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 1:23

“Give heed to my reproof”: Wisdom is addressing her words to the simple ones, the scoffers, and the fools mentioned in verse 22. “Give heed”, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, is literally “turn,” an expression that sometimes means to “listen to” or “pay attention to.” “Reproof” translates a word used frequently in Proverbs; “reproof” is the correction given to someone who is at fault. “My reproof” means the correction, reprimand, rebuke, or scolding that Wisdom gives the foolish. A translation of the whole line that expresses this says, “Now I speak to you to correct you, and you must listen!” Another renders “reproof” as “speak strongly to you about letting go your bad behavior.”

“Behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you”: “Behold” calls attention to the importance of what is about to follow. Contemporary English Version combines the three lines of this verse and begins “Listen as I correct you and tell you. . ..” “Pour out my thoughts” is literally “pour out my spirit.” The Traduction Œcuménique de la Bible note is instructive at this point: “The spirit of wisdom may mean its inspiration which gives religious intelligence for human conduct (compare the sense of spirit in Job 32.8). It may also mean the Spirit promised by certain prophets (Isa 11.1-4; Joel 3).”

In any event Wisdom is likened to a fountain of water, a gushing spring for the person who will accept her instruction. Translations differ considerably in this line. New American Bible has “pour out to you my spirit,” New Jewish Publication Society Version “speak my mind,” New Jerusalem Bible “pour out my heart,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “I open to you [plural] the treasure of my wisdom.”

It seems best to understand “my spirit” (“my thoughts”) in terms of what characterizes Wisdom, who is the speaker here. Her essential characteristic is wisdom, and therefore we may say something equivalent to Good News Translation “I will give you good advice” or Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “I will fill you with wisdom.”

“I will make my words known to you”: This line repeats the thought of the previous line. “My words” means “my thoughts,” “my decisions,” “what I think.” Since the people refuse to listen to the words or thoughts of Wisdom, she tells them how she will treat them with scorn.

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 12:3

“A man is not established by wickedness”: “Man” renders Hebrew ʾadam, a general term for a person or people. “Established” is used in 3.19 in regard to founding, making, creating in nature. In 16.12 the same term applies to the stability or security of the king on his throne. It is used in that sense in this line. “Wickedness” in Proverbs refers to evil or bad conduct, the wrong way to behave or treat others (see 2.22). This line affirms that wickedness does not offer anyone stability, safety, or security. However, in some languages it is not possible to speak of wickedness in this way. It is often necessary to say, for example, “If you are an evil person, you will have no security,” “Bad people do not live securely,” or “Evil people’s lives are always in danger.”

“But the root of the righteous will never be moved”: “The root of the righteous” is a figurative expression giving a picture of the righteous person as a plant with a deep root in the soil. Job 8.17-18 speaks of evil people having roots that will be pulled up. In this verse it is the righteous whose good root prevents them from being moved. “Will never be moved” is literally “will not totter [or, slip].” In some languages this figurative expression may be awkward. It may be possible, however, to retain the picture by shifting to a simile, as in Contemporary English Version, “But if you live right, you will be as secure as a tree with deep roots.”

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 .