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 (Isaiah 49:24)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Isaiah 49:24:

  • Kupsabiny: “Can a person really rob from a warrior
    what he has plundered?
    Or can a person save a prisoner
    from a king he has rebelled against?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “What! Can the plundered goods of brave soldiers be taken from [them]?
    Can those who have been taken captive be delivered [lit.: released] from those who have hard hearts?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Can- you (sing.) -take-it-back the taken-by-force/plunders of the ruthless soldiers? Can- you (sing.) -save the ones- they -have-taken-captives?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “There is no one who can snatch valuable things from a soldier who has captured those things in a war;
    there is no one who can force a tyrant/cruel man to free the people whom he has captured.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Isaiah 49:24

The person asking the rhetorical question in this verse is not identified. It could be the prophet or Zion, but it could also be Yahweh using the question form to introduce his words of assurance that follow. However, some commentators see the question as an expression of lament or despair made by Israel, indicating a lack of faith in God’s power to rescue his people from the nations, especially from Babylonia. The person asking the question believes that releasing the prisoners of a tyrant cannot be done. In any case, it is the LORD who provides a contrastive response. We recommend that translators do not identify a speaker, and that they present this verse without quotation marks.

Can the prey be taken from the mighty…?: This first part of the rhetorical question implies that it is not possible to do this, certainly not from the human perspective. Prey is a term more often reserved for animals that are being hunted. The mighty refers to any person or animal with great strength. So this question is very general, and could apply to either animals or people. But Good News Translation and most translations consulted view the Hebrew word rendered prey as “loot,” and make this line a reference to soldiers who keep what they have captured in war. This view is supported by the following parallel line.

Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued: This second part of the question can only apply to people. A tyrant is someone who is strong and cruel in his treatment of others. For a tyrant, Bible en français courant has “the brute,” Revised English Bible says “the ruthless,” and New International Version uses “the fierce.” So the double question asks whether it is possible for those who are weak to be rescued from the very strong. The obvious answer is “No!” There is a textual problem here since Masoretic Text has “a righteous person” (tsaddiq in Hebrew) instead of a tyrant (ʿarits in Hebrew). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows Masoretic Text with “a victor.” However, Dead Sea Scrolls and other early texts have “a tyrant,” which Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports. An early scribe probably made a copying error since the Hebrew words for “a righteous person” and “a tyrant” look very similar.

If the passive verbs be taken and be rescued require an active form in some languages, the agent for these verbs should be indefinite since the two parts of this question are general. A possible model that does this is “Can anyone [or, people] take … Can anyone [or, people] rescue…?” Good News Translation uses active forms with the impersonal subject “you.” It also splits the double question into two separate questions, which other languages may find helpful.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• Can prey be taken from one who is powerful?
Or can captives be rescued from a ruthless person?

• Is it possible for loot to be taken from a warrior
or prisoners to be liberated from a tyrant?

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .