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The truth from the Hebrew.
If we commence our study of these words with allusions to the legal processes of
either the Roman Forum, or any modern court of law, we shall soon obliterate the simple
issues of these terms; our safe course is to go back to that repository of all doctrine, the
Hebrew of the O.T., and taking this as our basis, to build thereon. In this we have the
apostle's own example, for he concludes his statement in Rom. 1: 17 by a quotation from
the prophet Habakkuk, which we shall find throws light upon one, if not more, disputed
point in this verse.
Dikaiosunē = "righteousness", arises out of the verb dikaioġ, which, in the LXX,
translates the Hebrew verb tsadaq. Let us observe the way in which this word is used in
the O.T.:--
"If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges
may judge them; then they shall JUSTIFY (tsadaq) the righteous, and CONDEMN the
wicked" (Deut. 25: 1).
Here the issues are simple. It is a case of pronouncing judgment. The words, "they
shall condemn the wicked", are literally, "they shall make him wicked", which of course
mean, to declare him to be so. As there can be no thought on the part of the judge of
infusing into the wicked man any wickedness, neither can there be any thought of
imparting righteousness into the one who is justified. He is simply "declared righteous".
These sentiments recur in Exod. 23: 6-8 and Prov. 17: 15. The primary idea of the
word tsadaq is "balance", "equivalence", "up to standard". This underlying meaning
comes out in the law, "eye for eye, tooth for tooth", and in the insistence upon "Just
balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin" (Lev. 19: 36), and in such passages
as, "To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity" (Psa. 62: 9; see
also Dan. 5: 27).
There is moreover an echo of this feature in the word "sin", which means "to miss"
or "to fail", as expressed in Rom. 3: 23, "Coming short of the glory of God".
Canon R. B. Girdlestone remarks in his "Synonyms of the Old Testament":--
"It is unfortunate that the English language should have grafted the Latin word justice,
which is used in somewhat of a forensic sense, into a vocabulary which was already
possessed of the good word righteousness, as it tends to create a distinction which has no
existence in Scripture . . . . . No distinction between the claims of justice and the claims
of love is recognized in Scripture . . . . . We have no one word which can convey the idea
of righteousness, and that of justification, as they are set forth in Scripture . . . . . We see
the wisdom of God in selecting Hebrew as a means of communication with His creatures,
because here the ideas of righteousness, justification, and acquittal all cluster round one
verbal root, and are seen to be parts of one whole."
Dikaioġ is used in the N.T. in the same way as the Hebrew tsadaq (Piel and Hiphil) is
used in the O.T. Let us take a few examples that are not doctrinal first, in order to see its
meaning:--
"Wisdom is justified of her children" (Matt. 11: 19).