The Case Against δικαιος being translated as "innocent" as opposed to "righteous" in Luke 23:47

If this so-called historical centurion was a Koine-speaking non-Jew, he would almost certainly not have thought of using δικαιος to express is conviction of Jesus’ innocence. It cannot be over-emphasized that no one has yet produced an example from the Koine of δικαιος being used in this forensic sense; there was an adequate range of suitable words commonly available: δικαιος, αναιτιος, αθωος, αμεμπτος or απροσκοπος. On the other hand, had he been a Koine-speaking proselyte to Judaism or a God-fearer who knew his Greek Bible thoroughly, he would have been much more like to know and use δικαιος in the religious sense found in 95 per cent of its occurrences in the LXX rather than I the very specialise sense adduced by Fitzmyer, Kilpatrick et al. If a historical centurion’s use of δικαιος is in focus, then ‘just’ or ‘righteous’ must be overwhelmingly the more likely translation. Much more to the point, however, at Luke 23.47 one is probably dealing with Luke’s own use and not that of an otherwise unknown warrior, and he can offer surer comments on the evangelists’ use of the word. (Peter Doble, The Paradox of Salvation: Luke’s Theology of the Cross [Society of New Testament Studies Monograph Series 87; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996], 85, italics in original)