StrongerBible

katakrinō

κατακρίνω

GreekG2632condemn, sentence to death, ...

Appears 18 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 12:41Mat 12:42Mat 20:18Mat 27:3Mrk 10:33Mrk 14:64Mrk 16:16Luk 11:31Luk 11:32Jhn 8:10Jhn 8:11Rom 2:1Rom 8:3Rom 8:34Rom 14:231Co 11:32Heb 11:72Pe 2:6
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Word studykat-ak-REE-nohverb

What katakrinō means

to condemn: to pass a verdict of guilt against someone and declare them deserving of punishment

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This word joins the sense of "against" to the ordinary verb for judging (κρίνω), so it never names the neutral weighing of a case but its outcome against the accused: the guilty verdict and the sentence that follows. In the Gospels it is the courtroom word for what the authorities do to Jesus, condemning him to death.

The same act is carried out from very different benches. Human courts hand down the sentence, but so does God, whether on ancient cities, on sin itself, or at the last judgment. Scripture also speaks of a condemnation by contrast: on the last day, people who did respond to God will show up the guilt of those who did not, the way the men of Nineveh who repented will condemn a generation that would not, and the way Noah's obedient faith condemned an unbelieving world.

A quieter use turns the verdict inward. To judge another for what you do yourself is to sentence yourself, and to act against your own conscience is to stand condemned by it. Across all of these, the force is the same: a guilty verdict, not mere disapproval.

Nuances

1ato sentence a person as guilty in a human court, especially to condemn to death
Mat 20:18Mat 27:3Mrk 10:33Mrk 14:64Jhn 8:10Jhn 8:11
1bfor God or Christ to pass judgment, declaring a person, a people, or sin itself guilty and doomed
Mrk 16:16Rom 8:3Rom 8:341Co 11:322Pe 2:6
1cto show someone up as guilty by contrast, so that another's right response exposes their failure
Mat 12:41Mat 12:42Luk 11:31Luk 11:32Heb 11:7
1dto bring a verdict of guilt down on oneself, by one's own standard or one's own conscience
Rom 2:1Rom 14:23

What scholars say about katakrinō

The compound joins the preposition κατά ("against") to κρίνω ("to judge"), yielding the sense of giving judgment against, i.e. condemning. BDAG distinguishes two principal uses: pronouncing a sentence after a determination of guilt (both in human judicial process and in God's judgment) and indicating that a person is guilty by comparison, as when the Ninevites and the Queen of the South are said to condemn Jesus' generation. TDNT (Büchsel, s.v. κρίνω κτλ.) treats κατακρίνω under the κρίνω word-group and notes the forensic, sentence-of-guilt force that sets it apart from the neutral κρίνω. The verb's cognate nouns κατάκριμα (the sentence of condemnation) and κατάκρισις (the act of condemning) share this judicial coloring, especially in Paul.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. κατακρίνωlexicon
  • TDNT, vol. 3, s.v. κρίνω κτλ. (F. Büchsel)theological-dictionary
  • EDNT, vol. 2, s.v. κατακρίνωtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of κατακρίνω

aorist active indicative 3s

κατέκρινεν

Jhn 8:10, Rom 8:3, Heb 11:7, 2Pe 2:6

future active indicative 3p

κατακρινοῦσιν

Mat 12:41, Mat 20:18, Mrk 10:33, Luk 11:32

future active indicative 3s

κατακρινεῖ

Mat 12:42, Luk 11:31

aorist active indicative 3p

κατέκριναν

Mrk 14:64

aorist passive indicative 3s

κατεκρίθη

Mat 27:3

aorist passive subjunctive 1p

κατακριθῶμεν

1Co 11:32

future passive indicative 3s

κατακριθήσεται

Mrk 16:16

perfect passive indicative 3s

κατακέκριται

Rom 14:23

present active indicative 1s

κατακρίνω

Jhn 8:11

present active indicative 2s

κατακρίνεις

Rom 2:1

present active participle nominative m s

κατακρινῶν

Rom 8:34