Revelation 18:6

Bible

NIV

Revelation 18

6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup.

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Revelation 18:6 in Other Translations

KJV

6 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.

ESV

6 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.

NLT

6 Do to her as she has done to others. Double her penalty for all her evil deeds. She brewed a cup of terror for others, so brew twice as much for her.

MSG

6 Give her back what she's given, double what she's doubled in her works, double the recipe in the cup she mixed;

CSB

6 Pay her back the way she also paid, and double it according to her works. In the cup in which she mixed, mix a double portion for her.

Revelation 18:6 Meaning and Commentary

Revelation 18:6

Reward her even as she rewarded you
This is spoken to the people of God, who are before called out of Babylon; and the chief of them are the seven angels with the seven last plagues of the wrath of God, and the same with the ten kings that will burn the whore with fire; these are called upon to take vengeance, by way of retaliation, for what she had done to them, in allusion to what is said of old Babylon, ( Jeremiah 1:15 ) ( Jeremiah 51:24 Jeremiah 51:35 ) and must be understood not of what she will have done to them personally, but to their predecessors in the faith of Christ in former ages; that as she had hated them, and made war with them, so now they should hate her, and make war with her; and as she had stripped them naked of their clothes, and spoiled them of their worldly goods and substance, so now they should strip her naked of her harlot's attire, of her gold, silver, and precious stones, and make her and her territories desolate; and as she has burnt many of the precious saints in the flames, as here in England, and elsewhere, so now they shall utterly burn her with fire; and as she has shed the blood of the righteous, and drank it, and been drunk with it, they shall give her blood to drink; and as she hath killed multitudes with the sword, so now shall they kill her and her children; see ( Revelation 13:12 ) nor is this contrary to the doctrine of Christ and his apostles, and the spirit of Christianity, which will not admit of revenge, ( Matthew 5:38 Matthew 5:39 ) ( Romans 12:17 Romans 12:19-21 ) since this will not be private, but public revenge, inflicted by Christian princes and magistrates, who are ministers of God, and revengers to execute wrath on them that do evil:

and double unto her double according to her works:
the meaning is not to inflict upon her a punishment doubly greater than her sins, for this would be contrary to the justice of God; nor does ever God punish men in this life more, but less, than their iniquities deserve; nor can any temporal punishment be doubly greater than sin, which deserves eternal death; and with this she will be punished hereafter, and therefore will not have her full punishment now, and much less a greater than her sins required; to which may be added, that this will be according to her works, her wicked works, and therefore will not exceed the demerit of her sins: but the sense is, that if it was possible to be done, they should use her with double severity to that she had used them with; seeing her sins deserved a severer treatment than even they had had from her; the phrase signifies an abundant and utter destruction, a punishment which was suitable and sufficient; see ( Isaiah 40:2 ) ( Jeremiah 16:18 ) ( 17:18 ) and it suggests that they should not spare her, nor pity her, but use her with the greatest severity imaginable, it being not possible to exceed her due deserts, or what her works required:

in the cup which he hath filled, fill to her double:
not in the cup of her abominations, her errors, idolatries, and wickedness; but in the cup of afflictions and trouble, which she wrung out to the people of God, in that give her double portion: the sense is the same as before.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Revelation 18:6 In-Context

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “ ‘Come out of her, my people,’so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

5 for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.

6 Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup.

7 Give her as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow;I will never mourn.’

8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.