Revelation 16 · Verse 6

Revelation 16:6

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Revelation 16:6, King James Version

Revelation 16:6 in other translations

BSBFor they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
WEBFor they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
ASVfor they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.
YLTbecause blood of saints and prophets they did pour out, and blood to them Thou didst give to drink, for they are worthy;'
DARBYfor they have poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; they are worthy.
BBEFor they made the blood of saints and prophets come out like a stream, and blood have you given them for drink; which is their right reward.
WebsterFor they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

What does Revelation 16:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. (Re 11:18, end; Ge 9:6; Is 49:26.) An anticipation of Re 18:20, 24; compare Re 13:15. For--A, B, C, and Andreas omit.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 6. 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. Rom 12:6; 1Cor 14:1.

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.

(c) "thou hast" De 32:42,43, Isa 49:26

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 6 Thou 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. 8. This figure of speech is called sarcasm in rhetoric. "Sarcasmus with this biting taunt doth kill: Cyrus, thy thirst was blood; now drink thy fill."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Revelation 16:1-7

We are to pray that the will of God may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Here is a succession of terrible judgments of Providence; and there seems to be an allusion to several of the plagues of Egypt. The sins were alike, and so were the punishments. The vials refer to the seven trumpets, which represented the rise of antichrist; and the fall of the enemies of the church shall bear some resemblance to their…

Read the full comment on Revelation 16:1-7 →

Revelation 16:6 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὅτιhotibecauseG3754
αἷμαhaima[the] bloodG129
ἁγίωνhagiōnof saintsG40
καὶkaiandG2532
προφητῶνprophētōnof prophetsG4396
ἐξέχεαν,execheanthey have poured out,G1632
καὶkaiandG2532
αἷμαhaimabloodG129
αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846
δέδωκαςdedōkasYou have givenG1325
πιεῖν·pieinto drink;G4095
ἄξιοίaxioiworthyG514
εἰσιν.¶eisinthey are.G1510

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Revelation 16:6

  • Isaiah 49:26

    And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

  • Revelation 11:18

    And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

  • Revelation 6:10-11

    And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

  • Luke 11:49-50

    Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

  • Revelation 18:24

    And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

  • Revelation 13:15

    And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

  • 2 Kings 24:4

    And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.

  • Revelation 17:6-7

    And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

  • Matthew 23:30-37

    And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? …

  • Matthew 21:35-41

    And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. …

  • Revelation 13:10

    He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

  • Revelation 19:2

    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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
they have.
6:10,11; 13:10,15; 17:6,7; 18:24; 19:2; De 32:42,43; 2Ki 24:4
Isa 49:26; 51:22,23; Jer 2:30; La 4:13; Mt 7:2; 21:35-41; 23:30-37
for they are.
11:18; 18:20; Jer 26:11,16; Lu 12:48; Heb 10:29

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Revelation 16:5

    And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

  • Revelation 16:6

    For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

  • Revelation 16:7

    And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Read all of Revelation 16

Revelation 16:6 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque ellos derramaron la sangre de los santos y de los profetas, también tú les has dado á beber sangre; pues lo merecen.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		car ils ont versé le sang des saints et des prophètes, et tu leur as donné du sang à boire; ils en sont dignes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn Blut von Heiligen und Propheten haben sie vergossen, und Blut hast du ihnen zu trinken gegeben; sie sind es wert.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		quia sanguinem sanctorum et prophetarum effuderunt, et sanguinem eis dedisti bibere: digni enim sunt.