In late Hebrew the word npi:i underwent a remarkable change of meaning, for a full account of which the reader is referred to the valuatjle treatise of Dalman cited below (under Literature). A few points may here be noted.
(1) Id the sphere of private morals r\p~i)i became almost equivalent to the OT "ipn ; i.e. it denoted any exercise of benevolence which goes beyond a man's legal obligations. Obviously, this is a development of the humanitarian aspect of the idea which we have seen to be prominent in the prophets and tlie Hagiographa, and it reaches its climax in the sense of altu^'jirinij (see lit Ol). Dalman considers that the word had this sense in the Aramaic dialect before its a<loption by the JoA"8, but this is hardly proved by the examples he adduces (p. 13). It is not necessary to take the original n;;iy in Dn 4^^^ OS anything else than right li\ ing ; and tile occurrence of the 'ater sense in the Targ, ((In Ib'i*) is no sure evidence of an independent Aramaic development. It seems more natural to suppose that the usiige of the Targ. registere a change which the idea had undergone in the religious thought of later Judaism.
(2) !n the judicial sphere .ipiii has ceased to be a properly Judicial attribute. It U a consideration which comes in to moderate the operation of strict Justice ({'"n), so that the ques- tion is actually raised, and answered with much ingenuity, how, in accordance with OT injunctions, :\p'\'i is to be exercised in Judgment.* This, of course, applies equally to the Divine righteouaiiuss and to that of a human judge. Here, again, wo have the one-sided exaggeration oi a single element in the old Hebrew notion of Judicial righteousness. Originally it included both the exercise of impartial Justice and a readiness to espouse the cause of the opi>ressed. Eventually — jcirtly through the parallel development in the sphere of private morals, and partly, as Dalman observes (p. 18), from a more developed sense of formal right — the two ideas proved to be incompatible, and the name T\p-\:i was appropriated to that which, strictly speaking, haa nothing to do with a Judge's fun<;tions at all.
The question arises, To what time can these changes, or the lieginnings of them, be trace<l back? Here the evidence of the LXJC is of importance. Where the reference is to righteous- nen manifested by God to man, npi:£ is not infrequently rendered by iUriJ^ri>^ (Dt 625 2413, Ps 24 (23) » 33 (32) » 103 (102)«, Is V" 2si' 6910, Dn 918) or Uut (Is ."iC). For human righteousness we have only Ixi«< in Ezk 18'^- 22 and iAit:ft6ffv*«,f ( = almB) in Dn 4". On the other hand, inninriti, stands for Tcn in (in 1919 20la 2123 242' 321O, Ex 16ia 34', Pr 2028, is U3'. Tlie'se facts indioate a tendency to confuse the ideas of r^p'i'i and ion, though they do not show it to be far advanced ; sumething must be allowed for the didlculty of rendering in another language the peculiar shades of meaning assumed by the Hebrew term.— In ^he original Hebrew of IJcn .Sira, the later sense of npis appears (3" 830 [cf. I>r 16«J 71" 40"), alongside of the more general OT sense (123 iei4 4413 61*)) : some passages are ambiguous (40" etc.).— Since the OT probably contains
•Some of Dalman's tUufltrations are very striking (p. bt.y B.g. it is said that ft judge exercises * righteousness when ho pays out of his own pocket the One he has imposed on a poor
writings of more recent date than the Greek translation of the Pent., or even the age of Ben .Sira (c. 200 B.C.), it would not be surprising if in some parts of the Oanon the idea of righteousness were found to have undergone the transforma- tions just described. Yet, as has been already said, it is doubtful if this is the case. The OT emphasizes humanity or mercy as an element in the ethical ideal ; but it is this etliical ideal itself, and not any particular virtue, which is described by tlie term righteou.»ines3. So a;;ain in the admini- stration of justice ; righteousness, with whatever latitude of meaning, is always an attribute proper to the judge, never a foreign influence brought in to modify judicial action. Tliero is no foundation in OT for the rabbinical maxim, ' Where judg- ment is there is no room for ::pTS, and where r\pi^ is there is DO judgment' (Dalman, p. 6).
LiTERATUBE. — Diestel, * Die Idee der Oerechtigkeit, vorziig- Uch im XT' (JDTh, IstiO, 173-253) ; Ortloph, ' Ueber den Begrifl von p'Vi und den wurzelverwaudten Wortern im 2teD Theil des Pr. Jes.' (Xeitschr. fur die ges. luih. Th. u. E. 1S60, 401- 4'2i5) ; Eautzsch, Ueber die Derivate des Starmnes pis, etc. (ISSl); Orelli, 'Einige ATliche Pramisse zur NT VersohnunM- lehre : II. Die Oerechtigkeit Gottes ' {Ztschr, Jur Kirchl. \Vu8. u. K, Leben, 1884, 73 ff.); Koenig, ' Essai sur revolution de I'idi^ede justice chez les prophetes 116breux ' {Annales du Mlts6e GuiiiK't, 1804, 121-148); Dalman, Die richtertiche (Jerechtinkeit im A T (1897).
The OT Theologies of Oehler 8 (1891), 176 £f., 285 ff. ; Schultz* (ISsU), 420 fl., 640 a.; Kiehm (1S89), 270 fit., 2S3ff. ; Dillmann (1^95), 270ff.,435t.; Bennett (1896), 103, 173; Marti, Geschichte der lurael, ketiffion (1897), 134 ff., 170 ; Smend, Lehrbitch der AT lieliffionsijesclt.i (1893), 410-423, 2(1899), 388-394 (the best statement); Hitschl, RechtJertMjumj u, VersOhnuw/'^, ii. 102ft"., 205 fl.; G. A. Smith, Imiali (Expositor's Bible), ii. (1600) 214 ff.; W. R. Smith, Prophets'', 71 f., 389. J. SKINNER.