Greek word · G5267

ὑπόδικος

hypodikos

accountable

A legal adjective: 'under a lawsuit,' liable to trial, answerable to, subject to penalty. It is often followed by the dative of the party who was wronged or to whom satisfaction is owed (BDAG: 'answerable/accountable to someone').

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὑπόδικος, -ον

brought to trial, answerable to: with dative of person(s), τ. θεῷ, Romans 3:19 (see MM, xxv).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Romans 3:19

Range of meaning

A legal adjective: 'under a lawsuit,' liable to trial, answerable to, subject to penalty. It is often followed by the dative of the party who was wronged or to whom satisfaction is owed (BDAG: 'answerable/accountable to someone').

Against the English

KJV 'guilty before God' is broadly right in legal terms but invites a modern hearing of guilt as a feeling. It also loses the dative picture of being answerable to God. BSB/NIV/ESV 'held accountable to God' and WEB/YLT 'under (the) judgment (of/to) God' keep the courtroom standing.

How it drifted

'Guilty' in modern English slides from a legal verdict toward an inner emotion, the sense of feeling guilty. The Greek has no psychological content: it describes where a person stands before a court.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only here in the New Testament, and not a Septuagint word. It is common in classical Greek legal language (for example in Plato's Laws and the Attic orators) for someone liable to prosecution or penalty, and it appears in legal inscriptions and documents.

Where it appears

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 3:19 ὑπόδικος under judgment

    Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

    Here: A legal term found only here in the New Testament: 'liable to trial or penalty,' 'answerable to' the injured party. It describes a person's standing before a court, not a feeling of guilt.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.