righteous, righteousness

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “upright(ness)” and “just(ice)”) 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)
  • Sayula Popoluca: “walk straight”
  • 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 (Dinė): “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.)
  • (San Mateo del Mar Huave: “completely good” (the translation does not imply sinless perfection)
  • 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)
  • Makonde: “doing what God wants” (in a context of us doing) and “be good in God’s eyes” (in the context of being made righteous by God) (note that justify / justification is translated as “to be made good in the eyes of God.” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)
  • 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.)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Gerechtheit, a neologism to differentiate it from the commonly-used Gerechtigkeit which can mean “righteousness” but is more often used in modern German as “fairness” (Berger / Nord especially use Gerechtheit in Letter to the Romans) or Gerechtestun, also a neologism, meaning “righteous deeds” (especially in Letter to the Ephesians)
  • “did what he should” (Eastern Highland Otomi)
  • “a clear man, good [man]” (Mairasi) (source: Enggavoter 2004)

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

complete verse (Exodus 23:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 23:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Don’t tie words on (accuse someone falsely) and do not kill someone who is innocent because I will judge each one who has done like that to another person.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Keep far away from false and do not put an innocent or honest person to death because I will not acquit the wicked.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) are- not -to-accuse (others) with lies. You (plur.) are- not -to-kill righteous or innocent people, for I will- surely -punish anyone who does this.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And you (pl.) can’t/mustn’t lie and so make another man testify on charges for nothing. And if an upright man has no bad fault, you can’t/mustn’t make him testify on charges for nothing and so strike him dead. For whoever has a bad fault in doing this, I will make him testify on charges, and so it won’t be possible for him to bypass his punishment.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “not (imp.) a man bind with lies, and one who not sin, let them not (imp.) him kill, because they who do it thus, I not for them it will forgive.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “Do not accuse people falsely. Do not decide that innocent and righteous people should be executed, because I will punish/not forgive people who do such an evil thing.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on Exod 23:7

Keep far from a false charge is literally “You [singular] be far from a word [davar] of falsehood.” This probably refers to “false accusations” (Good News Translation), but since davar can mean either “word” or “thing,” New American Bible has “anything dishonest,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “fraud.” Translator’s Old Testament even has “legal corruption,” which is possible but probably too general. The most likely interpretation is “false charges” or “false accusations.” The speaker of the false charge is not specified, but it is probably the one who is being addressed. So Good News Translation has “Do not make false accusations,” and translators are advised to follow this interpretation. In some languages it will be necessary to identify the one who is accused; for example, “Don’t make false accusations against any person.”

And do not slay the innocent and righteous is literally “and the innocent and the righteous you [singular] will not kill.” The word for slay is used in 2.14. It is a very general word for killing and does not suggest how the killing should take place. It may be understood as “do not put … to death” (Good News Translation), “do not cause the death” (Revised English Bible), or even: “Don’t … sentence an innocent person to death” (Contemporary English Version). The word for innocent carries the idea of being free from guilt. The word for righteous is similar in meaning, but it has the more positive meaning of “honest” (New International Version), “just” (New American Bible), and “upright” (New Jerusalem Bible). A righteous person was one who lived according to the standards of the community and in good relations with his neighbors. Both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version consider the phrase innocent and righteous to refer to the same person, and translate as “innocent person.” However, if translators have suitable terms for innocent and “upright,” one may say “Don’t sentence an innocent and upright person to death.”

For I will not acquit the wicked, literally “for I will not cause to be righteous the guilty,” uses the causative form of the word for righteous. The wicked may be understood as anyone who is “guilty” (New Revised Standard Version) or a “wrongdoer” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), but it may also refer back to anyone who would, as Good News Translation expresses it, “put an innocent person to death.” Good News Translation renders the final clause positively: “for I will condemn anyone who does such an evil thing.” A few translations follow the Septuagint here by changing the I to “you”; for example, New American Bible has “nor shall you acquit the guilty” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible and Translator’s Old Testament). It is better, however, to stay with the Hebrew text. Another model for this final sentence is “I will not forgive anyone who….”

An alternative translation model for verses 6-7 combined is:

• When judges [or, chiefs] decide the cases of poor people, you must make sure that they judge fairly. They must not sentence an innocent and upright person to death. If they do such an evil thing, I will not forgive them.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .