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 “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.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 10:11

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life”: “The mouth” is a poetic use of one of the organs of speech and refers to the words or thoughts spoken by “the righteous”, that is, a good, honest person. “Fountain of life” is similar to “tree of life” used in 3.18. See there for comments. The expression is used in Psa 36.9 (Hebrew verse 10), where it refers to God as being the source or creator of all life. In 16.22 Wisdom is a “fountain of life”. In this verse the expression refers to the words of the righteous, perhaps because such people are identified with the wise and with wisdom. In translation “a fountain of life” must often be expressed as a simile; for example, “. . . are like a fountain that gives life.” “Fountain” renders a word that is also applied to a well dug by people or to a naturally occurring spring.

“But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence”: See verse 6. “The mouth of the wicked” parallels and contrasts with the mouth of the righteous. The contrast here, as in verse 6, is between the words of good people, which are compared to a life-giving fountain, and the evil that hides in the words or thoughts of the wicked. We may translate, for example, “The words of good people are like a spring that gives life, but the words of the wicked hide the harm they will do.”

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 .

complete verse (Proverbs 10:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 10:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “The mouth of (a) righteous person brings life,
    but that of wicked person spews violence.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The mouths of good people
    are a source of life.
    The mouths of evil people
    conceal repulsive matters.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “What a righteous man says can-make- the lives of others -good, but what a wicked man says can-harm.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The words of a righteous-person, (they) can-be-compared to a spring that is a source of life, but the cruel/malicious, they cover-over by-means-of their words the evil that they are-doing.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “What righteous people say is like a fountain that gives life/enables people to live many years ,
    but what wicked people say hides the fact that they intend to act violently.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 10:11

10:11

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning.

11a
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

11b but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

In Hebrew, the parallel parts form a chiasm. The parts in 10:11b occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 10:11a. The New American Bible is one of the few versions that preserves the chiasm in English. It has:

11a
A fountain of life is the mouth of the just,

11b but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

You will need to decide whether it is effective to use a chiasm here in your language.

10:11a

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life: The mouth is a figure of speech (metonymy). It represents the words that the mouth speaks. The whole line is a metaphor. The words that a righteous person speaks are compared to a spring or other source of life-giving water. See the note on “fountain” in 5:18a.

If this metaphor does not express the meaning clearly in your language, some other ways to translate the metaphor are:

Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:

The words of a good person give life, like a fountain of water (New Century Version)

Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:

The words of good people are a source of life (Contemporary English Version)

However, a source of good drinking water, such as a spring or well, is a meaningful figure of speech in most parts of the world. It helps people to think about the meaning. So if possible, you should keep the figure of speech.