δίκαιος
díkaios · G1342 · Greek · 79 occurrences
Meanings
-
righteous, just
Pertaining to being in accordance with what God requires
ExamplesMatthew 1:19 And her husband Joseph, since he was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
Matthew 5:45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 9:13 “Now go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
-
being in a right relation with, one who has been put right with, righteous
Pertaining to being in a right relationship with someone
ExamplesRomans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Romans 2:13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.
Galatians 3:11 Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS ONE WILL LIVE BY FAITH.”
-
proper, right
Pertaining to being proper or right in the sense of being fully justified
ExamplesMatthew 20:4 and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went.
Luke 12:57 “And why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right?
Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἐγώI, we 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
4 occurrences in 4 groups
- ἐκεῖνοςthat, that one, there 1
- ἐννενηκονταεννέαninety 1
- καταπονέωto mistreat 1
- πολύςmany 1
Named alongside itApposition
5 occurrences in 5 groups
- γίνομαιto become, to happen, to be 1
- ἔχωto have 1
- ἸησοῦςJesus 1
- ΛώτLot 1
- ἌβελAbel 1
What it doesIt is the subject
10 occurrences in 8 groups
- ζάωto be alive, to live, to come back to life 3
- εἰμίto be 1
- ἐκλάμπωto shine forth 1
- ἐπιθυμέωto long for 1
- ποιέωto do, to make 1
- σώζωto save, to deliver 1
What is done to itIt is the object
11 occurrences in 9 groups
- καλέωto call, to name 3
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (8) 8
Second object ofSecond object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἡγέομαιto consider, to lead 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
22 occurrences in 21 groups
- κρίσιςjudgment 3
- Other words · 20 groups that occur once or twice (21) 21
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
4 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἐπίon 4
- ὑπέρfor 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
9 occurrences in 8 groups
- ἀνάστασιςresurrection 2
- δέησιςprayer, supplication 1
- ἔλευσιςcoming 1
- μέσοςin the midst, among 1
- μισθόςreward, wages 1
- μνημεῖονgrave 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Contrasting words 1 word
- ἁμαρτωλός hamartōlós · G268 · sinful, sinning, sinner
- The target term δικαιοσύνη (righteousness, right standing) and ἁμαρτωλός (“sinful, sinner”) stand in direct lexical opposition, righteousness against sin, one of the core ethical contrasts in New Testament Greek.
In the other Testament 4 words
- צַדִּיק tsaddîyq · H6662 · righteous, just, right
- Hebrew root צדק and Greek δίκαιος share core semantics of righteousness/justice across legal, ethical, and theological registers; the LXX consistently renders צַדִּיק with δίκαιος as the standard translation equivalent for 'righteous' in both forensic and moral contexts.
- נָקִי nâqîy · H5355 · innocent, free from obligation, not liable
- נָקִי (nâqîy, H5355) נָקִי emphasizes legal innocence or exemption from guilt/bloodguilt (particularly in juridical contexts), while δίκαιος (díkaios, G1342) δίκαιος denotes positive righteousness or conformity to divine/moral standards; both overlap in the semantic space of moral blamelessness but approach it from complementary angles—נָקִי as absence of culpability, δίκαιος as presence of uprightness.
- צָדַק tsâdaq · H6663 · to be righteous, to prove to be righteous, to be just
- Greek adjective δίκαιος denotes the state or quality of righteousness/justice, while Hebrew verb צָדַק denotes the action of being/becoming/declaring righteous or just; the Greek term functions as the standard LXX rendering of this Hebrew root's participial and derived nominal forms.
- צֶדֶק tsedeq · H6664 · just, accurate, righteousness
- Greek δίκαιος corresponds to Hebrew צֶדֶק as the standard Septuagint rendering for the core Hebrew righteousness/justice lexeme, both denoting moral rectitude, just character, and right action in legal and ethical contexts.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Being in a right relation with, one who has been put right with, righteous34.47
- Used of a person's standing as approved before God, as of Joseph being a righteous man unwilling to disgrace Mary in Matthew 1:19, and God's causing the sun to rise on the righteous and unrighteous alike in Matthew 5:45.
- Proper, right66.5
- Used of conduct or behavior judged fitting, drawn from the same broad range of meaning as the moral-uprightness entries around it.
- Righteous, just88.12
- Used of moral uprightness in relation to God's standards, as of Jesus' statement that He did not come to call the righteous but sinners in Matthew 9:13, the reward promised for receiving a righteous man because he is righteous in Matthew 10:41, and the prophets and righteous people who longed to see what the disciples were seeing in Matthew 13:17.
