• The fem. of the adj. pn^ Is nowhere used ; In the only mttancc where the right of a woman Is concerned the simple »«rb la employed ; Gn S3»> CJjjij nji)).
vou IV.— 18
recognition by him. And although the conception is essentially forensic, it is obviously one to which ethical ideas readily attach themselves. Riglit- eousness comes to mean unimpeachaljle moral con- dnct (Gn SO*'— a dillieult case) ; and in this sense it may be predicated of a man's whole life, the righteous man being one who is blameless before an ideal tribunal ; see 1 K '2^- 3^ (in 7', 6» (P) IS-o"-, Dt 9''-«, La 4'" etc. In this application a relijjioua reference is probably always included, the ideal tribunal being that of God.
Legal phraseolog}' is naturally transferred to the case of mere d'-f'tite : Job 112 ;j3l2 ; here to ' jii.stify ' means virtually to admit the force of one's arguments (27»). With this may be connected the use of the words to cx^iress correctness in pre- diction (Is 4126), or truthfulness in spuech (Is 46'8- '^ GJ', Ps 52», Pr 8"* 12' IG'3) ; although other explanations are here possible (see below, p. 274).
(2) Righteousness, however, has a second sense, which is [jiirely forensic ; it means the legal status established by a pulilic judgment in one^s favour : Is S^ ' take awaj- the rigliteousness of the righteous from him ' (cf. lO^). Examples of this kind are rare in allusions to secular juri.sprndence ; but the dis- tinction plays a very mijiortant part, as we shall see, where forensic analogies are transferred to men's standing before Go(i ; and it could hardly be drawn so clearlv there unless it had some basis in ordinary judicial administration.*
(3) Lastly, righteousness is the quality expected of the judrje in the exercise of liis office. His fiindamental duty is to 'justify' (pni:n = ' declare in the right ') him who is in the right, and to condemn (i"v'-;n) him who is in the wrung (Dt 25', 2S 1.5^ etc.); and, if the circumstances require it, to inflict punishment on the wrong-doer (Dt 25'; cf. 2S 12'" etc.). In this he is said to manifest pn>- (Dt I'« IG'"-", Lv 19'», Is lD-i> 1G»), or in a com- nion phrase to execute nij-i^i tiEfp.t The tenijita- tions to which a judge was mainly exposed being bribery and ' respect of persons,' his righteousness consists essentially in his rising superior to such influences and deciding each case with ab.solute im])artiality on its merits. Stress, howevei, is naturally laid on the duty of redres.sing the -vNTongs of the jioor and defenceless ; hence judicial righteousness is frequently equivalent to deliver- ance or protection. This idea lies, indeed, in the verb osp itself, which means not only to judge, but also to vindicate or defend (1 S 24", Is 1" etc.).
The forensic sense of righteousness illustrated above appears to be fundamental in Ileb., and goes back to a remote period in Semitic antiquity. It is found in a phrase closely corresponding to OT usage in one of the Tel cl-Amama tablets (l.'^^th or 14th cent. B.C.), where Abdhiba of Jerusalem sa.vs, sa-du-uk ana ia-a.&i tii-6um amiluti Ka-ii-*l am fnnoccnf with respect to tiie Kashi' (/i/yj V. 306 f.). That a similar usage prevailed in Aramaic and Phujnician is shown by the inscriptions in both languages (see Lidzbarski, Ilaiulbuch di^r nnrd^ein. Kpigrai'hik, p. ;iG7). The forensic conception of righteousness appears, therefore, to be characteristic of the northern group of Semitic dialects. In Arabic, on the other hand, the root has no forensic
• It may here be pointed out that it is doubtful If the adj. pns bears this sense of outward Justillcation even in the religious sphere (Kautzsch). It seems confined to the inherent character on which a legal right is hosed, but not to include the status which results from a vindication of that right. In other wordn. it is used of the pwily as rntitled to Divine justification, but not as actually junUju'd. Kautz-sch thinks there are exceptions in is 4(Mf6 and 24-27 ; but tiiat is not quite clear. Zee 9^ would be a cose in point if the meaning is to be determined by the following epithet Vv'i] {^ vimUcated and victorious'; O. A. Smith, Tv'flve Prophets, ii. 460). On some doubtful oases in the Psalms, see below, p. 278.
t This expression was jjrobably used originally of Judicial action (2 S «'», Jer 22" 23'>, ICzk 4.'ii'). but wa.s extended to moral conduct in general (Gn 18'", Ezk !»*■ tw-'^l, and very often). In Dt 1'* etc. (above) pnv is partly the personal virtue of the Judge, partly the objective right which la the result of his Just action ; the won! appears first in Ilosea and Isaiah. It Is possible that this Judicial sense of rigliteousness (3) is less prniiltive than that desc^rilied under (1). At least the coses are few where the adj. is applied to a human judge (though often to God as the Supreme Judge of men). 2 S '2.S3 la a clear example ; on Zee O* see the last note ; other possible cases are Jer 23^, Ezk 234S.
274
RIGHTEOUSNESS IX OT
RIGHT KOUSXESS IX OT
Associations. The verb fada^a means to speak the truth ; taddaka, to attribute truth to a speaker, to accept or homolo- gate his statement ; sadJit^ is one who is habitually veracious, and ^(i<i. A: a true or sincere friend. All these uses embody tiie ethical idea of truslicorthxness or genuineness; and a reflexion of this moral sense is probably to be recoj;rnized in some peculiar subsidiary applications, as when the verb is employed of eyes and ears that faithfully perform their functions, or oi earnestness or steadiness in battle ' as opposed to a false show of bravery,' or of the desperate running of a hunted animal (see Lane, Lf-n'cm). Saddk, the marriage gift from husband to wife, was originally a pled^'e of friendship ; and even the much discussed ruinh istuii: