Righteousness

The Hebrew Concept of Tzedakah

‍                                     By Drew & Deborah McKenna

Righteousness. A word we think we know. A word so commonly used in Christian circles today that we hardly give it a second thought. But to fully understand its meaning, we must dig deeper, study, and take an in-depth look at its ancient meaning. Most Christians do not know that the word "righteousness" is a Hebrew concept that is not very well understood in the Western world in which we live because its original meaning has become blurred through the centuries. 

Most of us grew up in a modern Western world that gives clearcut and concise explanations to words and ideas. We make lists and want carefully defined definitions in our Biblical studies. But what we don't understand is the Hebrew language comes from an ancient Eastern Semitic culture that is more likely to describe truth in pictures, in metaphors, in the meaning of places or the actions of people. The word "righteousness" is one such word that the Bible does not give a concise definition to in any one location, but its meaning is found sprinkled throughout the Bible in the actions of God and His people.

Dr. Roy Blizzard in his book Mishnah and the Words of Jesus helps Christians better understand righteousness: "If one looks at the Bible as a whole, and additionally includes all Jewish literature, and searches for one single, overriding theme that is the foundational theme of biblical faith, one would have to conclude that foundational theme is summed up in the Hebrew word "tzedakah", the word frequently translated into English as righteousness… Tzedakah is the outstanding, overriding, and yet simple theme of Jesus."

For us to begin to understand the word tzedakah, let's first start with a look at God's righteousness from Micah 6:3-5 (emphasis added):

‍        "My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 

‍        I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. 

‍        I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. My people, remember what 

‍        Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember 

‍        your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, in order that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord."

God had redeemed His people from Egypt, from the house of slavery.  

In the book Roots and Branches, Exploration into the Jewish Context of the Christian Faith, Joseph Frankovic explains, "The exodus event stands out as the most spectacular saving act of God on behalf of the Jewish people recorded in the Hebrew Bible. It was the superlative redemptive act of the Old Testament." 

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Why? "God had brought His people out of slavery. He went before them. He defeated their enemies. He provided water and food for them in the wilderness. This was an awesome display of God's redemptive power on behalf of his people." 

Look again at the latter portion of Micah 6:5, "in order that you might know the righteous acts of the Lord." Frankovic continues, "In light of the context, some translators are beginning to render this phrase, ‘the saving acts of the Lord.’ These translators have recognized something significant, that tzedakah could also mean a redemptive or saving act."

"Israel is to remember how God acted redemptively on their behalf."

In Deut. 10:15-18 God gives us another portrait of His righteous behavior towards His people.

‍        "For the Lord, your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, 

‍        who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, 

‍        and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those

‍        who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt."

Here, God gives describes His righteous acts in defending the orphan, the widow, and loving the foreigner by giving them food and clothing, telling His people to do the same. 

Now let's begin to look at tzedakah in the life of a believer. The word we frequently translated as righteousness is a word that really defies translation into English. It's a word pregnant with meaning.

‍            "If anyone is poor among your brothers in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving 

‍            you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them.  Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them

‍            whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: ‘The seventh year, the year for 

‍            canceling debts, is near,’ so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow 

‍            Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found 

‍            guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this, the 

‍            Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to." (Deut. 15:7-10)

Here, the righteous, saving, redeeming acts of God's people are described as being generous and openhanded toward a poor brother by freely lending them in whatever they need.

In the popular description of the "Proverbs 31 Woman," her righteousness is described as,

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‍            "She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." (Proverbs 31:20)

Righteousness is a verb. It's an action word. The action of those who are apart of the Kingdom of God, being ruled by God, in outward acts of tzedakah towards their fellow man. 

Dr. Brad Young, a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Theology at ORU serving as a Tenured Professor of Judaic-Christian Studies, in his book Paul the Jewish Theologian, teaches students and readers, "Instead of viewing Paul against the background of first-century Judaism, we see him through the eyes of later interpreters who knew little about early Jewish thought."  

“During the Reformation, Martin Luther understood righteousness in the sense of the German word Gerechtigkeit, meaning ‘justification’ or ‘right standing before God.’ Unfortunately, we have been guilty of equating righteousness with holiness or spirituality. We have never quite understood that in order to be in a right relationship with God, one first must be in right relationship with his fellow man.

