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 10:2

“Treasures gained by wickedness”: This line may be taken as a warning to the sons of verse 1. “Treasures” refers to material objects of value such as wealth or goods. The Hebrew says literally “treasures of wickedness,” which means wealth obtained unjustly or from wrong means, that is, “ill-gotten wealth.” Note that Good News Translation (“Wealth you get by dishonesty”) switches to direct address.

“Do not profit”: In Job 21.15 Job asks “What profit do we get if we pray to him?” The sense is “What advantage?” Here we may say “have no advantage” or “will do no good.” New Jerusalem Bible has “Treasures wickedly come by give no benefit,” and Revised English Bible says “No good comes of ill-gotten wealth.” We may also say, for example, “It does no good to get riches dishonestly.” A more direct approach is “If you follow bad ways and become rich, your money will not make you live well.”

“But righteousness delivers from death”: This line is repeated in 11.4b. “Righteousness” contrasts with “wickedness” here and in a number of other verses in this chapter. Since “wickedness” in the first line refers to all manner of wrong or evil ways of obtaining wealth, “righteousness” refers to being good, fair, just, or honest. “Delivers from death” is understood in various ways by interpreters and translators. The thought may be that right living and honesty, in contrast to dishonesty in the first line, guarantee a person a long life, as is suggested in 3.2. In this case the thought may be translated “honesty saves you from an early death” or “right living will give you a long life.” In some languages it is unnatural for a quality such as goodness or honesty to save or deliver a person. However, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch offers a model translation in which God is introduced as the one who saves: “but God saves from an early death the one who obeys him.” Another rendering is that of Bible en français courant, in which the whole verse says “Goods wrongly obtained are never profitable, only honest earnings enable a person to live.”

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 10:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 10:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “Wealth gotten from/in (a) sinful/evil way, will not save/profit people,
    but the way of righteousness saves/delivers.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Wealth gathered by dishonest dealings
    will not do [you] any good,
    but [your] life will be saved
    by righteousness.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Wealth taken through a bad way can- not -give goodness/wellbeing, but a righteous living can-give goodness/wellbeing for-this can-save you (sing.) from death.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Wealth that is-gained by bad strategies, there-is-nothing that it gives-as-help, but righteousness/justice, it saves from death.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Money that you get by doing dishonest/wicked things will really not benefit you;
    but by living righteously you will live for a long time/many years.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 10:2

10:2

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

2a
Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing,

2b but righteousness brings deliverance from death.

This proverb states a general principle. In some languages, it may be more natural to talk about “a person” or “people” who gain wealth dishonestly or who are righteous. For example:

A person who becomes rich dishonestly will not benefit from his wealth, but a righteous person will be rescued from death.

In other languages, it may be more natural to use a pronoun such as “you” or “we.” For example:

If you(sing/plur) get rich as a result of doing what is wrong, your(sing/plur) wealth will not benefit you(sing/plur).
-or-
If we(dual/incl) get rich as a result of doing what is wrong, our(dual/incl) wealth will not benefit us(dual/incl).

For this kind of proverb, the meaning lines in the Display will often give only one pronoun choice, for example, “you(sing) ” or “we(incl.).” Use a form in your language that is natural for proverbs that state a general principle. Also see the translation advice on the use of “if” clauses in the General Comment on 1:7a–b.

10:2a

Ill-gotten treasures profit nothing: The phrase Ill-gotten treasures refers to any wealth that a person has obtained wrongly or illegally. The phrase profit nothing does not refer to the actual monetary value of the wealth. It refers to the lasting benefit that a person will get from it. Some other ways to translate this line are:

What you gain by doing evil won’t help you at all (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Riches that a person gets by doing wrong have no lasting value
-or-
No good comes of ill-gotten wealth (Revised English Bible)

10:2b

but righteousness brings deliverance from death: This identical clause is found in 11:4b. In this clause, righteousness is personified. It is described as someone who performs an action.

The clause means that a person who does what is right will be rescued from death. It is implied that the LORD is the one who rescues the person. In some languages, this may need to be made explicit. For example:

but as for the person who does what is right, ⌊the LORD⌋ will save him from death

righteousness: In Hebrew, this word refers here to right or just conduct according to God’s law. See the note on “righteousness” in 8:18b.

brings deliverance from death: In this context, brings deliverance from death probably indicates that a person will be spared/rescued from a premature death. But it may also indicate that he will be given life after death. If possible, you should translate in such a way that your readers can understand either interpretation.

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.