Bible Lexicons

Our sources have naturally little light to throw upon the deeper Christian significance of this important word, but we may give a few examples showing its general usage. The adjective is applied to a ";just measure"; (μετρήσει δ.) P Tebt I. 11.13 (B.C. 119), 105.41 (B.C. 103) etc., and a ";just rule"; (σκυτάλη δ.) P Rein 20.24 (B.C. 108). Then it would seem to have become a vox propria in connexion with the rise of the Nile, e.g. OGIS 666.11 (i/A.D.) νῦν μᾶλλον ἀπέλαυσε (sc. ἡ Αἴγυπτος) τῆς δικαίας ἀναβάσεως τοῦ θεοῦ : see Dittenberger’s note and cf. Deissmann BS, p. 116. In P Petr II. 28viii. 6 (taxing account—iii/B.C.) we hear of a δικαίου νήσου. The neuter is very largely used substantially, for ";duty,"; ";rights"; or ";claims."; Thus in P Petr II. 10.27 the royal gooseherds make petition that certain grievances be set right, ἵνα δυνώμεθα τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν τῶι βασιλεῖ, ";in order that we may be able to do our duty to the king"; : cf. the neuter plural of the ";duties"; of marriage, e.g. P Oxy VI. 905.9 (marriage contract—A.D. 170) συμβιούτωσαν [οὖν ἀλλήλοις οἱ γ ]αμοῦντες φυλάσσοντες τὰ τοῦ γάμου δίκαια, ib. X. 1273.23 (A.D. 260), BGU IV. 1098.34 (c. B.C. 18) τηρεῖν τὰ πρὸς τ ̣ο ̣, ν ̣ ἄνδρα καὶ τὸν κοινὸν βίον δίκαια.

The meaning of ";right,"; ";justice,"; to which this leads, figures in the concluding formula of numerous petitions : cf. also Colossians 4:1. Thus P Magd 2.9 (iii/B.C.) where a widow petitions Ptolemy III—ἵνα ἐ [πὶ ] σὲ καταφυγοῦσα, βασιλεῦ, τοῦ δικαίου τύχω, and P Oxy III. 486.35 (A.D. 131) ἵνα τὰ ἐ [μα ]υτῆς δίκ ̣[αια λάβω. Cf. P Oxy IV. 746.9 (a letter of recommendation—A.D. 16) τοῦτο οὖν ἐάν σοι φα [ί ]νηται σπουδάσεις κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον, ";please therefore further him in this matter, as is just"; (Edd.). So with the negative in a complaint, as BGU IV. 1187.20 (c. B.C. 1) μη [δ ]ενὸς δικα [ίο ]υ ἀντεχόμενοι. ";Claim"; or the like will render it in P Ryl II. 68.27 (B.C. 89) ι ̣̓́ν ̣᾽. . . ἐὰν δὲ περιγένωμαι, λάβω παρ᾽ αὐτῆς τὸ δίκαιον ὡς καθήκει, ";if I survive, I may obtain satisfaction from her as is right"; (Edd.), P Tor 1vii. 27 (B.C. 116) καὶ ταύτην μηδ᾽ ὁλοσχερῶς πᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔχουσίν τι δίκαιον, P Tebt II. 320.10 (A.D. 181) ὑπετάξαμ (εν) [ἡ ]μῶν τὰ δίκαια, ";we append our claims"; (Edd.). Δ. often answers to the Latin ius, as P Lond 1164(e ).6 (A.D. 212) (= III. p. 160) τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῷ μέρη οἰκιῶν δύο οὐσῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀντινοουπόλει ἐλθόντα εἰς αὐτὸν ἀπὸ [δι ]καίου [π ]αρα χωρήσεως γενομένης κτλ, and often for the ius liberorum, which qualified a woman to appear in legal transactions without a guardian. Thus so in the same formula P Thead 1.5 (A.D. 306), P Oxy IX. 1199.7 (iii/A.D.), ib. X. 1276.3 (A.D. 249) ἡ δὲ Μεϊθοῦς χωρὶς κυρίου χρηματίζουσα κατὰ τὰ Ρωμ [αίω ]ν ἔθη τέκνων δικαίῳ, so.24, and ib. 1277.3 (A.D. 255), and cf. Archiv i. p. 310 f. The difficult phrase ὑπέχειν καὶ λαμβάνειν τὸ δίκαιον ἐπὶ τῶν χρηματιστῶν, P Tebt I. 5.214 (B.C. 118), is translated ";they shall give and receive satisfaction before the chrematistae"; by the editors, who note that it is ";apparently another way of saying διδόναι καὶ δέχεσθαι δίκην, according as the verdict was against or for them";; but see Wenger in Archiv ii. p. 493, who renders ";Recht zu geben und zu nehmen, d. i. sich beklagen zu lassen und zu klagen."; Δικαία appears as a fem. subst. in OGIS 8.29 (iv/B.C.) βαθόεντι τᾶ πόλε [ι ] καὶ τᾶ δικαία, ";helping the state and justice."; In the late P Lond 483.6 (A.D. 616) (= II. p. 325) τὸ δίκαιον is applied to a monastery, evidently with reference to its ";corporate unity as distinct from the individual who happens at any given time to represent it as prior"; (see the editor’s note).

For the adverb, cf. P Magd 29.5 (B.C. 218) οὐ διείρηταί μοι δικαίως —a complaint that the division of a piece of land has not been made ";fairly."; For the combination ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως, as in 1 Thessalonians 2:10, see P Par 63viii. 12 ff. where a letter-writer claims that he has acted ";in a holy and just way"; before the gods—ἐγὼ γὰρ πιστεύσας σοί τε καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς, πρὸς οὓς ὁσίως καὶ δίκ. . . δικαίως [πολι ]τευσάμενος κτλ. MGr is δίκι ̯ος : the phrase ἔχω δίκι ̯ο, ";I am right,"; recalls the old substantival use. It should be added that Δίκαιος appears as a proper name : cf. the Latin Iustus, as in Acts 1:23; Acts 18:7, Colossians 4:11.

 

ἀθῷον δικαια δικαία δίκαια δικαιαι δίκαιαι δικαιαν δικαίαν δικαιας δικαίας δικαιε δίκαιε δικαιοι δίκαιοι δικαιοις δικαίοις δικαιον δίκαιον δίκαιόν δικαιος δίκαιος δίκαιός δικαιοσύνη δικαιου δικαίου δικαιους δικαίους δικαιω δικαίω δικαίῳ δικαιων δικαίων athôion athō̂ion athoon athōon dikaia dikaía díkaia dikaiai díkaiai dikaian dikaían dikaias dikaías dikaie díkaie dikaio dikaiō dikaioi dikaíoi dikaíōi díkaioi dikaiois dikaíois dikaion dikaiōn dikaíon dikaíōn díkaion díkaión dikaios díkaios díkaiós dikaiou dikaíou dikaious dikaíous