Justice)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT             LXX (Greek OT)          Greek NT
─────────────         ────────────────         ────────
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)  →  κρίμα (krima)        →  κρίμα (krima)
H4941, 406x            175x as translation       27x in NT
"judgment, verdict,    of mishpat                "judgment, damnation,
 justice, ordinance"                              condemnation"

                    →  κρίσις (krisis)        →  κρίσις (krisis)
                       132x as translation       47x in NT
                       of mishpat                "judgment, condemnation"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H4941	מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	406	judgment, verdict, justice, ordinance, right
H8199	שָׁפַט (shaphat)	203	to judge, govern, decide (root verb)

Key OT passages: - Ps 89:14 — "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face." - Mic 6:8 — "What doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly (mishpat), and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" - Amos 5:24 — "But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."

[See canonical study: H4941-mishpat.md]

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Count	Notes
mishpat (H4941)	κρίμα (G2917)	175x	Primary: verdict, decision
mishpat (H4941)	κρίσις (G2920)	132x	Secondary: the judicial process
mishpat (H4941)	δικαίωμα (G1345)	63x	Ordinance/statute sense
mishpat (H4941)	δικαιοσύνη (G1343)	66x	Righteousness/justice overlap

Semantic shift in translation: The LXX divides mishpat's range across two Greek words: krima (the verdict rendered) and krisis (the act of judging). This split is useful — krima emphasizes outcome, krisis emphasizes process — but neither alone covers the full OT range of mishpat, which also includes covenant legislation (ordinance sense) and social entitlement (right sense). Those senses map to δικαίωμα (statute) and δικαιοσύνη (righteousness) respectively.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G2917	κρίμα (krima)	27	verdict, judgment, condemnation, damnation
G2920	κρίσις (krisis)	47	judgment, condemnation, act of judging

Key NT passages: - Matt 7:2 — "For with what judgment (krima) ye judge, ye shall be judged." (echoes mishpat's reciprocal justice principle) - Rom 2:2 — "But we are sure that the judgment (krima) of God is according to truth against them which commit such things." - Rev 20:4 — "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment (krima) was given unto them." (eschatological verdict, direct heir of OT mishpat as divine decree) - 1 Cor 11:29 — "For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (krima) to himself." (krima here = adverse verdict; not yet executed punishment)

[G2917-krima study: TODO(need G2917 study)] | [G2920-krisis study: G2920-krisis.md]

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Matt 12:18–20	Isa 42:1–4	mishpat → krisis (G2920)	Servant will "bring forth judgment/justice to the Gentiles" — mishpat as cosmic justice carried into NT messianic fulfillment
Rom 13:2	—	mishpat → krima (G2917)	"Whosoever resisteth the power... shall receive to themselves damnation (krima)" — echoes OT legal consequence for defying appointed authority

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same: - Both OT mishpat and NT krima/krisis carry the core judicial sense: a verdict pronounced, a process of judging, consequences rendered - Both can be applied to God's governance: mishpat as foundation of God's throne (Ps 89:14) ↔ God's krima being "according to truth" (Rom 2:2) - Both demand action from humans: OT "do mishpat" ↔ NT warnings about receiving adverse krima

What shifts: - Mishpat's rich covenant-legislation sense (ordinances to be observed) fades in NT usage of krima/krisis — that sense migrates to νόμος (nomos, law) and δικαίωμα (ordinance) - Mishpat's social-justice dimension (rights of the vulnerable) is mostly absent from NT krima/krisis, which trend toward forensic/eschatological verdict - NT krima gains a stronger "adverse verdict / damnation" coloring; mishpat was more neutral in valence

Generated from: gather_word_data.py (H4941, G2917), search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-04-01