexeme)
Every verse where the same Strong’s number (G1557) appears in the Greek Septuagint. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context; the Greek form is the matched word — the English is not keyword-highlighted.
- Exodus 12:12 ἐκδίκησις For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.
- Numbers 31:2 ἐκδίκησις Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward you shall be gathered to your people.
- Numbers 31:3 ἐκδίκησις Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm you men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh's vengeance on Midian.
- Numbers 33:4 ἐκδίκησις while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them: on their gods also Yahweh executed judgments.
- Deuteronomy 32:35 ἐκδικήσις Vengeance is mine, and recompense, At the time when their foot shall slide: For the day of their calamity is at hand, The things that are to come on them shall make haste.
- Judges 11:36 ἐκδίκησις She said to him, My father, you have opened your mouth to Yahweh; do to me according to that which has proceeded out of your mouth, because Yahweh has taken vengeance for you on your enemies, even on the children of Ammon.
- Judges 14:4 ἐκδίκησις But his father and his mother didn't know that it was of Yahweh; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.
- 2 Samuel 4:8 ἐκδίκησις They brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David to Hebron, and said to the king, Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; and Yahweh has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
- 2 Samuel 22:48 ἐκδίκησις Even the God who executes vengeance for me, Who brings down peoples under me,
- Psalms 17:48 ἐκδίκησις
- Psalms 57:11 ἐκδίκησις Be exalted, God, above the heavens. Let your glory be over all the earth.
- Psalms 78:10 ἐκδίκησις They didn't keep God's covenant, And refused to walk in his law.
- Psalms 93:1 ἐκδίκησις Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can't be moved.
- Psalms 149:7 ἐκδίκησις To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples;
- Isaiah 59:17 ἐκδίκησις He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.
- Isaiah 66:15 ἐκδίκησις For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots shall be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
- Jeremiah 11:20 ἐκδίκησις But, Yahweh of Hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, I shall see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.
- Jeremiah 20:10 ἐκδίκησις For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, [say] all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
- Jeremiah 20:12 ἐκδίκησις But, Yahweh of Hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.
- Jeremiah 26:10 ἐκδίκησις When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of Yahweh; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of Yahweh's [house].
- Jeremiah 26:21 ἐκδίκησις and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty-men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt:
- Jeremiah 27:15 ἐκδίκησις For I have not sent them, says Yahweh, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.
- Jeremiah 27:27 ἐκδίκησις
- Jeremiah 27:28 ἐκδίκησις
- Jeremiah 27:31 ἐκδίκησις
- Jeremiah 28:6 ἐκδίκησις even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: Yahweh do so; Yahweh perform your words which you have prophesied, to bring again the vessels of Yahweh's house, and all them of the captivity, from Babylon to this place.
- Jeremiah 28:11 ἐκδίκησις Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon within two full years from off the neck of all the nations. The prophet Jeremiah went his way.
- Jeremiah 28:36 ἐκδίκησις
- Lamentations 3:60 ἐκδίκησις You have seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.
- Ezekiel 5:15 ἐκδίκησις So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are round about you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)
- Ezekiel 9:1 ἐκδίκησις Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause you them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
- Ezekiel 14:21 ἐκδίκησις For thus says the Lord Yahweh: How much more when I send my four sore judgments on Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil animals, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and animal!
- Ezekiel 16:38 ἐκδίκησις I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
- Ezekiel 16:41 ἐκδίκησις They shall burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I will cause you to cease from playing the prostitute, and you shall also give no hire any more.
- Ezekiel 20:4 ἐκδίκησις Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;
- Ezekiel 23:10 ἐκδίκησις These uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters; and her they killed with the sword: and she became a byword among women; for they executed judgments on her.
- Ezekiel 23:45 ἐκδίκησις Righteous men, they shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of women who shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.
- Ezekiel 24:8 ἐκδίκησις That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance, I have set her blood on the bare rock, that it should not be covered.
- Ezekiel 25:11 ἐκδίκησις and I will execute judgments on Moab; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 25:12 ἐκδίκησις Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and revenged himself on them;
- Ezekiel 25:14 ἐκδίκησις I will lay my vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 25:15 ἐκδίκησις Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity;
- Ezekiel 25:17 ἐκδίκησις I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall lay my vengeance on them.
- Ezekiel 30:14 ἐκδίκησις I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No.
- Hosea 9:7 ἐκδίκησις The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, And the man who is inspired to be insane, Because of the abundance of your sins, And because your hostility is great.
- Micah 5:14 ἐκδίκησις I will uproot your Asherim out of your midst; And I will destroy your cities.
- Micah 7:4 ἐκδίκησις The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, Even your visitation, has come; Now is the time of their confusion.
These are occurrences of the same Greek lexeme (G1557) in the Septuagint — not a translation of any one Hebrew word. The store carries no word-level Hebrew↔Greek alignment, so no Hebrew original is asserted here. Counts come from the recovered LXX Strong's tagging — high-frequency vocabulary is well covered, while rare or late forms may be untagged — so they reflect tagged occurrences and may slightly undercount.
