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 17:26

“To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good”: “To impose a fine” is to punish someone by making them pay for an offense. This saying assumes a legal action by a judge, as in Exo 21.22. “A righteous man” here means an innocent person, someone who is not guilty of any offense. New Revised Standard Version has revised Revised Standard Version to say “the innocent.” “Is not good” is related to what is legally right and wrong, and may be rendered, for example, “is not right” or “is not just.”

“To flog noble men is wrong”: “To flog” is literally “to beat,” and the limitations to this punishment are set out in Deut 25.2-3. “Noble men” translates a word that may refer to persons of noble rank, as in verse 7 where Revised Standard Version has “prince.” However, in this context interpreters see the term as referring to persons of noble or honorable character rather than being restricted to those of high social rank. See Good News Translation.

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 17:26)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 17:26:

  • Kupsabiny: “An innocent person should not be punished,
    or to beat leaders who are doing the right things..” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “It is not right to impose penalties on good people
    or to punish those who do good work.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(It is) not good to punish an innocent man or an honorable man who does right.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is not right if one with no sin/crime is fined and an official is beaten because of the right-things that he does.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is not right to force someone who has done nothing wrong to pay a fine;
    it is wrong to punish good/respected people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 17:26

17:26

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

26a It is surely not good to punish the innocent

26b or to flog a noble for his honesty.

The context of this verse is probably a legal case. Both lines describe unjust punishments of innocent people. The second line probably describes a more severe or unjust situation than the first line.

17:26a

It is surely not good: In this context, the phrase not good means “not right” (Revised English Bible).

to punish: The verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as punish refers specifically to imposing a fine on someone. Many English versions translate this word with the more general meaning punish, like the Berean Standard Bible. It is very acceptable to translate it this way. However, the specific term better emphasizes the progression from a relatively minor fine/payment to a more severe flogging or beating.

the innocent: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates here as innocent is often translated as “righteous.” In this context, it refers to someone who is not guilty of a crime, so innocent accurately expresses the meaning.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

It is wrong to fine a person who has not committed a crime.
-or-
It is not right to make an innocent person pay a fine (Good News Translation)
-or-
It isn’t fair to punish the innocent (Contemporary English Version)

17:26b

or to flog a noble for his honesty: There are different interpretations for both phrases in this line. Some ways to translate the whole line will be given after the interpretations for each phrase have been discussed.

to flog a noble: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to flog a noble is literally “to flog nobles.” There are two ways to interpret the word “nobles.”

(1) It refers to people of high moral character. For example:

those of noble mind (Revised English Bible)
-or-
honorable men (NET Bible)

(2) It refers to people of high rank or status. For example:

leaders (New Century Version)
-or-
the great (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most scholars. This meaning forms a better parallel with “the innocent” in 17:26a.

for his honesty: In Hebrew, the phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for his honesty is literally “against/according to uprightness.” There are two ways to interpret this phrase:

(1) The phrase means “against uprightness.” It refers to a punishment that is “unjust” or “not right.” For example:

…is an injustice (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) The phrase means “according to ⌊their⌋ uprightness.” It refers to a punishment that is given to people of noble status or character because of their integrity or honesty. For example:

for being honest (New Century Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). It provides a better parallel for the phrase “not good” in 17:26a.

Some ways to translate this whole line are:

It is wrong to inflict blows on those of noble mind (Revised English Bible)
-or-
justice is perverted when good people are punished (Good News Translation)
-or-
and to flog honorable men is wrong (NET Bible)

General Comment on 17:26a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts. For example:

It isn’t fair to punish the innocent and those who do right. (Contemporary English Version)

© 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.