What Does Revelation 18:6 Mean?
Give back to her as she gave, and double to her double according to her works; in the cup she mixed, mix her a double.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.THE KEY
The cup she filled for others becomes the measure poured back on her, doubled.
THE MEANING
The text presents judgment as return: what she gives comes back to her, doubled according to her works. The cup she mixes becomes the vessel of her own recompense, keeping the measure tied to what she has done. The verse names that repayment without softening its severity.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a power can pour harm into others’ lives and remain untouched by the measure it sets.
THE ROOT
ἀπόδοτε
apódote
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
Give; the compound ἀποδίδωμι means to give back, render, or repay.
Both forms translated “reward” come from ἀποδίδωμι, “give back” or “repay.” The verb makes return explicit: what she gives is returned, and the verse measures that return against her deeds.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give, grant, bestow
δίδωμι
This is the base verb inside both forms of “reward,” carrying the sense of giving.
apodidōmi: Give back, repay, render
ἀποδίδωμι
This is the verb used twice in the verse; its “back” sense reveals the return built into the sentence.
paradidōmi: Hand over, deliver
παραδίδωμι
It shares the same δίδωμι base, showing how the verb’s branches describe giving in different directions.
διπλώσατε
diplōsate
GROWS FROM
διπλόω
diploō
Make double; make twofold.
Greek repeats the idea in two forms: first the command to double, then the doubled measure itself. The repeated wording makes the doubled return part of the verse’s structure, not a passing emphasis.
ALSO GROWS
diploō: Double, make twofold
διπλόω
The command form διπλώσατε makes doubling an explicit action in the verse.
diplous: Double, twofold
διπλοῦς
The closing διπλοῦν names the resulting measure and echoes the command.
THE PATTERN
What is done or dispensed returns in a measure shaped by the act itself.
His toil turns back upon his head, and his violence comes down upon his skull.For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you.Do not be led astray. God is not sneered at. For whatever a person sows, that also he reaps.THE THREAD
See that no one gives back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue the good, both toward one another and toward all.The verb behind “reward” is ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi), “give back” or “repay”; 1 Thessalonians uses the same verb for “render.” The shared root places this verse’s judgment beside the interruption of personal retaliation: the language of return also names the refusal to pass evil onward.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us