Our biblical translators, although attempting to be literal in their translations, have been biased by their presuppositions, and therefore have influenced us by their bias. One such instance may be the word we often see translated as righteous or righteousness. See these passages in Matthew 5 in two translations:
6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full. …
10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Common English Bible
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled….
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
New International Bible
Both of these translations use the word “righteousness”. I am not a Greek scholar, but here is what I found about the word in Greek:
δικαιοσύνη dikaiosynē, n. righteousness, what is right, justice, the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards, the state of being in proper relationship with God:– righteousness (78), justice (3), right (3), what is right (3), itS (1), justified (1), righteous (1), that is right (1)
This word in the NIV is usually translated as “righteousness” (73 times), but can also mean “justice” (used 3 times). (It was pointed out by a friend in a men's group that we recently read a similar interpretation by Shane Claiborne in Irresistible Revolution, which may also have been in the back of my mind as I came upon this passage in my personal study. It is certainly not original with me!)
I don’t know about you, but for me, with my fundamentalist Baptist background, I tend to think of “righteous” and “righteousness” as focusing on my own individual behavior. That encourages a very individualistic response to these verses.
However, “justice”, for me, sounds more communal, or social, and carries a different connotation. Look again at these passages with the substitutions:
6 “Happy are people who are hungry and thirsty for justice, because they will be fed until they are full. …
10 “Happy are people whose lives are harassed because they are just, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Common English Bible
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be filled….
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of justice,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
New International Bible
These verses now carry a different meaning, a different focus, with a completely different set of actions that I feel encouraged to implement.
How about for you?
Dave Drozek, with
Faith Reconsidered
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