What Does Revelation 6:10 Mean in the King James?
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Their “How long?” is an appeal for the set-apart and true one to make justice visible against shed blood.
THE MEANING
When violence goes unanswered, this verse gives the cry its plain words: “How long?” The slain name God as set apart and true even while judgment is still awaited; their blood remains a claim that demands an answer.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A delay in justice does not mean the violence is forgotten or approved; the demand for judgment remains alive.
THE ROOT
ἐκδικεῖς
ekdikeis
GROWS FROM
δικ- (dik-), as in δίκη
Right and justice; to vindicate or make a wrong answerable.
“Avenge” can sound like payback alone, but ἐκδικέω belongs to the language of justice and vindication. The cry asks for shed blood to be answered, not erased.
ALSO GROWS
dikē: right, justice
δίκη
The appeal is rooted in a demand that the wrong be answered with justice.
dikaiosynē: justice, alignment
δικαιοσύνη
This related justice-language brings the cry into the field of what has been violated and must be set right.
κρίνεις
krineis
GROWS FROM
κριν-
krin-
To distinguish, decide, or judge.
“judge” in this verse is krineis. The two verbs name related but distinct parts of the appeal: κρίνω is judgment, while ἐκδικέω is vindication or the answering of a wrong. The cry asks both that the violence be judged and that the blood be avenged.
ALSO GROWS
krisis: judgment, decision
κρίσις
It names the judgment the speakers say has not yet come.
kritēs: judge
κριτής
It names the one who makes the decision the cry appeals for.
ἅγιος
hagios
GROWS FROM
ἁγ-
hag-
Set apart.
The speakers address the one set apart as they ask for judgment against violence. Here “holy” is part of their appeal: the bloodshed stands in sharp tension with the nature they name.
ALSO GROWS
hagiazō: set apart, consecrate
ἁγιάζω
This verb shows the action carried by the same word-family: setting apart.
hagiasmos: setting apart, holiness
ἁγιασμός
This noun keeps the verse’s description tied to the nature of being set apart.
THE PATTERN
The cry over shed blood persists before God until the wrong is judged and answered.
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.THE THREAD
For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.The answer echoes the petition: the one named true has judged, and the blood of the servants is avenged. Revelation 19:2 names the answer still awaited in Revelation 6:10.
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