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 15:6

In 8.18 and 21 Wisdom has wealth to give to her followers. In this saying prosperity is the reward given to good people.

“In the house of the righteous there is much treasure”: “In the house of the righteous” means “where good people live.” “Treasure” translates a word meaning “stores” or “wealth.” 10.2 renders a different Hebrew word but with the same sense as here. Contemporary English Version says “Good people become wealthy,” and Bible en français courant has “Good people’s lives are filled with wealth.” In some languages a literal rendering of “house” is appropriate: “Good people have plenty of things in their houses.”

“But trouble befalls the income of the wicked”: This line seems literally to say “but in the increase of the wicked [there is] trouble.” However, it is not certain if this means that the wealth of the wicked causes trouble for others or that the wicked are troubled by their own wealth, which seems to be more likely. “Income” renders a word found in 10.16, where Revised Standard Version translates “gain” and Good News Translation “leads . . . to.” In 14.4 this word is translated by Revised Standard Version in agricultural terms as “crops.” In the present verse its application is general, and it means “profit” or “wealth,” matching the parallel term “treasure” in line 1. New English Bible/Revised English Bible say “the gains of the wicked bring trouble,” which we should probably understand to mean “bring trouble to the wicked.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “but evil persons’ earnings do them no good.”

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 15:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “There is great wealth in the house of a righteous person,
    and/but the things of a sinner is/brings only trouble/suffering.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The treasury of the righteous
    is full of wealth,
    but the wealth of fools
    just brings more trouble.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The wealth of the righteous will-become-many, but what belongs to the wicked will-vanish.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The righteous/just, they become-rich, but the salary that those whose minds are evil gain is destructive.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “There are many valuable things in the houses of righteous people;
    the wealth of wicked people causes them to have troubles/difficulties.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 15:6

15:6

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

6a
The house of the righteous has great treasure,

6b but the income of the wicked is trouble.

These parallels are not exact. The main contrast is probably between the stable wealth of a righteous person and the profits gained by wicked people. These profits bring them only trouble.

15:6a

The house of the righteous has great treasure: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as treasure is a general term that refers to all kinds of wealth. It includes produce, possessions, money, and other valuable things. For example:

Great wealth is in the house of the righteous (New American Standard Bible)

15:6b

but the income of the wicked is trouble: There is a textual difference here:

(1) The Masoretic Text (MT) has: “In/With the income of the wicked is calamity/trouble.” This means that the wages or profit gained by the wicked will result in trouble ⌊for themselves and/or for others⌋ . For example:

the gains of the wicked bring trouble (Revised English Bible)

(2) The LXX has: “The fruits of the ungodly shall perish.” This means that the wages or profit gained by the wicked will be destroyed or lost. For example:

but those who are evil will lose what they have (Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1), along with most versions and scholars. Option (2) provides a more exact contrast with 15:6a, but that is insufficient reason for not following the MT.

the income of the wicked: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as income can refer to crops/produce (as in 3:9). But here, it contrasts with “wealth” in 15:6a. So it probably refers to the income, profit, or benefit that the wicked gain from their activities.

is trouble: The Hebrew text (given in option 1) is ambiguous. The income of the wicked may cause trouble either to themselves or to other people.

If possible, you should translate in a way that allows either meaning, as in the Revised English Bible (quoted above). If that is not possible, you may specify both meanings. For example:

but the profits that a wicked person gains will cause disaster ⌊for him and also for others⌋

© 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.