Revelation 16:6
in Revelation 16For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.
KJV
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
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This verse in Revelation 16
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThou hast given them blood to drink - They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints of God; and now they have got blood to drink! It is said that when Tomyris, queen of the Scythians, had vanquished Cyrus, she cut off his head and threw it into a vessel of blood, saying these words: Satia te sanguine, quem sitisti, cujusque insatiabilis semper fuisti; “Satisfy thyself with blood, for which thou hast thirsted, and for which thy desire has been insatiable.” See Justin. Hist., lib. i. c.
This site's exposition
the rivers and springs of water
on Revelation 16:4-7
The third bowl turns the rivers and springs of water to blood. The angel of the waters gives the reason: they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. The penalty matches the crime, as in Isaiah 49:26.
This site's exposition
You have given them blood to drink
The verse looks ahead to 17:6, where the woman is drunk with the blood of the saints. Those who thirsted for that blood now drink blood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Primasius of HadrumetumCOMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:5-6 · Written before 560.
proposed
The angels of the waters are the messengers of the peoples who by an affection of the heart raise up together loud praises to God.… To be sure, both the Jews and the nations have in a bodily manner shed the blood of the saints, …
Because he says these things you have judged, for they shed the blood of saints may drink blood; for it is necessary that those encamped by the waters and the rivers in time of war should drink water defiled with blood from the slaying of …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Here also it is shown that angels are placed over the elements. One of these, who is over the waters, sings a hymn to God for the just condemnation that has come upon the transgressors. For since they soiled their hands in the blood of …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The instrument that God makes use of in this work is here called the angel of the waters, who extols the righteousness of God in this retaliation: They have shed the blood of thy saints, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy, to which another angel answered by full consent,
Thou hast given then, blood to drink - Men do not drink out of the sea, but out of fountains and rivers. Therefore this is fitly added here. They are worthy - Is subjoined with a beautiful abruptness.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,.... Which shows that rivers and fountains cannot be literally understood, but men are designed, wicked and bloody men; and it is notorious to all, how much of the blood of the saints, of the preachers of the Gospel, of the prophets and witnesses, have been shed in Italy, Savoy, and other places near Rome, as well as in Rome itself; see Rev 17:
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For they have shed the blood of saints - The nations here referred to. They have been engaged in scenes of bloody persecution, and this is a just recompense. And prophets - Teachers of religion; ministers of truth. It is not necessary to understand the word “prophets” here in its technical sense, as denoting those who are raised up by God and sent forth as inspired men, but it may be understood in its more common signification in the New Testament as denoting teachers of religion in general. See the Rom 12:6 note; 1Co 14:1 note. And thou hast given them blood to drink - To wit, by turning the streams and fountains into blood, Rev 16:4. Blood had been poured out in such abundance that it seemed to mingle with the very water that they drank. This was a recompense for their having, in those very regions, poured out so much blood in persecuting the saints and prophets - the pious private members of the church, and the public teachers of religion. For they are worthy - That is, they deserve this; or this is a just recompense for their sins. It is not intended that those who would thus suffer had been individually guilty of this, or that this was properly a punishment on them; but it is meant that in those countries there had been bloody persecutions, and that this was a fit recompense for what had there occurred.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὅτι | hoti | because | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| αἷμα | haima | [the] blood | G129 → | 97 times |
| ἁγίων | hagion | of saints | G40 → | 220 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| προφητῶν | propheton | of prophets | G4396 → | 144 times |
| ἐξέχεαν, | exechean | they have poured out, | G1632 → | 27 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αἷμα | haima | blood | G129 → | 97 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | to them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| δέδωκας | dedokas | You have given | G1325 → | 412 times |
| πιεῖν· | piein | to drink; | G4095 → | 72 times |
| ἄξιοί | axioi | worthy | G514 → | 41 times |
| εἰσιν.¶ | eisin | they are. | G1510 → | 2333 times |
ὅτιbecause
hotiG3754 →1292 times
αἷμα[the] blood
haimaG129 →97 times
ἁγίωνof saints
hagionG40 →220 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
προφητῶνof prophets
prophetonG4396 →144 times
ἐξέχεαν,they have poured out,
execheanG1632 →27 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αἷμαblood
haimaG129 →97 times
αὐτοῖςto them
autoisG846 →5565 times
δέδωκαςYou have given
dedokasG1325 →412 times
πιεῖν·to drink;
pieinG4095 →72 times
ἄξιοίworthy
axioiG514 →41 times
εἰσιν.¶they are.
eisinG1510 →2333 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your…
it leads to
- Isaiah 9:20
They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own…
- Isaiah 41:14–20
Do not fear, O worm of Jacob, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 9:4
For as in the day of Midian You have shattered the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, and the rod of their oppressor.
- Isaiah 9:20
Through
Revelation 11:18The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your…
it leads to
- Revelation 19:5
Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”
- Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their…
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- Revelation 6:10–11
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Revelation 19:5
Through
Revelation 18:24And there was found in her the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who had been slain on the earth.
it leads to
- Revelation 17:6
I could see that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and witnesses for Jesus. And I was utterly amazed at the sight of her.
- Revelation 17:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Revelation
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andreas of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:4-6; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Revelation and Primasius of Hadrumetum, COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 16:5-6.