3 THE CASE STUDY: dikaiosu/nh dikaiosu/nh
3.3 dikaiosu/nh in translations
3.3.2 Acts of righteousness
The second category, the right way of living, contains several passages that have the theme of ‘doing righteousness’. An example of this is 1. John 3, in vss. 7 and 10.
‘Righteousness’ in those verses has been translated as ‘doing righteousness’ (KJV) and ‘doing what is right’ (NIV and GNT). There are also passages that contain the idea of walking in righteousness or living right; one example of these is 1. Tim 6:11.
All three translations (KJV, NIV, and GNT) use the word ‘righteousness’ in this verse.
There are also passages that talk about the way of righteousness (2. Pet 2:21). All three English translations contain the word ‘righteousness’. There is also an emphasis on obeying the law, for example in Matt 3:15. KJV and NIV have used ‘righteousness’ in this context, but GNT uses the phrase ‘what God requires’.
The Example 3: Eze 18:5, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27
Table 3.15 contains the formal translations of vss. Eze 18:5, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27 Table 3.15: Formal translations
Verses /
Translations 1933/38 Bible KJV LB
Eze 18:5 Jos mies on vanhurskas ja tekee oikeuden ja vanhur-skauden:
But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
Wenn nun einer fromm ist, der recht und wohl tut,
Eze 18:17
pidättää kätensä kurjasta, ei ota korkoa eikä voittoa, vaan tekee minun
That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
der seine Hand vom Unrechten kehrt, keinen Wucher noch Zins nimmt, sondern meine Gebote hält und nach meinen Rechten lebt: der soll nicht sterben um seines Vaters Missetat elää. Se sielu, joka syntiä tekee-sen on kuoltava.
Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
So sprecht ihr: Warum soll denn ein Sohn nicht tragen seines Vaters Missetat?
Darum daß er recht und wohl getan und alle meine Rechte gehalten und getan
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the fa-ther bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Denn welche Seele sün-digt, die soll sterben. Der Sohn soll nicht tragen die Missetat des Vaters, und der Vater soll nicht tragen die Missetat des Sohnes;
sondern des Gerechten Gerechtigkeit soll über ihm sein.
Verses /
Translations 1933/38 Bible KJV LB
Eze 18:21
Ja jos jumalaton kääntyy pois kaikesta synnistänsä, mitä hän on tehnyt, ja noudattaa kaikkia minun käskyjäni ja tekee oike-uden ja vanhurskaoike-uden, hän totisesti saa elää; ei hänen ole kuoltava.
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Wo sich aber der Gottlose bekehrt von allen seine Sünden, die er getan hat, und hält alle meine Rechte und tut recht und wohl, so soll er leben und nicht sterben.
sondern er soll leben um der Gerechtigkeit willen, accord-ing to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be men-tioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Und wo sich der Gerechte kehrt von seiner Gerech-tigkeit und tut Böses und lebt nach all den Greueln, die ein Gottloser tut, sollte der leben? Ja, aller seiner Gerechtigkeit, die er getan iniquity, and dieth in them;
for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
Denn wenn der Gerechte sich kehrt von seiner Gere-chtigkeit und tut Böses, so muß er sterben; er muß aber um seiner Bosheit willen, die er getan hat, sterben. man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
Wiederum, wenn der Gott-lose kehrt von seiner Un-gerechtigkeit, die er getan hat, und tut nun recht und wohl, der wird seine Seele lebendig erhalten.
There is a variety of translational equivalents, but all the words that are used have a connection to ‘righteousness’, ‘rightness’, ‘justice’, or ‘law’. KJV contain the expression
‘what is lawful and right’ (5, 19, 21 and 27) or ‘righteousness’. LB has the expression recht und wohl or the word Gerechtigkeit. The 1933/38 Bible uses the word vanhurskaus
‘righteousness’ in all verses but one, vs. 17, which has similar phrases to the two other translations, oikeuksieni ja käskyjeni mukaan ‘in accordance with my rights and commandments’. Table 3.16 contains two dynamic translations of these same verses.
