Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6, New International Version

I was reading Matthew 5, and I found the word "righteousness" in this context to be deeply troubly, particularly from it seems to stem from ideological capture that distorts the actual meaning from Matthew in Koine Greek.

Here is the full passage that this line is featured within:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What bothers me about righteousness in this context is this:

The passage describes a litany of quiet, personal virtues and the fragile aspects of being human:

  1. Poor in spirit
  2. Those who mourn
  3. Meek
  4. Merciful
  5. Pure in heart
  6. Peacemakers

Meanwhile, the word 'righteousness' in English holds a complex connotation: what comes to mind is the idea of something moralistic, a dogmatic person who likely doesn't hold nuance and restraint in their application of beliefs towards non-believers.

Here is the word in Koine Greek that was translated into 'righteousness':

δικαιοσύνη

This word is composed from these two words: δίκη and the suffix σύνη, thus: δικαιοσύνη.

The word δίκη has a list of possible meanings: customer/fashion/manner, order/law/right, judgement/justice, lawsuit/trial, punishment/penalty/vengeance/satisfaction

The suffix σύνη creates abstract nouns denoting a quality or state of being, so quite literally δικαιοσύνη is "something with a state of being of order/justice/orientated towards justice and fairness."

In the context of great Greek thinkers like Aristotle, this word is used to describe how the polis should be ordered, what is fair and just regarding dealings between citizens, how goods should be distributed.

He wrote:

Περὶ δὲ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἀδικίας σκεπτέον περὶ1129 a ποίας τε τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι πράξεις καὶ ποία μεσότης ἐστὶν ἡ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ τὸ δίκαιον τίνων5 2μέσον· ἡ δὲ σκέψις ἡμῖν ἔστω κατὰ …

Now concerning justice and injustice we must consider what sorts of actions they are concerned with, and what sort of mean justice is, and between what extremes the just is intermediate. And let our inquiry follow the same method as …

Likewise, this was the original Hebrew word which was translated into δικαιοσύνη: צְדָקָה.

This word, in Hebrew, is most closely used in context of charity, especially in the context of fulling a "religious obligation that must be performed regardless of one's financial standing, and so is mandatory even for those of limited financial means."

Now that we discussed both the Greek and Hebrew contexts in which δικαιοσύνη was used, let's compare how the passage reads with it translated into English as both righteousness and justice.

First, righteousness:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And finally, justice:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

You tell me, which translation feels more faithful to the passage?