The right (natural, moral or legal); also (abstractly) equity or (figuratively) prosperity
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צֶדֶק (ṣedeq) names righteousness, rightness, equity, or what is right. Leviticus 19:15 commands judgment in righteousness, verse 36 requires righteous scales and measures, Deuteronomy 16:18 orders judges to judge justly, and 16:20 intensifies the pursuit of justice.
Reader summary
Full entry for צֶדֶק (H6664) · Open the biblical lexicon
צֶדֶק (ṣedeq) names righteousness, rightness, equity, or what is right. Leviticus 19:15 commands judgment in righteousness, verse 36 requires righteous scales and measures, Deuteronomy 16:18 orders judges to judge justly, and 16:20 intensifies the pursuit of justice.
The BSB source-word alignment has 119 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include righteousness (18), of righteousness (8), in righteousness (7), your righteous (6), are righteous (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Leviticus 19:15. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (49), Isaiah (25), Proverbs (9), Deuteronomy (7).
צֶדֶק (ṣedeq) names righteousness, rightness, equity, or what is right. Leviticus 19:15 commands judgment in righteousness, verse 36 requires righteous scales and measures, Deuteronomy 16:18 orders judges to judge justly, and 16:20 intensifies the pursuit of justice. The noun therefore includes courts, commerce, and public treatment of neighbors; it cannot be confined to an inward spiritual condition.
Psalms connect righteousness with God's rule and the ordering of communal life. Psalm 9:8 says God judges the world in righteousness, Psalm 72:2 asks the king to judge the people and poor with righteousness, Psalm 89:14 calls righteousness and justice the foundation of God's throne, and Psalm 85:10 poetically joins righteousness and peace. These texts oppose both corrupt judgment and claims that desired outcomes are righteous merely because powerful people produce them.
Prophets expose failed righteousness and anticipate restored rule. Isaiah 1:21 laments a once-faithful city now filled with murderers, Isaiah 11:4-5 portrays the coming ruler judging the poor with righteousness, Jeremiah 22:13 condemns building through unpaid labor, and Ezekiel 45:10 demands just measures. Jeremiah 23:6 names the coming king in relation to the Lord our righteousness. Messianic and saving themes remain joined to public equity, truthful judgment, and covenant faithfulness.
Tsedeq is right order measured against God's character and instruction. It appears in courts, weights, speech, royal rule, worship, personal conduct, divine judgment, prophetic hope, and messianic naming.
Righteous scales, weights, and measures make commercial integrity part of holiness toward one's neighbor.
Israel is commanded to pursue justice so it may live and possess the land.
The royal prayer asks for righteous judgment of the people and justice for the poor.
Restoration hope pictures covenant love and truth meeting and righteousness and peace embracing.
Righteousness and justice are named as the foundation of God's throne.
Wisdom says all the words of her mouth are in righteousness rather than twisted or perverse.
Here H6664 names the just standard by which the promised ruler addresses the poor; the verse pairs it with an upright decision for the meek.
A ruler is condemned for building without righteousness by withholding a neighbor's wages.
The righteous Branch reigns wisely, and the promised name associates salvation and security with the Lord's righteousness.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Moral and legal rightness unified: what aligns with divine order, covenant standards, and just relationships simultaneously.
Moral and legal rightness unified: what aligns with divine order, covenant standards, and just relationships simultaneously.
the right (natural, moral or legal); also (abstractly) equity or (figuratively) prosperity BDB: rightness Usage: × even, (× that which is altogether) just(-ice), (un-)right(-eous) (cause, -ly, -ness).
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 119 lexical occurrence verses.
צֶדֶק is built from this root:
Defines the character of the promised king’s reign.Hosea 10:9-15
Defines the saving character of God’s intervention.Isaiah 32:1-8
Represents covenant-aligned living.Isaiah 45:8-13
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Tsedeq prevents righteousness from shrinking into private respectability. Torah places it in courts, scales, measures, and treatment of neighbors. Psalm 72 asks rulers to apply it for the poor, and Jeremiah 22 calls unpaid labor unrighteous even when it produces impressive buildings. God's throne joins righteousness and justice, so power cannot redefine rightness to protect itself.
Isaiah's ruler and Jeremiah's Branch open messianic hope in which salvation and equitable rule belong together. Congregational application should examine wages, pricing, testimony, access, policy, leadership, worship, and personal conduct. It should also resist partisan capture: a cause is not righteous because our group favors it. Claims must be tested by truth, impartiality, care for the vulnerable, covenant faithfulness, and willingness to correct harm.
Deut.16.20
H6664 is an abstract noun with concrete legal, commercial, relational, royal, and theological uses. It overlaps related righteousness words, but each identity and construction should retain its own evidence.
The New Testament speaks of God's righteousness, justification, righteous conduct, justice, and the reign of Christ. These themes inherit the Hebrew canon's public and saving dimensions while requiring direct study of each Greek term and argument.