G1344 — δικαιόω (dikaióō)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1344
Original: δικαιόω
Transliteration: dikaióō
Pronunciation: dik-ah-yo'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: δίκαιος (dikaios, G1342) — just, righteous
Occurrences: 36 unique verses (48 tokens) in NT
Books: 10 (Matthew, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 Timothy, Titus, James, Revelation)
First Occurrence: Mat 11:19 — "wisdom is justified of her children"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

To render (i.e., show or regard as) just or innocent; to declare righteous, acquit, vindicate. From δίκαιος (just). KJV renders: justify (-ier), be righteous, be freed.

Voice / Tense Distribution¶

The passive voice dominates (~30 of 39 forms) — the sinner is acted upon; God is the implied agent of justification. Active voice (~9 forms) places God or a person as the one who justifies.

Voice	Count	Typical Usage
Passive	~30	Sinner receives the verdict — "be justified," "was justified"
Active	~9	"God that justifieth," "justify themselves," "shall justify"

Tense	Count	Typical Usage
Aorist	~17	Completed, definitive act — "were justified" (Rom 5:1; 1 Cor 6:11)
Present	~12	Ongoing principle — "a man is justified by..." (Gal 2:16; Jas 2:24)
Future	~5	Eschatological verdict — "shall be justified" (Matt 12:37; Rom 2:13)
Perfect	~2	Completed state with enduring result — "is freed" (Rom 6:7); "am I... justified" (1 Cor 4:4)

[Tallied from greek_parser.py --lemma δικαιόω]

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 056.005 — Courts and Legal Procedures: Judge, Condemn, Acquit - 088.002 — Moral and Ethical Qualities: Just, Righteous

Domain neighbors (056.005): δικαίωμα (G1345, righteous act/ordinance), δικαίωσις (G1347, justification), δικαστής (G1348, judge), καταδικάζω (G2613, condemn), δικαιοκρισία (G1341, righteous judgment)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [056] Courts and Legal Procedures - [088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior - [034] Association - [037] Control, Rule - [036] Guide, Discipline, Follow

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation (consolidated)	Verses	%
justified / be justified / is justified / are justified	~30	~83%
justify / justifieth / justifier	5	14%
is freed (Rom 6:7)	1	3%
let him be righteous (Rev 22:11)	1	3%

KJV renders this verb in many fragmentary phrase forms; all cluster around "justify/justified."

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Romans	14	3.2
Galatians	6	4.0
Luke	5	0.4
James	3	2.8
1 Corinthians	2	0.5
Matthew	2	0.2
Acts	1	0.1
1 Timothy	1	0.9
Titus	1	2.2
Revelation	1	0.2

Paul dominates (Romans + Galatians = ~56% of occurrences, highest density); James's 3 uses form a concentrated counter-point on faith and works.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Forensic Declaration (God declares the believer righteous)¶

The dominant Pauline use: a legal verdict rendered by God, not a moral transformation. - Rom 3:24 — "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" - Rom 3:28 — "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" - Gal 2:16 — "a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ" - Rom 8:30 — "whom he justified, them he also glorified"

2. Justification by Faith vs. Works (Paul–James tension)¶

Paul argues faith apart from works; James insists faith demonstrated by works — same verb, different vantage points. - Rom 5:1 — "being justified by faith, we have peace with God" - Gal 3:24 — "the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" - Jas 2:21 — "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac?" - Jas 2:24 — "by works a man is justified, and not by faith only"

3. Vindication (showing someone to be right/wise)¶

Used outside the atonement framework to mean proving or demonstrating righteousness. - Mat 11:19 — "wisdom is justified of her children" (vindicated by its results) - Luk 7:29 — "the people justified God, being baptized" (acknowledged God's rightness) - Luk 7:35 — "wisdom is justified of all her children" - 1Ti 3:16 — "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit" (Christ vindicated by resurrection)

4. Self-Justification (human attempt to appear righteous)¶

Always used negatively — attempting to appear right before others rather than before God. - Luk 10:29 — "willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?" - Luk 16:15 — "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts"

5. Acquittal / Liberation from Sin¶

Acts 13:39 — "by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law"
Rom 6:7 — "he that is dead is freed from sin" (only KJV instance of "freed")
Rom 3:26 — "that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theós)	G2316	12x (33%)	"God justifies" / "justified before God"
πίστις (pístis)	G4102	10x (28%)	"justified by faith"
νόμος (nómos)	G3551	8x (22%)	"not justified by the law"
ἔργον (érgon)	G2041	7x (19%)	"works of the law" / "justified by works"
Ἰησοῦς / Χριστός	G2424/G5547	6x each (17%)	"justified in/through Jesus Christ"
δίκαιος (díkaios)	G1342	4x (11%)	word family — righteous/justify pair
πιστεύω (pisteúō)	G4100	4x (11%)	"he that believeth... justified"
ἁμαρτία (hamartía)	G0266	3x (8%)	justification in context of sin
χάρις (cháris)	G5485	3x (8%)	"justified freely by his grace"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1342 δίκαιος (díkaios) — just, righteous (root adjective)
G1343 δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosýnē) — righteousness, justification (noun)
G1345 δικαίωμα (díkaiōma) — righteous act, ordinance, requirement
G1347 δικαίωσις (díkaiōsis) — the act of justification
G1346 δικαίως (dikaíōs) — righteously, justly (adverb)
G1341 δικαιοκρισία (dikaiokrisia) — righteous judgment
G0094 ἄδικος (ádikos) — unrighteous (negative prefix)
G0093 ἀδικία (adikía) — unrighteousness

Synonyms¶

search_relationships.py did not return a tight non-cognate synonym set for G1344 beyond the δικ- family. The closest semantic neighbors it surfaced were: - G1348 δικαστής (dikastēs) — judge; same forensic field, but names the declaring agent rather than the verdict - G2511 καθαρίζω (katharizō) — cleanse; overlaps where acquittal is expressed in purity imagery - G2513 καθαρός (katharos) — clean, pure; adjectival purity term adjacent to acquittal/vindication language

Antonyms¶

G264 ἁμαρτάνω (hamartanō) — to sin; verb-level moral opposite to being declared righteous
G764 ἀσεβέω (asebeō) — to act ungodly; opposite action in judgment/condemnation contexts

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
צָדַק (tsadaq)	H6663	"be justified" (shared KJV rendering)	Hebrew OT cognate — same judicial sense in the Psalms and prophets; dikaióō is essentially tsadaq in Greek dress

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	PMI Score	Notes
צָדַק (tsadaq)	H6663	8.73 (primary)	21 co-occurrences — the direct Hebrew equivalent
שָׁפַט (shâphaṭ)	H8199	5.32	Judge/pronounce sentence — legal overlap
זָכָה (zâkâh)	H2135	8.25	Be clean/pure — overlaps in acquittal contexts
צַדִּיק (tsaddîyq)	H6662	4.62	Just/righteous (adjective cognate)
צְדָקָה (tsedaqah)	H6666	4.45	Righteousness (noun cognate)

The primary LXX bridge is H6663 tsadaq → G1344 dikaióō. See trace file.