Word study

Justly

3 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word

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

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • מִשְׁפָּט mishpâṭjudgmenttranslated this way 5 times of its 406 uses · Strong’s H4941Noun  ·  Translated: justice 111, ordinances 73, judgments 40, judgment 40

    Jeremiah 5:1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.

    Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

    Full study and all 394 verses →
  • צֶדֶק tsedeqrightness, righteousnesstranslated this way 2 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s H6664Noun  ·  Translated: righteousness 57, righteous 19, honest 6, justice 5

    Psalm 58:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

    Proverbs 8:16 By me princes rule, and all nobles who govern justly.

    Full study and all 111 verses →
  • מִישׁוֹר mîshôrlevel place, uprightnesstranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s H4334Noun  ·  Translated: plateau 8, plain 2, level ground 2, level 2

    Psalm 67:4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah

    Full study and all 23 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • δικαίως dikaíōsjustly, righteouslytranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G1346Adverb  ·  Translated: justly 2, ought 1, righteous 1, upright 1

    Luke 23:41 We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

    1 Peter 2:23 When they heaped abuse on Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

    Full study and all 5 verses →
  • δίκαιος díkaiosjust, righteous, impartialtranslated this way 1 time of its 79 uses · Strong’s G1342Adjective  ·  Translated: righteous 55, right 9, just 6, of 2

    John 7:24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”

    Full study and all 74 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.

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.