To condemn
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Katakrinō means to condemn, pronounce guilty, or render an adverse verdict. Jesus says Nineveh's repentant generation and the queen of the South will condemn hearers who reject One greater than Jonah or Solomon.
Reader summary
Full entry for κατακρίνω (G2632) · Open the biblical lexicon
Katakrinō means to condemn, pronounce guilty, or render an adverse verdict. Jesus says Nineveh's repentant generation and the queen of the South will condemn hearers who reject One greater than Jonah or Solomon.
The BSB source-word alignment has 18 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include condemn (5), condemned (2), he condemned (2), They will condemn (2), [Jesus] was condemned (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:41. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (4), Romans (4), Mark (3), John (2).
Katakrinō means to condemn, pronounce guilty, or render an adverse verdict. Jesus says Nineveh's repentant generation and the queen of the South will condemn hearers who reject One greater than Jonah or Solomon. He predicts that Jerusalem's leaders will condemn the Son of Man to death. In John 8, Jesus asks the accused woman whether anyone has condemned her and then refuses to condemn her while commanding her to leave sin.
Paul warns that a person who judges another while practicing the same sins condemns himself. The verb is judicial and stronger than ordinary disagreement, discernment, or correction. Its passages expose culpable unbelief, unjust human verdicts, mercy joined to repentance, and self-incrimination through hypocrisy.
Katakrinō marks a verdict of guilt or condemnation. Repentant outsiders expose privileged unbelief, leaders condemn Jesus unjustly, Jesus withholds condemnation while calling for changed life, and hypocritical judges condemn themselves by their own practice.
The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.
Matthew 12:41 says Nineveh's people will rise at judgment and condemn Jesus' generation because they repented at Jonah's preaching, while someone greater than Jonah is present. Greater revelation brings greater accountability.
“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles,
Mark 10:33 records Jesus' prediction that chief priests and scribes will condemn Him to death and hand Him to Gentiles. The verdict is a real judicial act and part of the path He knowingly takes toward the cross.
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.
Luke 11:31 says the queen of the South will condemn the present generation because she traveled to hear Solomon's wisdom, while One greater than Solomon stands before them. Her response exposes their refusal.
Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”
John 8:10 asks the woman where her accusers are and whether anyone condemned her. Jesus' "neither do I condemn" is followed by "go and sin no more," joining mercy with a summons to holiness.
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Romans 2:1 says the person judging others while practicing the same things condemns himself. Paul removes moral superiority before unfolding God's impartial judgment and the need for grace.
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.
Greek word. To condemn through judgment; distinct from κρίνειν by emphasizing verdict against rather than mere evaluation.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 19 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
Read verseI condemn
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 17 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 16 lexical occurrence verses.
κατακρίνω is built from these roots:
Highlights distinction between accusation and redemptive mercy.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Katakrinō belongs to the courtroom, not to every uncomfortable conversation. Repentant Ninevites and a truth-seeking queen function as witnesses against people who possess greater revelation yet reject Jesus. Religious authorities issue a death verdict against the innocent Son of Man. Jesus, by contrast, refuses the condemning role claimed by the woman's accusers while still naming a future apart from sin.
Paul then exposes the judge who condemns in others what he excuses in himself. These uses call the church to sober precision. Christians may discern, correct, and exercise accountable discipline without pretending to know God's final verdict beyond His word. They receive mercy that transforms rather than flatters, confront hypocrisy beginning with self-examination, and worship Christ who bore an unjust human sentence in accomplishing salvation for the guilty.
Mark.10.33
Katakrinō combines kata with krinō and commonly means to judge against, condemn, or pronounce guilty. The compound often carries an adverse verdict more specifically than the broad verb krinō.
Israel's law requires just verdicts and condemns putting the innocent to death, while prophets summon hearers to repent under God's judgment. The Gospels show the righteous Messiah bearing an unjust human sentence.