Skip to content
QuotesFromBible.com

What does the Bible mean by…

about 3 min read

“righteousness”

Greek / Hebrew Both Testaments Matthew 5:6

The Greek dikaiosynē and Hebrew tsedaqah are both translated 'righteousness' — but both are also translated 'justice' depending on context. They are the same words. The English split between 'righteousness' (personal moral virtue) and 'justice' (social fairness) does not exist in the original languages.

The word itself

δικαιοσύνη · צְדָקָה dikaiosynē · tsedaqah

Lexicon citation

BDAG s.v. δικαιοσύνη: (1) the quality of being just or upright, righteousness; (2) the act of doing what is in accordance with divine law. HALOT s.v. צְדָקָה: righteousness, rightness, justice. In the prophets tsedaqah is regularly paired with mishpat (justice/judgment) — the two words function as a hendiadys for social righteousness.

One word, two English renderings

In Greek, dikaiosynē (δικαιοσύνη) is a single word. The same is true of Hebrew tsedaqah (צְדָקָה). Both have been rendered into English as “righteousness” in some passages and “justice” in others — by the same translator within the same Bible, sometimes within a few verses of each other.

The split is a translation convention, not a feature of the original languages. Greek and Hebrew do not distinguish between personal moral uprightness and social-legal fairness as if they were two different concepts requiring two different words. They are the same word.

How English translators split it

Compare two famous verses that use the same Hebrew word:

Let justice [mishpat] roll on like a river, righteousness [tsedaqah] like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24, BSB)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness [dikaiosynē], and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33, BSB)

The first uses tsedaqah alongside mishpat (justice) in a hendiadys — the prophets characteristically pair the two words to mean something like “social righteousness/justice.” Translators render tsedaqah as “righteousness” here.

The second uses dikaiosynē in Jesus’s teaching about kingdom priorities. Translators almost universally render it “righteousness” in this verse — though in other verses (e.g., 2 Corinthians 9:9, citing Psalm 112:9) the same word is sometimes rendered “righteousness” and sometimes “righteous deeds” or “justice.”

Why the choice matters

The English split has interpretive consequences:

  • Personal “righteousness” is naturally heard as individual moral virtue — keeping personal commandments, avoiding personal sin
  • Social “justice” is naturally heard as systemic fairness — fair treatment of the poor, just legal process, equitable structures

The Greek and Hebrew words contain both at once. When English splits them, certain biblical passages get pulled in one direction or the other:

  • Matthew 5:6 (“blessed are those who hunger and thirst for dikaiosynē”) — translated “righteousness” suggests personal moral pursuit; translated “justice” suggests longing for social fairness. The Greek says both at once.
  • Romans 1:17 (“the dikaiosynē of God is revealed”) — the central Pauline phrase. Translated “righteousness,” the verse describes a personal status conferred on believers; translated “justice,” the verse describes God’s restorative action. Both are interpretively defensible.

What this site does not do

We do not adjudicate the choice. Different theological traditions have made it differently — Reformation Protestant traditions often emphasising the personal/imputed reading; liberation theology and some recent New Testament scholarship (notably N.T. Wright) emphasising the corporate/restorative reading. Both readings are within the lexical range of the same word.

What we do say: the choice is a translation choice, not a feature of the original. A reader who recognises the unified Greek/Hebrew word reads passages about dikaiosynē and tsedaqah with the personal and social senses present together.