Table 3.16: Dynamic translations Verses /
Translations 1992 Bible NIV
Eze 18:5 “Vanhurskas mies tekee niin kuin oikein
ja hyvin on. “Suppose there is a righteous man who
does what is just and right.
Eze 18:17
Hän pysyy loitolla vääryydestä eikä ota korkoa, ei ahnehdi voittoa, vaan noudat-taa minun määräyksiäni ja elää minun säädösteni mukaisesti. Ei hänen pidä kuolla isänsä syntien tähden – ei, hän saa elää!
He withholds his hand from sin and takes no usury or excessive interest. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live.
Eze 18:19
“Te kysytte: ‘Miksi poikaa ei panna vas-taamaan isänsä synneistä?’ Siksi, että poika on tehnyt niin kuin oikein ja hyvin on! Hän on noudattanut kaikkia säädök-siäni, hän on ne pitänyt, ja siksi hän saa elää.
Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.
Eze 18:20
Mutta sen, joka tekee syntiä, on kuolta-va. Ei poikaa panna vastaamaan isänsä synneistä eikä isää poikansa synneistä.
Vanhurskas saa vanhurskautensa mukaan, jumalaton jumalattomuutensa mukaan.
The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the right-eous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.
Eze 18:21
“Jos jumalaton kääntyy synneistään, kaikesta pahasta mitä on tehnyt, jos hän noudattaa kaikkia minun säädöksiäni ja tekee niin kuin oikein ja hyvin on, hän saa elää, ei hän kuole.
“But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.
Eze 18:22
Hänen syntejään ei enää milloinkaan muisteta, ja hän saa elää sen hyvän tähden mitä on tehnyt.
None of the offences he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live.
Eze 18:24
“Mutta jos vanhurskas luopuu vanhur-skaudestaan ja tekee sellaista mikä on väärin, samoja iljettäviä tekoja joita jumalaton tekee ‒ jos hän tekee niin, saako hän elää? Sitä hyvää, minkä hän on tehnyt, ei lasketa hänen hyväkseen.
Hän on luopunut Jumalasta ja syyllistynyt synnintekoon, ja siksi hän kuolee.
“But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the right-eous things he has done will be remem-bered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.
Eze 18:26
Jos vanhurskas luopuu vanhurskaud-estaan ja tekee sellaista mikä on väärin, hän kuolee väärien tekojensa tähden.
Hän on tehnyt sellaista mikä on väärin, ja siksi hän kuolee.
If a righteous man turns from his right-eousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die.
Eze 18:27 Ja jos jumalaton kääntyy jumalattomuud-estaan ja tekee niin kuin oikein ja hyvin on, hän pelastaa elämänsä.
But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.
There is a variety of translational equivalents in the dynamic translations. Similarly to the formal translations above, the phrase most commonly used is ‘what is just and right’. Some verses do have the word ‘righteousness’ instead. Vs. 17 uses the phrase
‘live according to the law’.
When considering the thoroughly dynamic translations, the word ‘righteousness’
is not mentioned at all, but there are other translational equivalents. Both of them use similar phrases to ‘doing what is right and good’ and ‘keeping the law’. Table 3.17 contains two thoroughly dynamic translations of these verses.
Table 3.17: Thoroughly dynamic translations Verses /
Translations GNT GNB
Eze 18:5 “Suppose there is a truly good man,
right-eous and honest. Nehmt den Fall eines Menschen, der stets das Rechte tut und sich nichts zus-chulden kommen lässt:
Eze 18:17
He refuses to do evil and doesn’t lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father’s sins, but he will certainly live.
er begeht kein Unrecht an den Schut-zlosen und nimmt keinen keinen Zins – mit einem Wort: Er gehorcht meinen Ge-boten und tut, was recht ist. Ein solcher Mensch muss nicht für die Schuld seines Vaters büßen; er soll am Leben bleiben.
