Δικαιοσυνη: A Brief Word Study
Apart from when δικαιοσυνη refers to God’s δικαιοσυνη, there appears to be no dispute:
the term means “righteousness” or “justice.” In keeping with its form, δικαιοσυνη is a quality of rightness (as
opposed to wrongness, lawlessness, impiety, or sin) (Ps 44:8; Prov 11:5, 21;
13:6; 14:34; 15:6, 9, 29; 16:12; Wis 5:6-7; Sir 26:28; Isa 61:8; Jer 22:3; Ezek
3:20; 18:20, 24, 26; Heb 1:9; et al.), as seen in the phrases “sacrifices of
righteousness” (Ps 50:19), “paths of righteousness” (Ps 22:3), “fruit of
righteousness” (Prov 11:30), “law of righteousness” (Wis 2:11) and “deeds of
righteousness” (Sir 16:22).
Sometimes it is a quality that a person
possesses (see also Deut 9:5; 1 Kgs [=1 Sam] 26:23; Job 29:14. The term has
this sense when Paul uses it in connection with faith in Jesus):
The Lord judges the people: Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness, and
according to my guilelessness in me. (Ps 7:9)
And the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, and according to the
cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. (Ps 17:21)
God has saved me from the lions because righteousness was found in me before
him. (Dan 6:23)
Suddenly, the din of battle was heard before
me: and I said, “He will listen to me, for I am full of righteousness.” I considered in my heart that I was full of righteousness, for I had prospered and
had many children. (Pss. Sol. 1:2-3)
Unless your righteousness greatly exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter
into the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:20)
In these
passages, δικαιοσυνη cannot possibly be forensic. Δικαιοσυνη, even in a judicial context,
cannot possibly refer to God’s determination since it is the very basis for God’s
determination. Δικαιοσυνη is undeniably qualitative.
Often, as for example when it is the object
of ποιεω, it is
something one does (see also Ps 14:2; 1 John 2:29; 3:7, 10; Rev 22:11):
. . . and they keep the ways of the Lord by
doing righteousness and justice. (Gen
18:19)
Turn around, sinners, and do righteousness before him. (Tob 13:8)
For there was not among them one who does righteousness or justice. From their
ruler to the least of the people, (they were) in every kind of sin. The king
(was) in transgression and the judge in disobedience and the people in sin. (Pss. Sol. 17:19-20)
Beware of doing your righteousness before men in order to be looked at by them, for then
you have no reward from your father in heaven. (Matt 6:1)
Again, δικαιοσυνη does not
refer to right relationship, acquittal, or any kind of judicial accounting or declaration.
At other times, when preceded by εν or μετα, δικαιοσυνη refers to how one does
something:
Those who walk in righteousness . . . (Isa 33:15)
And I will espouse you to myself for ever,
and I will espouse you for myself in righteousness,
and in justice, and in mercy, and in compassion. (Hos 2:21)
And they will present in righteousness sacrifices to the Lord. (Mal 3:3)
. . . those who swear upon the name of the
Lord God of Israel, making mention of (him) not with truth nor with righteousness. (Isa 48:1)
Often, in this same construction, δικαιοσυνη describes how God or the king
rules or judges the people (see also 1 Kgs [=1 Sam] 2:10; 2 Kings [=2 Sam]
8:15; Ps 9:8):
For he is coming, for he is coming to judge
the earth; he will judge the inhabitants in righteousness
and the peoples in his truth. (Ps 95:13)
Therefore, since God has overlooked the
seasons of ignorance, now he announces to all people everywhere to repent,
because he has appointed a day on which he is about to judge in righteousness humankind by a man whom he
has chosen. (Acts 17:30-31)
Although in
these cases δικαιοσυνη may be properly rendered “justice” (as “to judge with justice”)
in English, it must be recognized that the sense of δικαιοσυνη has not
changed. Because one can judge or rule “in righteousness” should not change the
definition of δικαιοσυνη in these contexts, since one can do all sorts of things “in
righteousness.” Δικαιοσυνη in this sense refers to proper
conduct, whatever it may describe. It does not refer to a divine judgment.
Certainly, what is “righteous” is also
righteous in God’s sight; likewise, what is just, merciful, and compassionate
is also just, merciful, and compassionate in God’s sight (see Hos 2:21). God’s
determination of a certain action as righteous does not mean δικαιοσυνη any more
forensic than κριμα, ελεος, or οικτιρμος. (Chris VanLandingham, Judgment and Justification in Early Judaism
and the Apostle Paul [Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006],
246-48, emphasis in bold added)
