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G1384 is an adjective for being approved, accepted, proven, or shown genuine. Some passages imply testing or contrast self-approval with another's commendation, but the adjective does not require one standardized examination process in every use.
Reader summary
Full entry for δόκιμος (G1384) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1384 is an adjective for being approved, accepted, proven, or shown genuine. Some passages imply testing or contrast self-approval with another's commendation, but the adjective does not require one standardized examination process in every use.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include approved (4), are approved (1), stood the test (1), to have stood the test (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 14:18. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Corinthians (2), Romans (2), 1 Corinthians (1), 2 Timothy (1).
G1384 is an adjective for being approved, accepted, proven, or shown genuine. Some passages imply testing or contrast self-approval with another's commendation, but the adjective does not require one standardized examination process in every use. Romans 14:18 speaks of the person who serves Christ in righteousness, peace, and joy as pleasing to God and approved by people. First Corinthians 11:19 says divisions make the approved evident among the church.
Second Corinthians 10:18 states that the approved person is not the one who commends himself but the one the Lord commends. Second Timothy 2:15 calls Timothy to present himself approved to God as an unashamed worker handling the word of truth accurately. James 1:12 uses the adjective for the person who has stood the test under trial. These contexts concern divine commendation, visible genuineness, faithful work, or endurance, not one human credential.
Approval language can be abused when institutions manufacture tests to demand loyalty, excuse mistreatment as character formation, or treat credentials and platforms as proof of God's commendation. G1384 does not authorize leaders to create ordeals, conceal evaluation criteria, or declare dissenters disqualified. Testing must remain truthful, proportionate, accountable, and governed by the actual passage.
G1384 describes approval or demonstrated genuineness in settings of service, church conflict, the Lord's commendation, handling truth, and endurance under trial. The approving agent and context vary.
For whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
The approval follows Paul's description of God's kingdom and service to Christ within a dispute about food and mutual judgment. It is not a general promise of popularity.
And indeed, there must be differences among you to show which of you are approved.
The statement appears in Paul's rebuke of harmful divisions and humiliation of those who have little at the Lord's Supper. It should not be used to celebrate factionalism.
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Paul rejects self-commendation as the measure of approval. The verse undercuts platform-building rather than giving leaders a slogan for claiming private divine endorsement.
Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth.
Timothy's diligence, Godward presentation, unashamed work, and accurate handling of truth belong together. The verse does not reduce approval to one interpretive technique or credential.
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
Approval follows persevering under trial in a promise governed by love for God. It does not authorize people to create harmful trials for others.
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. Approved through testing; of metals proven genuine, applied to persons and faith proven worthy.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
approved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
Read verseapproved, acceptable
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 3 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
δόκιμος is built from this root:
The minister's aim is God's approval through faithful teaching rather than human recognition. 2 Timothy 2:14-19
Approval is not something a worker can create by saying the right things about himself. Second Corinthians directly opposes self-commendation to the Lord's commendation. Second Timothy calls for diligent, unashamed work before God and careful handling of truth. Romans 14 shows that faithful service can also become recognizable to others, while First Corinthians and James place genuineness in contexts of conflict and trial.
These uses support examination and accountability, but they resist performance systems that reward image, institutional loyalty, or endurance of preventable harm. Churches should make evaluation criteria truthful and reviewable, distinguish correction from humiliation, and refuse to call abuse a divine test. A person can lack a platform or credential and still be faithful, while a highly approved public figure may remain in need of examination.
2Tim.2.15
G1384 is an adjective in the approved, accepted, proven, or genuine range. The local artifact records about seven occurrences. Some settings imply a process of testing, while others emphasize acceptance or commendation; the word alone does not define who tests, by what process, or with what authority.
Biblical refining and testing imagery can provide canonical parallels for demonstrated genuineness, but it does not authorize human beings to manufacture suffering. Each New Testament passage identifies its own approving agent, conflict, work, or trial.
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