dikaios · righteous, just

What it means

dikaios (δίκαιος) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “righteous, just”.

Someone who lives by what is right before God.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. One who lives well, as God wants.
2. What is proper and fair.
3. Jesus or God, the Righteous One.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Righteous: one who is upright, who lives and acts according to what God asks; said of God, the one who judges and acts with justice. Thayer: righteous, just; one who fulfills his duties toward God and toward men; of God, the one who gives each his due. Of the same family are δικαιοσύνη, “righteousness” (G1343), and δικαιόω, “declare righteous”.

• A righteous person: Joseph; Jesus, in the centurion’s words Matthew 1:19Luke 23:47
• Righteous and unrighteous Matthew 5:45Matthew 25:46
• “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” Matthew 9:13
• “The righteous will live by faith”; “There is no righteous one” Romans 1:17Romans 3:10
• God and the Messiah, righteous 1 John 1:91 Peter 3:18

How we translate it

“Righteous” 71 times, “right” 7, “justice” 1. This edition's glossary sets dikaiosynē / dikaios / dikaioō = “righteousness / righteous / declare righteous”, so that the family can be seen; in the Old Testament, צַדִּיק (H6662) is also “righteous”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• righteous ×71
• right ×7
• justice ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×17
• Mark×2
• Luke×11
• John×3
• Acts×6
• Romans×7
• Galatians×1
• Ephesians×1
• Philippians×2
• Colossians×1
• 2 Thessalonians×2
• 1 Timothy×1
• 2 Timothy×1
• Titus×1
• Hebrews×3
• James×2
• 1 Peter×3
• 2 Peter×4
• 1 John×6
• Revelation×5

• Matthew 1:19

  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly, decided to send her away secretly.

• Matthew 5:45

  so that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

• Matthew 9:13

  So go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• Matthew 10:41

  The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward.

• Matthew 13:17

  For truly I tell you that many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

• Matthew 13:43

  Then the righteous will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear.

• Matthew 13:49

  So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will go out and separate the evil from among the righteous

• Matthew 20:4

  and to them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’

• Matthew 23:28

  So you also on the outside appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

• Matthew 23:29

  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

• Matthew 23:35

  so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

• Matthew 25:37

  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?

• Matthew 25:46

  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

• Matthew 27:19

  And while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Let there be nothing between you and that righteous man; for I have suffered much today in a dream because of him.”

• Mark 2:17

  And hearing it, Jesus says to them, “Those who are well have no need of a doctor, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• Mark 6:20

  for Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and he was protecting him. And when he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and he heard him gladly.

• Luke 1:6

  And they were both righteous before God, walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

• Luke 1:17

  And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

• Luke 2:25

  And look, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

• Luke 5:32

  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to a change of mind.”

• Luke 12:57

  And why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right?

• Luke 14:14

  and you will be happy, because they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

• Luke 15:7

  I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes his mind than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of a change of mind.

• Luke 18:9

  And he told this parable also to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised the rest:

• Luke 20:20

  And watching him closely, they sent spies who pretended to be righteous, so that they might catch him in a word, so as to hand him over to the rule and the authority of the governor.

• Luke 23:47

  And the centurion, seeing what had happened, was glorifying God, saying, “Certainly this man was righteous.”

• Luke 23:50

  And look, there was a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man

• John 5:30

  I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

• John 7:24

  Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgment.”

• John 17:25

  Righteous Father, the world also did not know you, but I knew you, and these knew that you sent me.

• Acts 3:14

  But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a man who was a murderer to be granted to you,

• 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, you judge;

• Acts 7:52

  Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

• Acts 10:22

  And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well attested by the whole nation of the Jews, was instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.”

• Acts 22:14

  And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth,

• Acts 24:15

  having a hope in God, which these men themselves also await, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

• Romans 1:17

  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

• Romans 2:13

  For it is not the hearers of law who are righteous before God, but the doers of law will be declared righteous.

• Romans 3:10

  as it is written: There is no righteous one, not even one;

• Romans 3:26

  in the forbearance of God; for the demonstration of his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be righteous and the one who declares righteous the one who is of faith in Jesus.

And 39 more times.