Word study
Retribution
4 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “retribution”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “retribution” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- גְּמוּל gemûldealing, recompence, benefittranslated this way 2 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s H1576Noun · Translated: recompense 5, deserve 3, deserves 2, retribution 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Isaiah 35:4 Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Isaiah 59:18 So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.
- שָׁלוֹם shâlômcompleteness, soundness, welfare, peacetranslated this way 1 time of its 223 uses · Strong’s H7965Noun · Translated: peace 135, safely 10, prosperity 8, well 5Full study and all 200 verses →
Psalm 69:22 May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- גְּמוּלָה gemûlâhdealing, recompencetranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H1578Noun · Translated: reward 1, deeds 1, retribution 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Jeremiah 51:56 For a destroyer is coming against her — against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
- שִׁלּוּם shillûmrequitaltranslated this way 1 time of its 3 uses · Strong’s H7966Noun · Translated: recompense 1, retribution 1, bribe 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived — let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀνταπόδομα antapódomaa gift in return, a return, a recompensetranslated this way 1 time of its 2 uses · Strong’s G468Noun · Translated: repaid 1, retribution 1Full study and all 2 verses →
Romans 11:9 And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
- ὀργή orgḗanger, wrath, passiontranslated this way 1 time of its 36 uses · Strong’s G3709Noun · Translated: wrath 25, anger 8, for 1, retribution 1Full study and all 34 verses →
Romans 13:4 For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about retribution: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.