Word study
Acquit
2 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: acquit, acquitted, acquitting. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “acquit” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- צָדַק tsâdaqbe just, righteoustranslated this way 4 times of its 41 uses · Strong’s H6663Verb · Translated: righteous 8, more righteous 3, justify 3, justifying 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Exodus 23:7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.
Deuteronomy 25:1 If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned.
- נָקָה nâqâhbe empty(?), cleantranslated this way 2 times of its 36 uses · Strong’s H5352Verb · Translated: go unpunished 10, leave anyone unpunished 2, leave the guilty unpunished 2, acquit 2Full study and all 32 verses →
Job 9:28 I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.
Job 10:14 If I sinned, You would take note, and would not acquit me of my iniquity.
Greek words (New Testament)
- δικαιόω dikaióōI make righteous, defend the cause of, justifytranslated this way 1 time of its 39 uses · Strong’s G1344Verb · Translated: justified 19, justify 5, vindicated 3, justifies 2Full study and all 35 verses →
Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.