In his book Jesus, Rabbi & Lord: A Lifetime's Search for the Meaning of Jesus' Words,

Dr. Robert Lindsey helps Christians more accurately understand the Hebrew concept of righteousness. "In earlier times to vindicate or save a person in a dispute, one 'took his side,' that is, made him literally 'right.' The mistreated person was helped by the 'righteousness,' or saving act, of the individual helping him, often a judge or village elder. To better understand Jesus' words and the other New Testament writers, we must move away from the idea that righteousness is a kind of inward goodness [spirituality] and move toward the Hebrew concept of righteousness as an outgoing, active attitude aimed at others." This understanding underlies Job 29:12-16:

‍            "I rescued the poor who cried for help, 

‍            and the fatherless who had none to assist them. 

‍            The one who was dying blessed me; 

‍            I made the widow's heart sing. 

‍            I put on righteousness as my clothing;

‍             justice was my robe and my turban. 

‍            I was eyes to the blind 

‍            and feet to the lame. 

‍            I was a father to the needy; 

‍            and I investigated the case which I did not know."    

At this point, you should be asking yourself, "Where have I heard this before? Does this remind me of another story?”

‍            "For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; 

‍            I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; 

‍            I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

‍            naked, and you clothed Me; 

‍            I was sick, and you visited Me; 

‍            I was in prison, and you came to Me."

‍            "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, 

‍            or thirsty, and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, 

‍            or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 

‍            Then Jesus will answer and say, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these 

‍            brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’"  (Matt. 25:34-40 emphasis added.)

In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats recorded for us in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus teaches that righteous behavior naturally flows out to others in need.

Most Christians have been taught, "All our righteousness are as filthy rags" from Isaiah 64:6. Do you realize that one word has been left out of that sentence that totally changes the meaning of that phrase? Let's look at the verse in its context, remembering that Isaiah is writing to the people of his day at a specific time in history. It is not a generalized statement on the condition of all mankind.  Let’s look at the fragmented portion of the verse this quote comes from:

‍    “…and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” (Emphasis added.)

The one word left out of this popular quote is “deeds.”  Leaving out this one word changes the entire meaning.  

One of the most common mistakes in trying to interpret the Bible is to take the text out of context.  That is, if you take one short verse out of a paragraph, chapter or even a book, it may be that the short verse will sound like it is saying something totally different from what the author actually intended.

It is very important to always keep in mind the context of a particular verse.  Context is the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea in terms of which it can be fully understood.  If a statement is quoted out of context it seems to mean something different than the author intended.  A passage that is removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning is called “quote mining.”   Politicians are quite good at this.

Put this phrase back into its context of Isaiah 64:4-9 and read, (emphasis has been added).

‍            "For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God 

‍            besides You, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices in 

‍            doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways.  Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, 

‍            we continued in them a long time, and shall we be saved?  For all of us have become like one who 

‍            is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and 

‍            our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  There is no one who calls on Your name, who arouses 

‍            himself to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the 

‍            power of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; 

‍            and all of us are the work of Your hand.  Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord, nor remember 

‍            iniquity forever; behold, look now, all of us are Your people." 

Did you notice in the verses above that God meets with the person who rejoices in doing righteousness and remembers His ways? Isaiah cries out that they had sinned, and their righteous deeds were like a filthy garment. Isaiah compares their iniquities to leaves blown away in the wind. The Hebrew word for iniquity is "awon," which is a description of a particular type of sin. It means deliberately twisting or perverting. Iniquity can be used to describe how we behave towards others, but it also can describe how we bend God's Word to change its meaning to fit our own desires.

Righteous behavior is not only helping the poor and those in need, but it is also a description of the lives of those who love God and desire to live a life pleasing to Him and is characterized by "loving your neighbor as yourself." It can be seen in how we speak to and about our spouse, our relatives, the neighbor next door, our co-workers, the people we come in contact with on a daily basis, and even how we speak about others on social media.

Paul, knowing that the Hebrew concept of righteousness was little understood throughout the Roman empire, wrote to the churches using terms they would have understood to convey what a life of righteousness looks like with these encouraging words:

‍            "We are His workmanship; created in Christ Jesus for good works, 

‍            which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10).

‍            “And let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs,

‍            that they may not be unfruitful.”  (Titus 3:14).

As Christians get involved in people’s lives, he or she pursues a lifestyle characterized by mending our broken world:  Where there is hatred, he or she sows love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.*

*Joseph Frankovic, in his essay titled “Kingdom of Heaven,” Roots and Branches, Exploration into the Jewish Context of the Christian Faith, PWM Trust, Bedford UK, 1998, p 157.

More information on this topic may be found on the Books/Video page of this website.  

For further study on this topic we recommend the book:    

Paul the Jewish Theologian by Brad Young

And by visiting the outstanding website: Jerusalem Perspective.org.