Word study

Justification

1 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “justification”. 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 “justification” or one of its forms.

Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • פָּלַל pâlalintervene, interposetranslated this way 1 time of its 84 uses · Strong’s H6419Verb  ·  Translated: pray 31, prayed 25, praying 10, prays 5

    Ezekiel 16:52 So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.

    Full study and all 82 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • δικαίωσις dikaíōsisacquittal, justificationtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G1347Noun  ·  Translated: justification 2

    Romans 4:25 He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.

    Romans 5:18 So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.

    Full study and all 2 verses →
  • αἴτιος aítiosthe cause of, the originator oftranslated this way 1 time of its 5 uses · Strong’s G159Adjective  ·  Translated: basis for a charge 1, guilty 1, offense worthy 1, justification 1

    Acts 19:40 For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • δικαίωμα dikaíōmaa thing pronounced to be justtranslated this way 1 time of its 10 uses · Strong’s G1345Noun  ·  Translated: regulations 2, righteous acts 2

    Romans 5:16 Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.

    Full study and all 10 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. 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.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. 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.

What the Bible says about justification: passages by topic →

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.