oppress

The Hebrew that is translated as “oppress” in various forms in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with kupondereza, In a literal sense, this word means stepping on someone. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

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 18:5

This saying criticizes corrupt judges, as does 17.23.

“It is not good to be partial to a wicked man”: “A wicked man” in this context refers to “a guilty person.” “Be partial to” is literally “lift up the face of” and means to be biased or to favor one person or group more than the other. See Good News Translation “to favor the guilty.” In some languages this thought is expressed, for example, “It is not right for a judge to give his hand to the guilty person.”

“Or to deprive a righteous man of justice”: “Deprive” renders a verb meaning to turn aside or to thrust away. “Deprive . . . of justice” means to refuse to do the right and fair thing. “A righteous man” means here “innocent person,” in contrast to the guilty person in line 1. There are two possible ways of linking the two lines of this saying. On the one hand, both lines may refer to the one action or court case; so Bible en français courant translates this saying “It is not good to take the part of the guilty while refusing to do justice to the innocent.” Good News Translation also follows this approach. On the other hand, the two lines may refer to two different (wrong) actions or habits. The link word “or” in Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Scott, and others gives this sense. One translation that expresses clearly the verse as two possible actions says: “In the court it is not straight for the judge to side with a person who has broken the law. And it is also no good [for him] to go against a person who has done right, to prevent him getting what he has a right to get.”

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 18:5)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 18:5:

  • Kupsabiny: “It is not good to release a guilty person,
    or to arrest a person who is innocent.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “It is not right to side with sinners
    and accuse him who has no guilt.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “(It is) not good to take-side/depend with the one-who-has-sinned and not giving justice to the one who has no sin.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It is bad if the sinner is caused-to-win and the rights of someone with no sin/crime are not defended.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is not good for a judge to decide matters in favor of those who are guilty/have done wicked things
    and to not do what is just for those who are innocent/have not done what is wrong.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 18:5

18:5

This proverb criticizes the action of an unjust judge. This judge gives an unfair verdict in favor of a guilty person and/or prevents an innocent person from getting a fair verdict.

5a Showing partiality to the wicked is not good,

5b nor is depriving the innocent of justice.

In Hebrew, the word “nor” does not occur here. The second part of the verse is more literally “to deprive the righteous of justice” (Revised English Bible). There are two main ways to interpret the relation between the two parts of the verse:

(1) The verse discusses a single legal case. In this case, a judge shows favoritism to a guilty person (18:5a). He also deprives an innocent person of justice (18:5b). Verse 18:5b probably gives the result of the judge’s favoritism or the circumstances in which he showed favoritism. For example:

5a It is not good to be partial to the wicked 5b and so to deprive the innocent of justice. (New International Version (2011))
-or-
5a It is not good to be partial toward a wicked person, 5b thereby depriving an innocent person of justice. (God’s Word)
-or-
5a It is terrible to show partiality to the wicked, 5b by depriving a righteous man of justice. (NET Bible)

(2) The verse discusses two different legal cases. In the first, a judge shows favoritism to a guilty person (18:5a). In the second, a judge deprives an innocent person of justice (18:5b). For example:

5a It is not right to acquit the guilty 5b or deny justice to the innocent. (New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most scholars. In some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of the verse parts. For example:

It is not right to keep an innocent person from getting his legal rights in order to show favoritism to a guilty person.

For similar verses about unjust judges, see 17:15, 17:23, 17:26.

18:5a–b

wicked…innocent: The Berean Standard Bible usually translates the contrasting words wicked and innocent as “wicked” and “righteous.” In a court context, such as here, these words refer to people who are “guilty” and people who are “innocent.”

18:5a

Showing partiality to the wicked: This phrase means “to take the side of the guilty person” in a court case. It probably means that the judge decides the case in his favor by declaring him not guilty. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

to favor the guilty (Good News Translation)
-or-
to acquit the guilty (New Living Translation (2004))

is not good: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as is not good is probably a figure of speech (understatement). It emphasizes the opposite meaning. For example:

It is terrible (NET Bible)
-or-
It’s wrong (Contemporary English Version)

18:5b

depriving the innocent of justice: In Hebrew, this phrase is literally “to turn away…in ⌊the⌋ judgment.” This phrase may indicate that the judge gives an unfair verdict against an innocent person. It may also indicate that he refuses to hear the innocent person’s case. If possible, translate in a way that allows either situation. For example:

to reject a rightful claim (New American Bible)
-or-
keep the innocent from getting justice (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to be unfair to the innocent (New Century Version)

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