complete verse (Psalm 1:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 1:5:

  • West African language: “That is why God will hit them when he judges all people, he will not let them share with those who are at his back.” (Source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1983, p. 420ff. )
  • Eastern Bru: “Arriving at the day God judges the wicked people, on that day God will sort out those wicked people from the straight good/righteous people.” (Source: Bru Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So on the day of judgment, they will-be-punished by God and they will- not -be-joined-in with the righteous-ones.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Therefore, wicked people will not be acquitted/will be condemned when God judges people, and furthermore, sinful people will not even be present when God gathers righteous people together,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

righteous, righteousness

Click here to view graphically

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 Psalm 1:5

Therefore: this introduces the consequence of the worthless nature of the wicked. Unlike Good News Translation, it should be formally represented in translation; for example, “And so,” “For this reason,” or “On account of this.”

In line a the Hebrew text repeats the wicked from verse 4, and in line b it has the synonymous term sinners. Good News Translation has combined the two, using “Sinners” as the subject of both lines, since the same people are meant, and not two different groups. These two lines are typically parallel, in that line a uses the common term judgment, whereas line b shifts to the rarer and more literary expression congregation of the righteous. The second line carries the condemnation of the wicked even further by saying “what’s more, they (the ‘wicked,’ now called ‘sinners’) will not be part of God’s own people.” Translators will often use one term for wicked and sinners here, as well as in verse 1. In any case, they should be certain that the text does not imply that the two lines speak of two different groups.

Will not stand in the judgment: “will be condemned by God when they are judged.” This line is obviously a close parallel to the next line; the wicked are the same as sinners, and what is said of them in this line must parallel or complement what is said of them in the next line. The verb “to stand” is understood by some scholars to mean “to be resurrected,” but most believe that it is a figure of acquittal in a court of judgment; that is, not stand means not to be acquitted, and so, “be condemned.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “will not survive (judgment),” and New English Bible (New English Bible) “shall not stand firm.” In the second line the same verb (which is not repeated in Hebrew) means “will not be together with the righteous people.” The main question to be answered is whether the psalmist is talking about the final Day of Judgment or thinking about the judgment of God which falls upon everyone in this life and particularly, in Hebrew thought, in the common life of the people of God. The next verse, which speaks of Yahweh’s knowing “the way of the righteous” while “the way of the wicked” disappears, seems to support the former interpretation, that is, “there on the Day of Judgment sinners will be condemned; they will not be with God’s own people.” However, should the translator prefer the other interpretation, something like the following can be said: “Therefore sinners will be punished by God; they cannot be a part of God’s people.”

Stand in the judgment will often remain unclear to the reader unless God is named as the one who judges the wicked. In some languages it is necessary to avoid a passive construction and say “God will condemn evil people,” or if it is desirable to make more explicit the failure of the wicked at the judgment, then one may render it “God will not find evil people innocent when he judges them.”

Nor sinners in Hebrew the one verb “to stand” is used for both lines; it may be necessary, as Good News Translation does, to have another verb for line b, since not stand … in the congregation of the righteous means that the wicked will not be included among the righteous people. The translation of line b can be “they (or, the sinners) will not be included among the righteous,” “there will be no place for sinners in the gathering (or, assembly) of the righteous.”

Most translations of verse 5 appear as a pair of coordinate statements concerning the wicked (Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). However, if the translator is to make clear the relation of the second line to the first, it is necessary to show that the second line goes beyond the first; for example, “what is more, they will be kept apart…” or “they will even be kept apart….” In languages in which the passive is not used, it may be necessary to say, for example, “not only that, but God will not accept them as part of his own people,” or as direct address, “… God will say ‘You are not part of my people.’ ”

The phrase the congregation of the righteous means all God-fearing Israelites (see 111.1). Here it stands for those whom God rewards in this life or will reward on Judgment Day. Something like “the faithful,” or “those who obey God,” or “those whom God will declare innocent” may be used. Or else, “God’s own people.” Good News Translation “kept apart” supplies the implied verb in line b. Line b may be handled as the consequence of line a, that is, “God will judge evil people, and therefore they will not be among his people.”

The word congregation should not be translated by a word or phrase that indicates an organized religious group, especially a Christian group. Here it means simply “all the righteous,” “all of God’s people,” “all the people who worship God.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .