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 8:18

“Riches and honor are with me”: Refer to 3.16 for “Riches and honor”. There is no verb in the Hebrew of this verse, but in line with the general context “with me” suggests these are things that Wisdom grants or gives to those who seek her. We may say, for example, “I have riches and honor” or “I give you riches and honor.” A fuller expression of the sense of this line is, for example, “I have power to make you rich people and to make people honor you.”

“Enduring wealth and prosperity”: While “wealth” renders a term commonly used in Proverbs, “enduring” translates a Hebrew word that occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. The verb form of this word means to advance or move forward. Whybray suggests that it can be used figuratively in regard to space, time, value, and quality; and in light of the context, “enduring” is probably correct. Some versions say “lasting.”

“Prosperity”, which is literally “righteousness,” is even more of a problem. There are two main interpretations of the word in this context. Revised Standard Version, New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible and others understand it to refer to success or good fortune. Here it is the fruits of “righteousness” rather than righteousness or justice itself. The reward for being righteous is “prosperity”, particularly in view of the parallelism of the two lines. “Prosperity” may be translated, for example, “make you win [be successful] in everything.”

The second view is that “righteousness” should be retained in the translation, as in King James Version and the Living Bible. McKane supports King James Version and argues “What wisdom gives essentially is a way of life which possesses ethical fitness and equity.” In this case “righteousness” may be translated by such terms as “rightness,” “fairness,” or “justice.” New Jerusalem Bible has “saving justice.”

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 8:18)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 8:18:

  • Kupsabiny: “I bring riches, honor, success and development/growth.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I also have wealth, honor, success
    and eternal possessions.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I can-give wealth, honor, prosperity and victory who continue/persevere.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “I-have-ability to give continuing richness, honor and righteousness/justice.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 8:18

8:18

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning.

18a With me are riches and honor,

18b
enduring wealth and righteousness.

There is an ellipsis in 8:18b. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing words. For example:

18b
with me areenduring wealth and righteousness.

8:18a

With me are riches and honor: This verse refers to the benefits that wisdom offers to those who seek and love her. It does not refer to the qualities that wisdom possesses. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

I have riches and honor to give (Good News Translation)
-or-
Unending riches, honor…are mine to distribute (New Living Translation (1996))

The word honor also means “respect” or “good reputation.” If it is not natural to express riches and honor as nouns in your language, another way to translate them is:

I can make you rich and famous. (Contemporary English Version)

The “riches” and “wealth” in this verse refer to material things and not to spiritual riches.

8:18b

enduring wealth: The word wealth means the same thing as “riches” in 8:18a. Here it is described as being enduring, “lasting” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “unending” (New Living Translation (2004)).

righteousness: There are two main ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as righteousness :

(1) The word has its usual meaning here of “righteousness” or “justice.” It is not a figure of speech. For example:

saving justice (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) The word is used here as a figure of speech (metonymy). It refers to the reward for righteousness. This reward is prosperity or success. For example:

success (Good News Translation)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), along with most scholars. There are several reasons:

(a) The word is almost always used in a moral sense.

(b) In Proverbs, there is a close connection between wealth and moral righteousness (see 8:20–21). So it is not necessary to propose an unusual meaning for righteousness because of the parallel with “riches” in this verse.

(c) Although success may indeed result from righteous conduct, it is not the same thing as righteous conduct. To translate this as “success” seems to omit a step in the logic.

If your readers are likely to compare your translation with a version that has “success” or “prosperity,” it is suggested that you:

Make explicit the relationship between righteousness and success. For example:

I give people lasting wealth and the success that comes from a righteous way of life.

Put “righteousness” in your translation, but add a footnote that says something like:

This Hebrew word usually means “righteousness,” but some scholars think that here it refers to the result of righteous behavior, which is success or prosperity.

General Comment on 8:18a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts that are similar in meaning. See the Display for 8:18a–b (combined/reordered).

© 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.