righteous, righteousness

The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)

Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:

  • Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
  • Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
  • Kipsigis: “do the truth”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
  • Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
  • Indonesian: “be true”
  • Navajo: “do just so”
  • Anuak: “do as it should be”
  • Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
  • Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
  • Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
  • Carib: “level”
  • Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
  • Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
  • Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
  • Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)

See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), and She is more in the right(eous) than I.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 1:14

“Throw in your lot among us” translates what is literally “Let your lot fall with us.” The casting of lots was a common method in the Old Testament to determine God’s will or to affirm a divine decision. Lots were cast to divide land, or to assign service, duty, or punishment. According to Scott the expression as used here can mean either “be one of us when we cast lots to divide the proceeds,” or figuratively “join us, associate your fate with ours.” The latter interpretation seems preferred. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version understand it in the second sense as do Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Come and share your luck with us” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “We will share the loot among us. Come do it with us.” Another translation has “You come and be a partner with us [exclusive].”

“We will all have one purse”: The robbers propose to share the loot they will take. “We” is inclusive again here. “Purse” or bag could refer to the bag that held the stones used in casting lots, or more probably it is used as an image representing the money, wealth, or possessions taken by the gang. In this case the sense is “We will share the money” or “Everyone will get a share of the loot.” Contemporary English Version says “If you join our gang, you’ll get your share.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Translation commentary on Proverbs 11:4

The term “righteousness” is a common element in verses 4-6. The heading used by Toy for verses 3-6 is “The saving power of goodness contrasted with the destructive power of evil.” Scott gives the theme of these verses as “the survival value of virtue or ‘righteousness.'”

“Riches do not profit in the day of wrath”: “Do not profit” means that riches have no advantage, will do a person no good, or have no value. See 10.2 for comments. “The day of wrath”, as used in the prophets, is the time in which the Lord brings famine, pestilence, or exile on Israel or other nations. See Ezek 7.9; Isa 10.3. In the Wisdom books it is the day of retribution for the individual sinner, which from the parallelism of this verse may be a reference to death (see below). Whybray argues that the sense here is that the “Riches” referred to have been obtained wrongfully, as in 10.2, and the person who gets wealth in this way brings the anger of the Lord upon himself. Being rich will not protect him from the consequences of his evil. However, there is nothing here to say that wealth in itself is wrong; the saying rather suggests that it is unsafe to rely on riches when faced with calamity or death. We may translate, for example, “On the day when God judges us, all the things a rich man has will not help him.”

“But righteousness delivers from death”: This line is the same as the second line of 10.2. See there for translation. For “righteousness” see 8.20. “Death” here has the sense of a premature and unhappy death brought on the wicked by the Lord. For a good model translation see Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .