TR: naqam → ekdikeo (Avenge/Vindicate)

The Chain

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
───────────            ───────────────           ────────
נָקַם (naqam)      →   ἐκδικέω (ekdikeo)    →   ἐκδικέω (ekdikeo)
H5358, 31v              22× as translation        6v in NT
"avenge, punish"        of naqam                  "avenge, vindicate"

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H5358	נָקַם (naqam)	31v / 44 tokens	avenge, take vengeance, punish (verb)
H5359	נָקָם (naqam)	27v	vengeance, revenge (masculine noun)
H5360	נְקָמָה (neqamah)	17v	revenge, vengeance (feminine noun)

Key OT passages: - Gen 4:15 — "whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold" (Hophal — earliest occurrence, divine protection through threat of retribution) - Deut 32:43 — "he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries" (Qal — Song of Moses climax) - Nah 1:2 — "God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious" (Qal participle ×3 — densest concentration of naqam in the OT) - Lev 19:18 — "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge... but thou shalt love thy neighbour" (sole prohibition of personal naqam)

See: H5358-naqam.md

LXX Bridge

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
נָקַם H5358 (verb)	ἐκδικέω G1556 (verb)	22×	25.22	Primary — verb-to-verb mapping
נָקַם H5358 (verb)	ἐκδίκησις G1557 (noun)	9×	16.35	Hebrew verb rendered as Greek noun
נָקַם H5358 (verb)	δίκη G1349 (noun)	4×	11.95	"Justice/penalty" — rarer rendering
נָקָם H5359 (noun)	ἐκδικέω G1556 (verb)	4×	10.52	Hebrew noun rendered as Greek verb
נָקָם H5359 (noun)	ἐκδίκησις G1557 (noun)	7×	15.99	Noun-to-noun mapping
נְקָמָה H5360 (noun)	ἐκδίκησις G1557 (noun)	3×	8.14	Secondary noun bridge

The nqm word family (H5358/5359/5360) maps overwhelmingly to the ek-dik- family (G1556/1557/1558). Combined co-occurrence: 49×.

Semantic shift in translation: The Hebrew naqam carries a visceral sense — "to grudge, avenge" — rooted in personal grievance and blood-debt. The LXX translators chose ek-dikeo (ἐκ + δίκη = "execute justice out of"), reframing the concept through a judicial lens. What Hebrew presents as retaliation, Greek frames as vindication. The emotional core of grudge-bearing in the Hebrew yields to procedural justice in the Greek, though both retain the dimension of punitive response.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G1556	ἐκδικέω (ekdikeo)	6v	avenge, vindicate, punish
G1557	ἐκδίκησις (ekdikesis)	9v	vindication, retribution, vengeance
G1558	ἔκδικος (ekdikos)	2v	an avenger (adjective/noun)

Key NT passages: - Luk 18:7-8 — "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him?... I tell you that he will avenge them speedily." (Parable of persistent widow — divine naqam reframed as vindicating the oppressed) - Rom 12:19 — "Avenge not yourselves... for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." (Direct quotation of Deut 32:35 — personal naqam prohibited, divine naqam affirmed) - Rev 6:10 — "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Martyrs' cry — echoes Deut 32:43 pattern) - Rev 19:2 — "he hath judged the great whore... and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand" (Fulfillment of Rev 6:10 — echoes Deut 32:43)

See: G1556-ekdikeo.md, G1557-ekdikesis.md

Direct OT→NT Quotations

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Rom 12:19	Deut 32:35	naqam (H5359 noun) → ekdikesis (G1557)	"Vengeance is mine" — Paul quotes the Song of Moses to prohibit personal vengeance while affirming divine prerogative
Rev 19:2	Deut 32:43 (allusion)	naqam (H5358 verb) → ekdikeo (G1556)	"hath avenged the blood of his servants" — Revelation's judgment-hymn echoes the exact phrasing of Deut 32:43
Rev 6:10	Deut 32:43 (allusion)	naqam (H5358) → ekdikeo (G1556)	Martyrs' petition mirrors Israel's expectation of blood-avenging from the Song of Moses

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - Divine vengeance as a prerogative of God, not delegated to individuals (Lev 19:18 → Rom 12:19) - Blood-avenging as a divine covenant obligation — God avenges the blood of his servants (Deut 32:43 → Rev 6:10, 19:2) - The "enemy" (oyeb/echthros) as the consistent object of divine naqam/ekdikeo

What shifts: - The NT narrows the scope: naqam in the OT includes divinely authorized human warfare (Num 31:2, Jos 10:13), but NT ekdikeo usage is almost exclusively divine or eschatological — human agents are told "avenge not yourselves" (Rom 12:19) - The LXX judicial framing (ek-dike = "out of justice") becomes dominant in NT: Luke 18 presents vengeance as vindication of the oppressed rather than punishment of enemies - 2 Cor 10:6 is the sole NT instance of ekdikeo applied to church discipline ("revenge all disobedience"), retaining the authorized-agent pattern from the OT but in an ecclesiastical rather than military context

---

Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-05-18