Equity (of character or act); specially (Christian) justification
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δικαιοσύνη names righteousness as what accords with God's own right standard, including the righteousness He reveals and gives, the righteousness He requires, and the righteousness believers are trained to pursue. In the Pastoral Epistles, the word appears in the life of the man of God, the pursuit of holy fellowship, the training work of Scripture, the crown kept by the righteous Judge, and the contrast between.
Reader summary
Full entry for δικαιοσύνη (G1343) · Open the biblical lexicon
δικαιοσύνη names righteousness as what accords with God's own right standard, including the righteousness He reveals and gives, the righteousness He requires, and the righteousness believers are trained to pursue. In the Pastoral Epistles, the word appears in the life of the man of God, the pursuit of holy fellowship, the training work of Scripture, the.
The BSB source-word alignment has 92 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include righteousness (49), of righteousness (18), [the] righteousness (6), to righteousness (4), justice (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (34), 2 Corinthians (7), Matthew (7), Hebrews (6).
This entry includes 7 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
δικαιοσύνη names righteousness as what accords with God's own right standard, including the righteousness He reveals and gives, the righteousness He requires, and the righteousness believers are trained to pursue. In the Pastoral Epistles, the word appears in the life of the man of God, the pursuit of holy fellowship, the training work of Scripture, the crown kept by the righteous Judge, and the contrast between salvation by mercy and any imagined salvation by righteous deeds.
That range matters. Righteousness is not a generic virtue word. It is bound to God's character, the gospel's gift, the church's formation, and final judgment. The same canon that says righteousness comes through faith in Christ also commands believers to pursue righteousness. The word therefore helps teachers keep justification, sanctification, Scripture training, and visible obedience in their proper order.
δικαιοσύνη names righteousness as God's right standard, revealed in the gospel, given in Christ, and pursued by His people. The Pastorals use it for holy pursuit, Scripture training, final reward, and the refusal to ground salvation in our righteous deeds.
But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
Righteousness is part of what the man of God must pursue after fleeing destructive desires. It belongs to active discipleship, not merely abstract doctrine.
Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Righteousness is pursued with faith, love, and peace in holy fellowship. The word is communal and formative, not isolated moralism.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Scripture trains in righteousness. Righteousness is not self-defined; the God-breathed Word instructs, corrects, and forms it.
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Paul denies salvation by righteous deeds we had done. Righteousness as fruit must never be confused with the ground of saving mercy.
For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith. This anchors righteousness in God's saving revelation, not human achievement.
And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
Paul contrasts his own law-based righteousness with righteousness from God through faith in Christ. The word carries both gift and renunciation of self-confidence.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Jesus blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The word names a desire formed by God's kingdom, not mere external correctness.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Righteousness as God's character and covenant faithfulness, not merely human moral conformity to law
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 92 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
justice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read versejustice, justness, righteousness
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 8 selected witnesses from 91 lexical occurrence verses.
δικαιοσύνη is built from this root:
Though fully developed later, this concept anchors the gospel’s saving purpose in Romans.1 John 2:28-29
This term anchors the book; it describes the saving righteousness revealed in Christ.2 Timothy 4:6-8
It is the status credited to Abraham through faith.Acts 24:22-27
Central to Paul’s argument about how sinners are justified.Philippians 3:4–11
Distinguishes imputed righteousness from legal performance.Romans 1:1-7
Central theme in Paul’s reasoning before Felix.Romans 1:16-17
The crown reflects the righteous verdict and reward given by Christ the Judge.Romans 4:1-12
Ethical transformation is evidence of participation in God’s life.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
δικαιοσύνη requires careful teaching because Scripture uses righteousness in more than one connected way. Romans and Philippians emphasize righteousness from God through faith, not self-achieved standing. Titus 3:5 denies that God saved us by righteous deeds we had done. Yet the same Pastoral Epistles command the man of God to pursue righteousness and say Scripture trains believers in righteousness.
The solution is not to choose one use and silence the others. Righteousness is first measured by God, received savingly in Christ, then pursued as the trained life of those who belong to Him. This protects the church from legalism, from lawlessness, and from vague virtue language detached from the gospel.
Titus.3.5
δικαιοσύνη is the noun related to δίκαιος and δικαιόω. Context decides whether the focus is God's righteousness, right standing before Him, covenantal or ethical righteousness, justice, or trained obedience.
The Old Testament speaks of the Lord's righteousness and calls His people to walk rightly before Him. The New Testament announces that God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel and that those justified by grace are trained by Scripture and the Spirit to pursue righteous lives.