Eze 18:19
“But you ask, “Why shouldn’t the son suffer because of his father’s sins?’ The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live.
»Ihr fragt, warum der Sohn nicht mit dem Vater bestraft wird? Weil er das Rechte getan und meine Gebote befolgt hat!
Deshalb bleibt er am Leben.
Eze 18:20
It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father’s sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.
Nur wer sich schuldig macht, muss sterben. Der Sohn soll nicht für den Vater büßen und der Vater nicht für den Sohn.
Am Rechtschaffenen wird sich seine Rechtschaffenheit auswirken und am Verbrecher sein Verbrechen.
Eze 18:21
If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live.
Wenn aber der Verbrecher umkehrt und das Böse lässt, das er getan hat, wenn er alle meine Gebote befolgt und das Rechte tut, bleibt auch er am Leben und muss nicht sterben.
Eze 18:22
All his sins will be forgiven, and he will
live, because he did what is right. All das Böse, das er früher getan hat, wird ihm nicht angerechnet. Weil er danach das Rechte getan hat, bleibt er am Leben.
Eze 18:24
But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgust-ing thdisgust-ings that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.
Wenn aber der Rechtschaffene sich vom rechten Weg abwendet und Böses zu tun beginnt, dieselben Abscheulichkeiten wie der Verbrecher, soll er dann am Leben bleiben? Nein! All das Gute, das er früher getan hat, wird ihm nicht angerechnet.
Weil er mir untreu geworden ist und Böses getan hat, muss er sterben.
Eze 18:26
When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done.
Wenn ein Mensch, der immer das Rechte getan hat, sich davon abkehrt und Unre-cht tut und daraufhin stirbt, dann stirbt er wegen des Unrechts, das er getan hat.
Eze 18:27
When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life.
Und wenn ein Mensch, der immer Böses getan hat, sich davon abkehrt und das Rechte tut, dann rettet er dadurch sein Leben.
There is more variety in translational equivalents than in the first two examples. There are still common features: all the formal and dynamic versions contain the word
‘righteousness’ in vss. 20, 22, 24, and 26. The last two translations do not use the word
‘righteousness’ at all, but use other ways of translating ‘righteousness’. I will now turn to the NT example.
Example 4: Matt 5‒6
The table 3.18 contains the formal translations of Matt 5:10, 5:20, and 6:10.
Table 3.18: Formal translations
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous-ness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Sillä minä sanon teille: ellei teidän vanhurskautenne ole paljoa suurempi kuin kirjanoppineiden ja fari-seusten, niin te ette pääse taivasten valtakuntaan. so werdet ihr nicht in das Himmelreich kommen. your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Habt acht auf eure Alm-osen, daß ihr die nicht gebet vor den Leuten, daß ihr von ihnen gesehen wer-det; ihr habt anders keinen Lohn bei eurem Vater im Himmel.
The 1933/38 Bible uses the word vanhurskaus ‘righteousness’ in all three verses. KJV and LB use the word ‘righteousness’ twice, but 6:1 has a reference to alms giving.
Table 3.19 contains the dynamic translations of the same verses, and the thoroughly dynamic translations are presented in Table 3.20.
The 1992 Bible uses the word vanhurskaus ‘righteousness’ once, but the other verses contain other translational equivalents, ‘do God’s will’ (5:20) and ‘pious acts’ (6:1).
NIV has the word ‘righteousness’ in all three of them. BB uses the expressions ‘doing God’s will’ (in vss. 5:10 and 5:20) and ‘pious life’ in 6:1.
Table 3.19: Dynamic translations
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
Minä sanon teille: ellette te noudata Jumalan tahtoa Phar-isees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Denn ich sage euch: Wenn ihr den Willen Gottes nicht besser erfüllt als die Schriftgelehrten und Phar-isäer, werdet ihr niemals in das Himmelreich have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Hütet euch: Stellt nicht vor den Menschen zur Schau, was für ein frommes Leben ihr führt. Sonst habt ihr keinen Lohn mehr zu
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they Gott werden sie leben in seiner neuen Welt. te ette toden totta pääse Jumalan valtakuntaan.
