For there is still a vision for the appointed time . . .

For the section “For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. (…) the righteous live by their faith,” see Hebrews 10:37 and Hebrews 10:38.

Note that this quote in the New Testament is not taken from the Hebrew Bible but from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) which translates into English as “For there is still a vision for an appointed time, and it will rise up at the end and not in vain. If it a should tarry, wait for it, for when it comes it will come and not delay. If it a draws back, my soul is not pleased in it. But the just shall live by my faith.” (Translation by NETS — for the Greek version see the title’s tooltip)

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 (Habakkuk 2:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Habakkuk 2:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “Write, ‘See these people who praise themselves. (They) do not have good thoughts. But a person who is righteous will find/get life through his faith.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Look! at the proud person!
    his desires are not honorable.
    but the righteous people will live by their faithfulness to God. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This is what you (sing.) are-to-write:
    ‘Look-at the proud! They (are) wicked people. But the righteous people will-live because of their faith.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The characteristically-sinful, they will have no proper outcome, but the righteous person, their lives are based-on their faith.’” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Habakkuk 2:4

Here at last the content of “the vision” referred to in verse 2 is given. It is introduced by a Hebrew word translated Behold in Revised Standard Version. The function of this word is shown more clearly in Good News Translation with “And this is the message.” One may also say “Here is the message” or “This is what I want you to write.”

The message itself consists of two statements, but unfortunately the first one is somewhat uncertain in meaning. Since the second statement is about the righteous, it is reasonable in a context like this to expect that the first statement will be in contrast to it, speaking about the wicked. Most translations fit this expectation, but the details of the statement remain uncertain.

The traditional Hebrew text is translated literally in Revised Version as “his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him.” There is no noun for the pronouns “his” and “him” to refer to, but the general setting suggests that they refer to “the wicked” of 1.13, that is, the Babylonians. The expression “puffed up” in English usually means “full of pride” (as in Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), and some versions have something similar to this (New American Bible “rash,” New English Bible “reckless”). George Adam Smith translates “swollen, not level is his soul within him,” and compares this with the everyday English expressions “swollen headed” (that is, proud of one’s achievements) and “level headed” (that is, having a fair assessment of oneself and one’s situation).

Some scholars prefer to change the order of two letters in one Hebrew word. This gives a translation like that of Revised Standard Version, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail (compare Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible). He whose soul simply means “he.” The soul stands for the whole person, as it often does in the Bible. Good News Translation also accepts this change but expresses it in a clearer way as “Those who are evil will not survive.” Good News Translation uses the plural to express the general statement, and replaces the negative not upright with the single term “evil.” This gives a balanced contrast with the second half of the verse, and translators are recommended to follow it. Shall fail (“will not survive”) may be expressed more simply as “will die.”

The second statement, in its King James Version form “the just shall live by his faith,” is the best known text in the book of Habakkuk. Revised Standard Version replaces “just” with righteous, which is less ambiguous (compare New English Bible, Good News Translation, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible). Jerusalem Bible uses the more modern term “upright.” In Habakkuk’s time, to be “righteous” or “upright” meant to obey God’s law and to treat other people fairly. So Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates “whoever keeps faith with me and does what is right.” A good summary of the conduct intended is given in Psalm 15. The righteous here are the people of Judah, or at least those of them who share Habakkuk’s concerns. Righteous may be rendered as “good people,” “straight people,” “upright people,” “people who obey (or, are loyal to) God,” or even figuratively as “people with straight livers.”

The word translated faith in Revised Standard Version is more accurately “faithfulness” (Revised Standard Version footnote, Jerusalem Bible; compare “faithful” in Moffatt, New English Bible, Good News Translation). This means being loyal to God and obedient to his law, even when outward circumstances make it difficult, as they did in Habakkuk’s day. In modern speech we may perhaps use the word “integrity,” though this does not have the religious overtones that “faithfulness” has.

Good News Translation again uses the plural to express a general statement: “those who are righteous.” Good News Translation also makes the religious aspect explicit by saying “because they are faithful to God.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• This is what I want you to write: ‘Those people who are evil will die, but the good people will live because they obey God (or, follow God faithfully).’ ”

This verse is quoted three times in the New Testament (Rom 1.17; Gal 3.11; Heb 10.38) from its Septuagint translation. Paul makes it the basis for his doctrine of justification by faith, but in doing so he alters its meaning in two ways. First, the Greek word for “faith” does not have exactly the same components of meaning as the Hebrew word for “faithfulness.” The Greek word has a stronger element of intellectual and emotional commitment and less ethical emphasis. This change of focus was caused by the very fact of translation rather than by Paul’s deliberate choice. Secondly, Paul does deliberately link the words of Habakkuk together in a way different from that which Habakkuk intended. In linguistic terms, Paul uses a different immediate constituent analysis, that is, he sees a different set of semantic relationships between the words as they occur in the sentence. Whereas Habakkuk linked “by his faithfulness” with “shall live,” Paul linked “by faith” with “the righteous.” The contrast may be shown as “The righteous//shall live by faithfulness” (Habakkuk) as against “The righteous by faith//shall live” (Paul). In both the Hebrew and the Greek, the terms for “by faithfulness” or “by faith” come between “the righteous” and “shall live,” and so the change in the analysis can be made more easily than appears from the English. (Compare Revised Standard Version Rom 1.17, “He who through faith is righteous shall live,” with Good News Translation‘s restructuring, “The person who is put right with God through faith shall live.”)

The translator of Habakkuk does not need to worry too much about Paul’s theology. However, he does need to see what Paul has done, so that he can understand the difference between the meaning Habakkuk intended and the meaning Paul later drew from these words. Among Christians, Paul’s teaching is much more familiar than Habakkuk’s, and translators must therefore be careful not to translate in such a way that they make Habakkuk sound like Paul! Habakkuk’s own meaning in its original context must be respected, and not changed to conform to the New Testament application of his words.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .