To justify
δικαιόωStrong’s G1344dikaioō
Appears in 35 verses of the New Testament
In short
Dikaioō is the Greek word usually translated “is justified”, “was justified” and “justifying”. It appears in 35 verses of the New Testament.
“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
Meaning
Usually translated “is justified”, “was justified” and “justifying”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- is justified 5
- was justified 5
- justifying 3
- to be justified 3
- will be justified 3
- having been justified 3
- he justified 2
- we may be justified 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Romans 14
- Galatians 6
- Luke 5
- James 3
- Matthew 2
- 1 Corinthians 2
9 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Titus 3:7In contextThat being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
- Matthew 11:19The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
- Matthew 12:37For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
- Luke 7:29And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.
- Luke 7:35But wisdom is justified of all her children.
- Luke 10:29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Greek dictionary
δικαιόω dikaioō · to justify
δικαιόω, -ῶ (δίκαιος), [in LXX chiefly for צָדַק pi., hi., (1) as Eze.16:51, Jer.3:11 (cf. NT usage); (2) as Deu.25:1; Exo.23:7, Isa.50:8 ;] 1. in cl., (a) with accusative of thing(s), to deem right; (b) with accusative of person(s), to do one justice; pass., δικαιοῦσθαι, to be treated rightly, opposite to ἀδικεῖσθαι. 2. In NT, as in LXX, and as usual with verbs in -όω from adjectives of moral meaning; (1) to show to be righteous: Mat.11:19, Luk.7:35, Rom.3:4" (LXX), 1Ti.3:16; …
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “justify” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
JUST'IFY, verb transitive
[Latin justus, just, and facio, to make.]
- To prove or show to be just, or conformable to law, right, justice, propriety or duty; to defend or maintain; to vindicate as right.
- In theology, to pardon and clear form guilt; to absolve or acquit from guilt and merited punishment, and to accept as righteous on account of the merits of the Savior, or by the application of Christ's atonement to the offender.
- To cause another to appear comparatively righteous, or less guilty than one's self.
- To judge rightly of.“Wisdom is justified by her children” Matthew 11:19
All definitions and other forms of “justify”
- To accept as just and treat with favor.
JUST'IFY, verb intransitive
In printing, to agree; to suit; to conform exactly; to form an even surface or true line with something else. Types of different sizes will not justify with each other.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.