(«) It may be doubted whether there are any passages in NT where Six. 8. is used precisely in this wide sense (unless we regard the case dis- cussed below as in eti'ect an application of it). But StK. is frequently used of men in the sense of general uprightness or virtue ; and this is brought into relation to God almost as if it were Sik. iuwTnov aiiToO, ' righteousness in his sight,' or ' of which he approves.
In Lk l^B we have XetrptCur avru iv inentn, x, iixKiotrCvn in^io* avTcv, where iviir, aCr. strictly defines Aar^is-'uv, but in effect gives the wider meaning to itx. In Mt G^ it is a question whether the reading of most critical texts (incl. WH) rr,* ^ctrtMittv xcti T7:v iixBueffCvtj)! Kirrou (8c, rev 0foZ) Can stand, and whether we ought not, with Lachmann, Weiss, and Holtzinann, to prefer the reading of cod. B, ttsv Six. x. t. ^air. at^-roy. In that case t. itx. would be absolute ; to • seek God's righteous- ness* would be an expression without parallel in the Uospels : we should have to connect it mth Is 5417 quoted below. Ja 120 somes under the next head, and in 2 P 11, where righteousness Lb referred to Christ, the sense is altin to (d).
(b) The simple judicial sense, though deeply rooted in language and always present in the background of thought, is not prominent in NT except in Rev. It naturally has a place in St. Paul's speech at Athens (Ac 17^')- It occurs also in 2 Ti 4« and in Rev 16»' 19=- ". And the same idea is conveyed by diKaioKpicria in Ro 2'.
(c) The more distinctive senses in which right- eousness is predicated of God come under the last two heads, and one of these, as has been said, is still somewhat of a problem. Both these remain- ing senses are certamly based upon the use of OT, and to understand them we need to recall the conditions of society in OT times. The OT covers a period of transition from comparative barbarism to comparative civilization. In all the earlier and less settled portions of such a period the rallying- point of society was the judge. It was a matter of the greatest moment that he should be strong enough to deal out even-handed justice without fear or favour. He would be beset by turbulent and powerful chieftains, who would make his task an extremely difficult one. By degrees it would be increasingly felt that the judge (or the king as judge) was tlie one refuge for all the weak and defenceless classes — the poor, the fatherless, the widow, the stranger ; and his more characteristic functions would seem to be, not so much the safe- guarding of equal rights, as the special protection •)f those who most needed protection. For king or judge to discharge this function in the face of all the dangers and uncertainties of his own posi- tion must often have required no little force and elevation of character. Hence we are not surprised to find either the great importance attached to righteousness as a name for this quality, or that it came often to mean vindicating the rights of the oppressed or dealing gently and leniently with
the weak. We are apt to put righteousness in contrast to mercy, as Alarcion opposed the ' just or righteous Ciod' (S/koios) to the 'good God' (dyaOos) ; but to the Ileb. 'just' or 'righteous' often meant ' merciful.'
These senses can be abundantly illustrated from OT. One consjiicuous passage may be given out of many : Job '2!)'''"" ' I put on righteousness, and it clothed me : my justice w.as a robe and a diaileiii. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a f.ather to the needy ; and the cause of him that I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the unrighteous, and plucked the prey out of his teeth ' (cf. vv. ""'").
It was an inevitable process that this use of the word ' righteousness ' as applied to men reacted upon its application to God. More and more as time went on, esp. in Deutero-Isaiah and certain psalms, the righteousness of God comes to be, not His strict justice, but His healing, rescuing justice. He is not ' a just God and yet a Saviour,' but ' a just God and a Saviour ' (Is 45^' ; cf. ouaios xal SiKaiwy, Ro 3-'). The two conceptions of ' right- eousness'and ' sal vation ' are very frequently placed in juxtaposition : Ps 24" ' He shall receive a bless- ing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvfLtion ' ; 31'' (cf. 7P) ' Deliver me in thy righteousness. . . . Be thou to me ... an house of defence to save me' ; 71"" ' My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness and of thy salvation all tlie day ' ; 9S'' ' The Lord hath made known his salva- tion : his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the nations ' ; 143" ' In thy righteous- ness bring my soul out of trouble ' ; Is 46'" ' I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far ofi', and my salvation shall not tarry ' ; 51* (cf. ') ' My salvation shall be for ever, aiid my righteousness shall not be abolished ' ; 56' ' My salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed ' ; 59" (cf. 61'°) ' He put on righteousness as a breast- plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head ' ; 63' ' I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.'