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 21:18

The two lines of this verse are parallel in both form and meaning. The thought seems to be that when evil people suffer while righteous people do not, the evil people are in some sense suffering for, or in place of, the righteous.

“The wicked is a ransom for the righteous”: A “ransom” is what is given (often a sum of money) to set free a person from a penalty or situation that he is subject to. Taken literally this leads to an interpretation of the verse which suggests that “the righteous” would, in the ordinary course of justice, be punished, but that “The wicked” gets the punishment in place of “the righteous”. Why “the righteous” should be liable to be punished is not clear, and this is a somewhat difficult concept in the context of Proverbs. Another view expressed by Scott is that, as in 11.8, “The wicked” gets into the trouble he has planned for “the righteous”, and in that sense is a “ransom” or “substitute” who takes the place of “the righteous”. Many English versions translate literally “is a ransom for. . .”; and this is very difficult for average readers to understand. Good News Translation (which renders the whole verse as a single sentence) follows the second approach referred to above and says: “The wicked bring on themselves the suffering they try to cause good people.”

“And the faithless for the upright”: “The faithless” matches “The wicked” in the first line, and “the upright” matches “the righteous”. For “faithless” refer to 2.22, where it is translated “treacherous.” The word “for” in Revised Standard Version expresses a Hebrew word that means “in place of” or “instead of”; and it is the parallel term for “a ransom” in the first line. The sense of this term has a bearing on the meaning we give to “ransom” in this context and supports the understanding of “a ransom” as “a substitute” or someone who suffers “instead of” another person. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy supports this idea by translating “The false and evil person will suffer in place of the just and honorable.” Following the other line of interpretation, we recommend Good News Translation as a model 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 21:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 21:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “A wicked person is punished,
    and a righteous person is released/freed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The wicked themselves will have to bear the trouble
    which they try to give to the righteous.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The wicked and unfaithful are-punished so-that the righteous will-be-saved.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Sinners will endure the hardship/suffering that it is their purpose to cause- the righteous/just -to-experience.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Wicked people bring on themselves the sufferings
    that they were trying to cause righteous people to experience.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 21:18

21:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

18a
The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,

18b and the faithless for the upright.

There is an ellipsis in 21:18b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing phrase from 21:18a. For example:

18b and the faithlessbecome a ransomfor the upright.

The overall meaning is that wicked/faithless people suffer the punishment that they intended righteous/upright people to suffer.

21:18a–b

The wicked…the faithless: These parallel terms refer to the same group of people. The Hebrew word translated by the Berean Standard Bible as faithless describes someone who acts treacherously or breaks an agreement. See the note on 2:22a–b, where the same parallel terms occur.

the righteous…the upright: These parallel terms have almost the same meaning. Both refer to people who consistently obey the LORD and who do what is right. In this volume of Proverbs, the term upright first occurs in 11:3a. See the note there.

21:18a

become a ransom: A literal ransom is a payment that someone makes to free another person from a difficult situation. The word was used in that sense in 13:8a. Scholars agree that the word is not used in the sense of a literal payment here.

The probable context of this proverb is that wicked people try to get righteous people into trouble. It may be a situation where the righteous person will be punished if he is wrongfully convicted of a crime he did not commit. But the LORD makes sure that the wicked person is punished instead. That person suffers in place of the righteous person. Another way to translate 21:18a is:

Wicked people will suffer instead of good people (New Century Version)
-or-
The wicked are punished in place of the godly (New Living Translation (2004))

Be careful not to imply that righteous people have done something to deserve punishment.

General Comment on 21:18a–b

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

The wicked bring on themselves the suffering they try to cause good people. (Good News Translation)

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