Word study

Righteousness

2 Hebrew and 1 Greek words behind this English word

In brief

The Hebrew tsedeq and tsedaqah and the Greek dikaiosynē describe what is right: conduct that matches God's standard, and God's own faithfulness in doing what is right. In both languages the same root also gives the words for "just" and "justify," so righteousness and justice are closer in the Bible's languages than they are in English.

Written and reviewed by our editorial team.

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “righteousness”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “righteousness” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • צְדָקָה tsedâqâhrighteousnesstranslated this way 121 times of its 158 uses · Strong’s H6666Noun  ·  Translated: righteousness 114, right 13, righteous acts 7, vindication 5

    Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

    Deuteronomy 6:25 And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”

    Full study and all 150 verses →
  • צֶדֶק tsedeqrightness, righteousnesstranslated this way 61 times of its 116 uses · Strong’s H6664Noun  ·  Translated: righteousness 57, righteous 19, honest 6, justice 5

    Deuteronomy 33:19 They will call the peoples to a mountain; there they will offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they will feast on the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

    Job 6:29 Reconsider; do not be unjust. Reconsider, for my righteousness is at stake.

    Full study and all 111 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • δικαιοσύνη dikaiosýnējustice, justness, righteousnesstranslated this way 83 times of its 90 uses · Strong’s G1343Noun  ·  Translated: righteousness 83, right 2, justice 2, righteous acts 1

    Matthew 3:15 “Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

    Luke 1:75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.

    Full study and all 86 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

What the Bible says about righteousness: passages by topic →

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.