What Does Revelation 19:2 Mean?
For true and aligned are his judgments, for he has judged the great harlot, who spoiled the earth with her harlotry, and has avenged the blood of his servants from her hand.
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
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 KEY
Greek places “righteous” and “avenged” in the same justice-family, so the verdict’s alignment is shown by its answer to the servants’ blood.
THE MEANING
The verdict holds together the ruin of the earth and the blood of the servants: neither harm is overlooked. The great whore is judged, and the blood at her hand is avenged.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that power can corrupt the earth and spill the servants’ blood without being held to account.
THE ROOT
δίκαιος
dikaios
GROWS FROM
δικ- (dik-), from δίκη (dikē)
Right, justice; alignment with what is due.
“aligned” in this verse is dikaios. English separates “righteous” from “avenged,” but Greek places both in the δίκη (dikē, justice) family. The alignment named in “righteous” is also the justice enacted for the servants, holding the judgment and the answering of their blood together.
ALSO GROWS
dikē: Justice, what is right or due.
δίκη
This is the justice-root beneath both the verdict’s righteousness and its response to the servants’ blood.
ekdikeō: Avenge, vindicate, do justice for.
ἐκδικέω
This is the Greek verb behind “avenged,” linking the act of answering the blood to the same justice-family as “righteous.”
dikaiosynē: Righteousness, justice, alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
This related word makes explicit the alignment that the verse names in its judgment.
ἔφθειρεν
ephtheiren
GROWS FROM
φθειρ- (phth(e)ir-), from φθείρω (phtheirō)
To damage, ruin, corrupt, or destroy.
“spoiled” in this verse is ephtheiren. The word holds corruption together with damage and ruin, not merely a defect of appearance. Since the earth itself is named as what she corrupts, the charge includes harm to the shared world.
ALSO GROWS
phthora: Corruption, ruin, decay.
φθορά
This branch shows the destructive force carried by the word translated “corrupt.”
phthartos: Corruptible, perishable.
φθαρτός
This related word describes what is subject to ruin, underscoring the damage named in the verse.
κρίσεις
kriseis
GROWS FROM
κριν- (krin-), from κρίνω (krinō)
To distinguish, decide, or judge.
Greek uses the same κριν- (krin-) family for “judgments” and “judged” in this verse. The verdict is not detached from the act: the judgment pronounced is the judgment carried out.
ALSO GROWS
krinō: Judge, decide.
κρίνω
This is the verb translated “judged” later in the verse, sharing the root of “judgments.”
krima: Judgment, verdict.
κρίμα
This branch names the decision or verdict produced by judging.
kritēs: Judge.
κριτής
This branch names the one who makes the judgment.
THE PATTERN
True judgment names the harm done and answers the bloodshed with accountability.
Shout for joy, O nations, with his people, for he avenges the blood of his servants, and returns vengeance to those who press him, and covers the ground of his land, his people.And he judges the world in alignment; he pleads the case of the peoples in straightness.And they cry out with a great voice, saying, How long, Set-Apart and true Master, will you not judge and avenge our blood against those who settle upon the earth?THE THREAD
And they cry out with a great voice, saying, How long, Set-Apart and true Master, will you not judge and avenge our blood against those who settle upon the earth?This is the earlier cry that Revelation 19:2 answers. The Greek repeats κρίνω (krinō, judge) and ἐκδικέω (ekdikeō, avenge or vindicate), turning the appeal for an answer into the declaration that it has come.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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