G1344
δικαιόω
dikaióō; contracted dikaiṓ, fut. dikaiṓsō, from díkaios (G1342), just, righteous. To justify. Verbs which end in -óō generally indicate bringing out that which a person is or that which is desired, but not usually referring to the mode in which the action takes place. In the case of dikaióō, it means to bring out the fact that a person is righteous.
In Class. Gr., dikaióō could also mean to make anyone righteous by permitting such a one to bear for himself his condemnation, judgment, punishment, or chastisement. Such action of guilt upon one being tried in court would have been better expressed by the verb dikázō (which does not occur in the NT), although the subst. dikastḗs (G1348), a judge, does occur (Luk 12:14; Act 7:27, Act 7:35 [TR]). The more common word referring to the condemning of a guilty person examined in court is katadikázō (G2613), to condemn (Mat 12:7, Mat 12:37; Luk 6:37; Jas 5:6). The noun katadíkē does not occur in the NT, but it does in Class. Gr. and means a judgment given against one, a sentence. The verb is used in Mat 12:37, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned [katadikasthḗsē]" (G2613). Thus katadikázō stands as a direct opposite of dikaióō. The examination of a case, whether favorable (1Co 4:3-4) or unfavorable (1Co 9:3; 1Co 14:24), is expressed by the investigative verb anakrínō (G350).
It must be clearly understood that in the NT the verb dikaióō, to justify, never means to make anyone righteous or to do away with his violation of the law, by himself bearing the condemnation and the imposed sentence. In the NT, man in his fallen condition can never do anything in order to pay for his sinfulness and thus be liberated from the sentence of guilt that is upon him as it happens in the mundane world; i.e., when a guilty person has paid the penalty of a crime, he is free from condemnation.
In the NT, dikaióō in the act. voice means to recognize, to set forth as righteous, to declare righteous, to justify as a judicial act. This is clear from Luk 10:25 in which a lawyer who came to Jesus asked Him how he could inherit eternal life. "Willing to justify himself" (Luk 10:29) means that he wanted to establish himself as righteous. So also the Pharisees to whom the Lord said in Luk 16:15, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men," i.e., you have set yourselves forth as righteous, as if there is nothing wrong with you if you were to stand in a court of justice. Used in the same sense in Luk 7:29 stating that the people recognized that God acted justly in sending John the Baptist to preach repentance. This was an indirect recognition that indeed man needed to repent.
In the OT, in some instances (such as Psa 73:13 KJV), the Sept. translation of edikaíōsa, "I justified my heart" really means "I cleansed my heart." Elsewhere, when used in regard to a thing or a person, it means to find anything as right, to recognize or acknowledge anyone as just, to set forth as right or just.
(I) As a matter of right or justice, to absolve, acquit, clear from any charge or imputation. In Mat 12:37, dikaióō stands in direct opposition to katadikázō (G2613), to condemn, to sentence (see 1Co 4:4, where the Apostle Paul speaks of God's favorable judgment upon him, after having examined or investigated him and his actions in life). This investigative process is expressed by the verb anakrínō (G350). See 1Co 9:3; 1Co 14:24 where the verb anakrínomai (the pass. form) is used as a parallel of elégchomai (G1651), to be reproved, convicted of one's error and condemned. The Apostle Paul, therefore, does not use the word dikaióō, to declare right by a capricious judge, but rather that he declares a person right or wrong after the process of investigation and the finding of guilt or innocence.
In Act 13:39, it is used with the prep. apó (G575), from, referring to all those things from which the Mosaic Law could not liberate us. In this instance, therefore, as well as in Rom 6:7 where apó is used with the word "sin," "from sin" (see also Rom 6:18), it refers to our liberation from something, i.e., sin which holds man a prisoner, a slave. The verb dikaióō, therefore, is used in a similar vein as the verb eleutheróō (G1659), to deliver, set free. Thus dikaióō does not mean the mere declaration of innocence, but the liberation from sin which holds man a prisoner (see Sept.: Exo 23:7; Deu 25:1; 1Ki 8:32).
When used with heautón (G1438) in the acc., himself or oneself, it means to justify or excuse oneself. This meaning must definitely be distinguished from the use of the verb with God as Judge and man the object of His judgment. God never excuses man for being wrong, since He has His own perfect standard of judgment. Man, on the contrary, being perverse, due to the fall of Adam, judges himself by his own standard and excuses himself. That was what the young lawyer who came to Jesus did, "But he, willing to justify himself . . ." (Luk 10:29). The word dikaióō, to justify, here did not mean that he kept the commandments that he quoted in Luk 10:27, but that he excused himself from keeping them.
In the Class. Gr. writers, the word is used more widely meaning to do justice to or to defend the right of anyone, irrespective of whether such a defense may prove the person guilty or innocent.
(II) Spoken of character, dikaióō means to declare to be just as it should be, to pronounce right; of things, to regard as right and proper. It means to have the right to own or to claim things. In the NT, however, it is used only of persons meaning to acknowledge and declare anyone to be righteous, virtuous, good, díkaios (G1342), just; therefore it means:
(A) By implication, to vindicate, approve, honor, glorify, and in the pass. to receive honor, and so forth. In Luk 7:29, the people who heard Jesus "justified God," meaning they declared that God was right and that they approved of what He was saying. In Mat 11:19, "wisdom is justified of her children" means wisdom was approved by wise people. One has to be wise to recognize wisdom and declare it worthwhile (cf. Luk 7:35). To understand 1Ti 3:16 with the same meaning of approval see below. In Rom 3:4, "that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings" (from Psa 51:4), means acknowledged to be just and righteous in His sentence. This implies that when God is the judge, He exhibits the righteousness of His character, while man judges to exhibit the guilt or innocence of the accused. What God says proves what He is (Sept.: Eze 16:52).
(B) In relation to God and the divine Law, it means to declare righteous, to regard as pious. In Luk 16:15 the Lord Jesus castigates the Pharisees for presenting themselves to be righteous and pious before men, no matter what God thought of them. Their interest was in their appearance before men. Spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God upon men through Christ, through the instrumentality of faith (Rom 3:26, Rom 3:30; Rom 4:5; Rom 8:30, Rom 8:33; Gal 3:8); in the pass. in Rom 3:28; Rom 5:1; Gal 2:16; Gal 3:24 where faith is stressed as the means of being justified; with the phrase "of works" (ex érgōn [G1537, G2041]), or with the neg. ouk (G3756), not (ouk ex érgōn) as in Rom 3:20; Rom 4:2; Gal 2:16; Jas 2:21, Jas 2:24-25); with the expression "not by law," i.e., not by means of law (Gal 3:11 [cf. Rom 2:13; Rom 3:24; Rom 5:9; 1Co 6:11; Gal 2:17; Tit 3:7]).
... [There was too much text for a single post, so I cut it off here where Romans 3:28 is mentioned]