Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally right or justifiable. The concept is rooted in religious or divine law and broadly encompasses moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beliefs. It is found in many religions and traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. It is an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" as living a moral life, relative to religious doctrines. Rectitude, often a synonym for righteousness, is about personal moral values and the internal compass that guides an individual’s decisions and actions.
Etymology Etymologically, it comes from Old English rihtwis, from 'right' + 'manner, state, condition' (as opposed to wikt:wrangwīs, ).
William Tyndale (translator of the Bible into Early Modern English in 1526) created the modern spelling of righteousness after , which would have yielded modern English right wise or right ways. He used it to translate the Hebrew root , which appears over five hundred times in the Hebrew Bible, and the Greek word (), which appears approximately 80 times in the New Testament. This change in the ending of the word in the 16th century was due to association with words such as bounteous.
Ethics or moral philosophy Ethics is a major branch of philosophy that investigates questions about morality. The field is divided into two parts: normative ethics, which seeks to answer what is right or wrong, and metaethics, which seeks to explain the meaning and nature of moral judgements.
The word ethics is "commonly used interchangeably with 'morality' and sometimes it is used more narrowly to mean the moral principles of a particular tradition, group, or individual".
As such, the field of ethics is closely related to the concept of righteousness. In the case of normative ethics, it tries to provide an account of what things or acts are and are not righteous. In the case of metaethics, it tries to explain what it is for something to be righteous.
Righteousness in religion
Abrahamic and Abrahamic-inspired religions
Christianity
In the New Testament, the word righteousness, a translation of the Greek word , is used in the sense of 'being righteous before others' (e.g. Matthew 5:20) or 'being righteous before God' (e.g. Romans 1:17). William Lane Craig argues that we should think of God as the "paradigm, the locus, the source of all moral value and standards".
In Matthew's account of the Baptism of Jesus, Jesus tells John the Baptist, "It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness," as Jesus requests that John perform the rite for him. The Sermon on the Mount contains the commandment, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness".
A secondary meaning of the Greek word is 'justice', which is used to render it in a few places by a few Bible translations, e.g. in Matthew 6:33 in the New English Bible.
Jesus asserts the importance of righteousness by saying in Matthew 5:20, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven".
Paul the Apostle speaks of two ways to achieve righteousness: through the Law of Moses (or Torah) and through faith in the atonement made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (). However, he repeatedly emphasizes that faith is the more effective way., For example, a few verses earlier, he states that the Jews did not attain the law of righteousness because they sought it not by faith, but by works.
The New Testament speaks of a salvation founded on God's righteousness, as exemplified throughout the history of salvation narrated in the Old Testament (). Paul writes to the Romans that righteousness comes by faith: "... a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith'" ().
speaks of the relationship between works of righteousness and faith, saying that "faith without works is dead". Righteous acts, according to James, include works of charity () as well as avoiding sins against the Law of Moses ().
describes Lot as a righteous man.
Broadly, righteousness is defined as the state of being morally upright and in right standing with God according to divine standards. Rooted in the Hebrew concept of tsedeq and the Greek dikaiosynē, it signifies both the holy character of God and the ethical behavior expected of humanity within a conventional relationship. While the Old Testament emphasizes righteousness through adherence to the Mosaic Law, New Testament theology—particularly in the Pauline epistles—posits that human sinfulness makes perfect righteousness unattainable through personal effort alone. Consequently, mainstream Christian doctrine teaches that righteousness is a gift of grace received through faith in Jesus Christ. This is often distinguished between "imputed righteousness", where Christ’s merit is legally credited to the believer to achieve justification, and "imparted" or "infused" righteousness, where the Holy Spirit works within the individual to effect actual moral transformation during the process of sanctification.
Islam
Righteousness is mentioned several times in the Quran. The Quran says that a life of righteousness is the only way to go to Heaven.
Judaism
Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God as portrayed in the Hebrew Bible. Its chief meaning concerns ethical conduct (for example, ; ; ; ).
