נָקָם

ἐκδίκησις ekdíkēsis · G1557 · to give someone justice, to pay back, to revenge

Greek ἐκδίκησις (ekdíkēsis, G1557) translates Hebrew נָקָם (nâqâm, H5359) as the standard Septuagint equivalent for the concept of vengeance/retribution; both denote divine or judicial satisfaction for wrongdoing, with the Greek term carrying slightly more emphasis on the vindication aspect of recompense while the Hebrew encompasses both the avenging action and the quarrel/grievance motivating it.

ἀνταπόδοσις antapódosis · G469 · recompense, reward for what has been done

Greek ἀνταπόδοσις denotes the act of requital or repayment (neutral regarding justice), while Hebrew נָקָם specifically emphasizes vengeance or avenging as restoration of justice; the Greek term is semantically broader, covering both positive recompense and negative retribution, whereas the Hebrew term is narrower in its focus on punitive rebalancing.

κρίσις krísis · G2920 · making a legal decision, arriving at a verdict, judgment

Hebrew נָקָם denotes the act of vengeance or avenging itself (the retributive action), while Greek κρίσις denotes judgment or decision-making (the judicial process that may authorize or execute vengeance), related as deed to judicial verdict in contexts where divine judgment executes retribution.

δίκη díkē · G1349 · to punish, to cause to suffer, punishment

Greek δίκη emphasizes the principle of justice and judicial execution, while Hebrew נָקָם focuses specifically on the act of vengeance or retributive action; δίκη operates within a broader legal-ethical framework where vengeance is one form of justice rendered.

Chastise002003002005

The word is the abstract noun for vengeance, the retributive punishment inflicted on a wrongdoer, sharing its sense with its verbal cognate.

Relief002001002023

The word's vengeance sense ties it to the resolution or satisfaction the wronged party experiences once retribution is carried out, a broader emotional-outcome sense than the bare concept of punishment.

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.