Word family 21 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon δίκαια, δίκαιον (from δίκη right) (fr. Homer down), properly, the Hebrew צַדִּיק,…
1. in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God;
a. universally: Mt 1:19 (the meaning is, it was not consistent with his uprightness to expose his betrothed to public reproach); Mt 10:41; Mt 13:43, Mt 13:49; Mt 23:28; Mt 25:37, Mt 25:46; Lk 1:6, Lk 1:17; Lk 14:14; Lk 18:9; Lk 20:20; Rom 5:7 (cf. Winer's Grammar, 117 (111)); 1 Tim 1:9; Jas 5:6, Jas 5:16; 1 Pet 3:12; 1 Jn 3:7 (10 Lachmann); Rev 22:11; opposed to ἁμαρτωλοί καί ἀσεβεῖς, 1 Pet 4:18; δίκαιοι καί ἄδικοι, Mt 5:45; Acts 24:15; used of O. T. characters noted for piety and probity: Mt 13:17; (Mt 23:29); Heb 12:23; thus of Abel, Mt 23:35; Heb 11:4; of Lot, 2 Pet 2:7f. (Wis. 10:4f); of those who seem to themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves on their virtues, whether real or imaginary: Mt 9:13; Mk 2:17; Lk 5:32; Lk 15:7 (Eccl 7:17 (16)). Joined with εὐλαβής, Lk 2:25 (ἤθη ἐυλαβαη καί δίκαια, τό δίκαιον καί ἐυλαβες, Plato, polit., p. 311 a. b.); with ἅγιος, Mk 6:20; with ἀγαθός, Lk 23:50; with φοβούμενος τόν Θεόν, Acts 10:22; ἔργα δίκαια, opposite πονηρά, 1 Jn 3:12. Neuter τό δίκαιον, that which regard for duty demands, what is right: 2 Pet 1:13; plural Phm 4:8; δίκαιον ἐστι, Eph 6:1; Phm 1:7; with the addition of ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ, God being judge, Acts 4:19.
b. the negative idea predominating: innocent, faultless, guiltless, (for נָקִי, Prov 1:11; Job 9:23, etc.); thus used of Christ in the speech of Gentiles: Mt 27:19, Mt 27:24 R G L brackets Tr brackets WH marginal reading; Lk 23:47; αἷμα δίκαιον, (Prov 6:17; Joel 3:19 (Joel 3:24); Jon 1:14), Mt 23:35; ( Tr marginal reading WH text); ἡ ἐντολή ἅγια καί δίκαια (having no fellowship with sin (others besides, see the commentaries at the passage)) καί ἀγαθή, Rom 7:12.
c. preeminently, of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in heart or life; in this sense Christ alone can be called δίκαιος: Acts 7:52; Acts 22:14; 1 Pet 3:18; 1 Jn 2:1; ἅγιος καί δίκαιος, Acts 3:14; among the rest of mankind it is rightly denied that one δίκαιος can be found, Rom 3:10 (Ecclesiastes 7:21-20ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἐστι δίκαιος ἐν τῇ γῆ, ὅς ποιήσει ἀγαθόν καί οὐχ ἁμαρτήσεται). of God: holy, Rom 3:26 (where it is to be closely rendered just or righteous, on account of the following καί τόν δικαιοῦντα, and the justifier or who pronounces righteous, but the substantial meaning is holy, that quality by virtue of which he hates and punishes sin); 1 Jn 2:29.
d. contextually, approved God, acceptable to God, (German gottwohlgefallig): Rom 5:19; with the addition ἐκ πίστεως, acceptable to God by faith (Winer's Grammar, 136 (129)): Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38; δίκαιος παρά τῷ Θεῷ, Rom 2:13.
2. In a narrower sense, rendering to each his due; and that in a judicial sense, passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them: Tit 1:8; so of God recompensing men impartially according to their deeds, Rev 16:5; in the same sense also in Jn 17:25 (who does not award the same fate to the loving and faithful disciples of Christ and to 'the world'); 1 Jn 1:9 (who executes the laws of his government, and therefore also the law concerning the pardon of sins); ὁ δίκαιος κριτής, of Christ, 2 Tim 4:8; κρίσις δίκαια, Jn 5:30; Jn 7:24; 2 Thess 1:5; plural, Rev 16:7; Rev 19:2; αἱ ὁδοί τοῦ Θεοῦ δίκαια καί ἀληθιναί, Rev 15:3; neuter τό δίκαιον, what is due to others, Col 4:1; what is agreeable to justice and law, Lk 12:51; δίκαιον namely, ἐστιν, it is agreeable to justice, 2 Thess 1:6; accordant with deserts, Mt 20:4, and Rec. (See references under the word δικαιόω, at the end; cf. ἀγαθός, at the end.)
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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