I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.
Ich sage euch: Ihr werdet niemals in Gottes neue sillä silloin ette saa palkkaa taivaalliselta Isältänne.
“Make certain you do not perform your religious du-ties in public so that people will see what you do. If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven.
»Hütet euch, eure Fröm-migkeit vor den Menschen zur Schau zu stellen! Denn dann habt ihr keinen Lohn mehr von eurem Vater im Himmel zu erwarten.«
UTN uses the expression ‘good deeds’ in Matt 6:1. Interestingly, in 5:10, dikaiosu/nh is not translated at all, and in vs. 5:20 it is not defined what kinds of deeds are needed.
The commandments of God are mentioned in the previous verse, 5:19, however. GNT has the phrases ‘doing what God requires’ and ‘religious duties’. GNB uses similar expressions: ‘doing God’s will’ (5:10 and 20) and ‘piety’ in 6:1.
Conclusions
There is more variety, again, in translational equivalents than in the first two examples, in the same way as in the OT example. One may assume that dikaiosu/nh as the right way of living is probably easier to explain and translate with other expressions than with the word ‘righteousness’.
When considering Matt 5:10, it also contains the word maka/rioi, which has been translated as ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’. These represent different interpretations of the word. The words used by the translations fit into these two categories so that three of them have employed words related to ‘blessed’ (KJV, NIV, and LB). The other six versions use a word that can be interpreted as ‘happy’ (1933/38 Bible, 1992 Bible, BB, and all three thoroughly dynamic translations). In addition, the Finnish formal and dynamic versions have the word autuas, which is an archaic word for ‘happy’, not often seen in common language.
In the OT example, it is described in detail in the context what is meant by ‘doing righteousness’, which is why it is not so difficult to interpret the passage. When considering the NT example, it is interesting that UTN does not translate dikaiosu/nh in Matt 5:10 and 5:20 at all, but uses just the word ‘deeds’. This raises the question of whether the reader would be able to understand what is meant by these ‘deeds’. They have been defined as ‘good’ or ‘what God requires’ by other thoroughly dynamic versions, and these expressions give clues to the reader of what is meant by the author.
There are similar expressions in Finnish that could have been used in vss. 5:10 and 5:20, which would have been clear to the reader.
When considering Eze 18 and the SM in the formal translations, the same conclusions apply to them: the context of the word ‘righteousness’ in these passages helps to interpret what is meant by it. They have used traditional translational equivalents of ‘righteousness’ in these examples, but this does not hinder the reader in understanding the passage.
Since the context offers help in interpreting the word ‘righteousness’ in both of these two examples, the translations studied here are mostly successful in mediating the original message to their implied audience. The thoroughly dynamic translations use clear and up-to-date language, which makes this task easier. UTN, however, does not translate dikaiosu/nh at all in two verses, which raises the question of whether the reader is able to figure out what the author has meant. The other translations work well in these two examples.
3.3.3 Saving acts of God
The third semantic domain, ‘saving acts of God’, can be divided into several categories.
A similar trend can be seen in these examples to those above: KJV and NIV are more traditional in using the word ‘righteousness’ and GNT has used other phrases, as well.
The translation of ‘righteousness’ referring to a reminiscence of the past acts of God in 1. Sam 12:6–8 is ‘righteous acts’ (KJV and NIV) and ‘mighty actions’ (GNT).
‘Righteousness’ in the context of thanksgiving, for example in Ps 145:7, has been rendered as ‘righteousness’ (KJV and NIV) and ‘kindness’ (GNT). An example of
‘righteousness’ in the context of a prayer to God for his help in the future, Ps 31:1,
‘righteousness’ in the context of a prayer to God for his help in the future, Ps 31:1,