G1557 — ἐκδίκησις (ekdikēsis)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1557
Original: ἐκδίκησις
Transliteration: ekdikēsis
Pronunciation: ek-dik'-ay-sis
Part of Speech: Feminine noun (n-f)
Root: ἐκ (ek, "out of") + δίκη (dikē, "justice/punishment" G1349) — compound noun
Occurrences: 9 unique verses (10 tokens) in NT
First Occurrence: Luk 18:7 — "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G1556 (ekdikeō); vindication, retribution: — (a-, re-)venge(-ance), punishment.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 56: Courts and Legal Procedures
Subdomain 56.006: Obtain Justice
Other words in subdomain: ἐκδικέω (G1556)
Domain 39: Hostility, Strife
Subdomain 39.006: Revenge
Other words in subdomain: ἐκδικέω (G1556)
Domain 38: Punish, Reward
Subdomain 38.001: Punish
Other words in subdomain: βασανίζω (G928), δίκη (G1349), διχοτομέω (G1371), ἐκδικέω (G1556), ἔκδικος (G1558), ἐπιτιμία (G2009), ζημιόω (G2210), κολάζω (G2849), κόλασις (G2851), κρίσις (G2920)

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
vengeance / Vengeance	3	33.3%
avenge / avenged	3	33.3%
punishment	1	11.1%
revenge	1	11.1%
shall (context: "shall avenge")	1	11.1%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Thessalonians	1	2.1
1 Peter	1	1.0
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Luke	3	0.3
Hebrews	1	0.3
Romans	1	0.2
Acts	1	0.1

Concentrated in Luke (3 of 9 verses). Absent from the Johannine corpus and the Pastoral Epistles. Every occurrence is in the NT; the word does not appear in the LXX under this Strong's number, though the concept is rendered by the cognate verb ἐκδικέω (G1556). All NT uses are singular.

Morphological Distribution¶

Case	Count	Typical Context
Accusative (ἐκδίκησιν)	7	Object of verbs: "to do/make ekdikēsis," "taking ekdikēsis"
Nominative (ἐκδίκησις)	2	Subject: "Vengeance is mine" (Rom 12:19, Heb 10:30)
Genitive (ἐκδικήσεως)	1	"days of vengeance" (Luk 21:22)

The accusative dominates (7/10 tokens), reflecting its typical role as the object of action verbs (ποιέω, δίδωμι).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Vindication of the Elect¶

God acting on behalf of his people to secure justice for them. - Luk 18:7 — "And shall not God avenge [ποιήσῃ τὴν ἐκδίκησιν] his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" - Luk 18:8 — "I tell you that he will avenge [ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν] them speedily."

2. Eschatological / Prophetic Judgment¶

Appointed times of divine retribution on a national or cosmic scale. - Luk 21:22 — "For these be the days of vengeance [ἡμέραι ἐκδικήσεως], that all things which are written may be fulfilled." - 2Th 1:8 — "In flaming fire taking vengeance [διδόντος ἐκδίκησιν] on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

3. Divine Prerogative — "Vengeance Is Mine"¶

Retribution as a right belonging exclusively to God, forbidding personal retaliation. - Rom 12:19 — "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [ἐκδίκησις] is mine; I will recompense, saith the Lord." - Heb 10:30 — "For we know him that hath said, Vengeance [ἐκδίκησις] belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord."

4. Human Justice / Civil Punishment¶

Vindication carried out through human agents or governing authorities. - Act 7:24 — "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged [ἐποίησεν ἐκδίκησιν] him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian." - 1Pe 2:14 — "Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment [ἐκδίκησιν] of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well."

5. Moral Earnestness / Zeal to Make Right¶

Internal resolve to correct wrongdoing within a community. - 2Co 7:11 — "For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge [ἐκδίκησιν]!"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	3x (33%)	God as the agent of ekdikēsis
κύριος (kyrios)	G2962	3x (33%)	"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord"
ποιέω (poieō)	G4160	3x (33%)	ποιέω τὴν ἐκδίκησιν — "to execute vengeance"
ἀνταποδίδωμι (antapodidōmi)	G467	2x (22%)	"I will recompense" paired with vengeance declarations
δίδωμι (didōmi)	G1325	2x (22%)	διδόντος ἐκδίκησιν — "giving/dealing out vengeance"
ἡμέρα (hēmera)	G2250	2x (22%)	"days of vengeance" — temporal framing

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1349 δίκη (dikē) — root noun: justice, punishment, penalty (3v)
G1556 ἐκδικέω (ekdikeō) — cognate verb: to vindicate, avenge, punish (6v)
G1558 ἔκδικος (ekdikos) — cognate adjective: an avenger, one who punishes (2v)
G1344 δικαιόω (dikaioō) — to justify, declare righteous (wider dikē family)
G1343 δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) — righteousness (wider dikē family)

Synonyms¶

G2917 κρίμα (krima) — verdict, judgment, condemnation
G468 ἀνταπόδομα (antapodoma) — recompense, repayment
G2107 εὐδοκία (eudokia) — good pleasure (overlaps when God's will includes retribution)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
נָקָם (naqam)	H5359	"vengeance"	Hebrew noun; OT counterpart for revenge/vengeance; ekdikēsis is the Greek judicial/legal term
נְקָמָה (neqamah)	H5360	"vengeance," "avenge"	Hebrew feminine noun; primary LXX-mapped source for ekdikēsis
ὀργή (orgē)	G3709	"vengeance" (1x overlap)	orgē = wrath/anger (the emotion); ekdikēsis = the act of carrying out justice
ἐκδικέω (ekdikeō)	G1556	"avenge"	Verb form of same root; ekdikēsis is the noun (the act/process)

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
נְקָמָה (neqamah)	H5360	19	26.61	Primary equivalent — "avengement"
נָקַם (naqam)	H5358	9	16.35	Root verb — "to avenge, take vengeance"
שֶׁפֶט (shephet)	H8201	7	15.99	"sentence, infliction, judgment"
נָקָם (naqam)	H5359	7	15.99	Noun form — "revenge, vengeance"
פְּקֻדָּה (pequddah)	H6486	5	11.37	"visitation" — divine inspection/punishment
חֵמָה (chemah)	H2534	7	10.03	"heat, fury" — when wrath becomes judicial act

The dominant Hebrew source is the נקם (nqm) word family (H5358/5359/5360), accounting for 35 of the LXX co-occurrences combined.