King James Bible Dictionary

Is rendering to every one that which is his due. It has been distinguished from equity in this respect, that while justice means merely the doing what positive law demands, equity means the doing of what is fair and right in every separate case.

General references
Exodus 23:1-3; Exodus 23:6-8; Leviticus 19:13-15; Deuteronomy 16:18-20; Deuteronomy 25:1-4; Ezra 7:26; Psalms 72:1-2; Psalms 82:2-4; Proverbs 17:15; Proverbs 17:26; Proverbs 18:5; Proverbs 18:17; Proverbs 20:8; Proverbs 22:27; Proverbs 24:23; Proverbs 28:21; Proverbs 29:26; Ecclesiastes 3:16-17; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 7:7; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 56:1; Isaiah 59:14-15; Jeremiah 22:1-4; Lamentations 3:35-36; Amos 5:7; Amos 5:11-12; Micah 7:3; Habakkuk 1:4; Zech 8:16; Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 12:7; John 7:24; John 7:51; 1 Corinthians 13:6
Court; Judges; Witness; Lawyer

JUST'ICE, noun [Latin justitia, from justus, just.]

1. The virtue which consists in giving to every one what is his due; practical conformity to the laws and to principles of rectitude in the dealings of men with each other; honesty; integrity in commerce or mutual intercourse. justice is distributive or commutative. Distributive justice belongs to magistrates or rulers, and consists in distributing to every man that right or equity which the laws and the principles of equity require; or in deciding controversies according to the laws and to principles of equity. Commutative justice consists in fair dealing in trade and mutual intercourse between man and man.

2. Impartiality; equal distribution of right in expressing opinions; fair representation of facts respecting merit or demerit. In criticisms, narrations, history or discourse, it is a duty to do justice to every man, whether friend or foe.

3. Equity; agreeableness to right; as, he proved the justice of his claim. This should, in strictness, be justness.

4. Vindictive retribution; merited punishment. Sooner or later, justice overtakes the criminal.

5. Right; application of equity. His arm will do him justice

6. [Low Latin justiciarius.] A person commissioned to hold courts, or to try and decide controversies and administer justice to individuals; as the Chief justice of the king's bench, or of the common pleas, in England; the Chief justice of the supreme court in the United States, etc. and justices of the peace.

JUST'ICE, verb transitive To administer justice [Little used.]

That perfection of his nature whereby he is infinitely righteous in himself and in all he does, the righteousness of the divine nature exercised in his moral government. At first God imposes righteous laws on his creatures and executes them righteously. Justice is not an optional product of his will, but an unchangeable principle of his very nature. His legislative justice is his requiring of his rational creatures conformity in all respects to the moral law. His rectoral or distributive justice is his dealing with his accountable creatures according to the requirements of the law in rewarding or punishing them (Psalms 89:14). In remunerative justice he distributes rewards (James 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:8); in vindictive or punitive justice he inflicts punishment on account of transgression (2 Thessalonians 1:6). He cannot, as being infinitely righteous, do otherwise than regard and hate sin as intrinsically hateful and deserving of punishment. "He cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). His essential and eternal righteousness immutably determines him to visit every sin as such with merited punishment.

JUST'ICEABLE, adjective Liable to account in a court of justice. [Little used.]

JUST'ICER, noun An administrator of justice. [Little used.]

JUST'ICESHIP, noun The office or dignity of a justice.