In the Book of Job, the title character is introduced as "a good and righteous man". in the New Catholic Bible
The Book of Wisdom calls on rulers of the world to embrace righteousness.: New Revised Standard Version It also concerns actively pursuing justice (Mishpat), and charity (Tzedakah).
The Talmud mentions that there are in each generation thirty-six righteous people (called Lamed Vav Tzadikim in Hebrew), whose existence sustains the world. This legend is mentioned by the Jewish historian and philosopher Gershom Scholem as "widespread in Jewish folklore".Gershom Scholem, 1995, p. 251: The publication of André Schwartz-Bart's novel, The Last of the Just, which by its theme and its development gripped so many readers, has directed attention to the Jewish folk legend which form the basis of the book. This legend, widespread in Jewish folklore, speaks of thirty-six Zaddikim, or just men, on whom - though they are unknown or hidden - rests the fate of the world.
After the second World War genocide of 6 million Jews, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum was tasked to identify and recognize the "Righteous Among the Nations". They are non-Jews who took high risks to save Jews from extermination. The honorary title of "Righteous Among the Nations" is awarded since 1963 by a special commission in Israel, headed by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, after studying each case in depth and assessing if they fit the required criteria.
Mandaeism
An early self-appellation for Mandaeans is meaning 'elect of righteousness' or 'the chosen righteous', a term found in the Book of Enoch and Genesis Apocryphon II, 4. In addition to righteousness, also refers to alms or almsgiving.
East Asian religions
Yi (Confucianism)
, (), literally "justice, or justness, righteousness or rightness, meaning", is an important concept in Confucianism. It involves a moral disposition for the good in life with the sustainable intuition, purpose, and sensibility to do good competently without expectation of reward.
resonates with the orientation of Confucian philosophy towards the cultivation of reverence or benevolence () and skillful practice ().
represents moral acumen that goes beyond simple rule-following. As it is based on empathy, it involves a balanced understanding of a situation, and it incorporates the "creative insights" and grounding necessary to apply virtues through deduction (Yin and Yang) and reason "with no loss of purpose and direction for the total good of fidelity. represents this ideal of totality and decisive ability to apply a virtue appropriately in a situation."
In application, is a "complex principle" that includes:
skill in crafting actions which have moral fitness according to a given concrete situation the wise recognition of such fitness the intrinsic satisfaction that comes from that recognition.
Indian religions Although it is difficult to find a single-word translation for in English, it can be translated as an uprising righteousness of karma, religion, faith, duty, law and virtue. Connotations of include rightness, good, natural, morality, righteousness, and virtue. In common parlance, means 'right way of living' and 'path of rightness'. It encompasses ideas such as duty, rights, character, vocation, religion, customs and all behaviour considered appropriate, correct or "morally upright". It is explained as a law of righteousness and equated to (truth): "...when a man speaks the Truth, they say, 'He speaks the Dharma'; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, 'He speaks the Truth!' For both are one"Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 1.4.xiv has been a central concept in India for many ages and can be traced back to the Vedic Eras, as early as 1500–1000 BCE.
An ancient Tamil moral text, the Tirukkural, is solely based on , the Tamil term for . The antonym of is generally referred to as .
The importance of to Indian sentiments can be seen in the fact that the national flag of India includes the Ashoka Chakra, a depiction of the ( the "wheel of dharma"), as the central motif on its flag.
Hinduism
In Hindu philosophy and religion, major emphasis is placed on individual practical morality. In the Sanskrit epics, this concern is omnipresent. This includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues, and "right way of living". The Sanskrit epics contain themes and examples where right prevails over wrong and good over evil.
In an inscription attributed to the Indian Emperor Ashoka from , in Sanskrit, Aramaic, and Greek text, appears a Greek rendering for the Sanskrit word : the word .
The Ramayana is one of the two major Indian epics. It tells about life in ancient India and offers models in . The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of ; this is why he is considered heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later, he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Ayodhya. Each episode of Ramayana presents life situations and ethical questions in symbolic terms. The situation is debated by the characters, and finally, right prevails over wrong and good over evil. For this reason, in Hindu Epics, the good, morally upright, law-abiding king is referred to as .