For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness Psalms 11:7
When most of us think of righteousness, we think of it in terms of personal ethical behavior. While that may be true, the ancient definition of righteousness goes much deeper. It was the very fabric of the heavens, everyone and everything operated according to righteousness. It’s only by upholding, adhering to, and following righteousness that the universe could operate. Righteousness is the backbone of the cosmic order, political order, social order, family order, marital order, or the order of the natural world itself. Righteousness is an umbrella word that covers all the attributes of God and His essence.
Word Origin
Hebrew: The primary Hebrew word for righteousness is tzedek (צדק). It’s difficult to translate into a single English word. English translators of the Bible render tzedek using several words, including rightness, righteousness, just, justice, charity, fair, innocence, and “what is right”. God is a God because He upheld and continues to uphold the cosmic law of righteousness. God’s laws and commands are the laws and commands of righteousness. God’s power is a witness to and a product of his righteousness.
The term tzedek is used as part of a title for God. For instance, the name Melchizedek is a compound word: Melchi (King in Hebrew) and tzedek (righteousness/rightness), meaning King of Righteousness. This epitaph is used for Christ, emphasizing his priesthood order (Heb. 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11).
In the Hebrew mindset, words are rooted in concrete actions rather than abstract religious piety. In Hebrew literature the word tzedekit is frequently paired with yashar (upright or straight) and contrasted with rasha (wicked or departed). Yasharmeans a “straight path” and rasha means “to depart” from God’s way. A righteous person follows the correct path (the way of God) and can be trusted, a concept tied to the physical nomadic journeys of the ancient culture.
Tzedek is also strongly linked to the temple. It concerns the priest’s authority, character, and appropriateness, particularly the accuracy of the ancient Israelite temple rituals.
Egyptian: Maat is a fundamental concept in ancient Egyptian religion, representing the divine standard of truth and cosmic order, particularly in the context of judgment and the afterlife. It serves as the standard against which the deceased were judged in the afterlife. In judgment scenes found in the Book of the Dead, the individual’s heart is weighed on a balance against Maat which is represented as a feather of truth. If the heart carries too much weight due to transgressions, the scale becomes unbalanced, leading to severe consequences for the deceased.
Maat was the embodiment of seven principles that lead to cosmic harmony which include Truth, Justice, Harmony, Balance, Order, Reciprocity, and Propriety.Maat shares the moral basis for all of the Abrahamic religions. Maat’s role was to maintain cosmic order, truth, and justice, acting as the force that counteracted chaos (isfet).
Greek: The main Greek word for righteousness is dikaiosuné (δικαιοσύνη). Like maat and tzedek, it conveys concepts of justice, equity, and integrity, referring to a state of being in right relationship with God and others. It is also related to justification.
English: We can see that righteousness had lost much of its ancient grandeur when it was translated into English. The English word “righteousness” comes from the Old English word rihtwīsnes, a compound of riht (right) and wīs (wise, manner, way). It originally meant “justice” or “conformity to divine or moral law”.
Letter from Liberty
Remarkably, in a cold, isolated dungeon in a rural town Missouri town, a letter from God’s prophet captures the essence of the ancient concepts of tzedek and maat.
“That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness” Doctrine and Covenants 121:36.
Joseph Smith speaks of heavenly powers, not cosmic law. These powers are controlled and handled on the principles of righteousness (zedek). He outlines what is not and is righteousness.
| Unrighteous (D&C 121:34–40) | Righteous (D&C 121:41–45) |
| Maintained by virtue of position, authority, or compulsion. | Maintained only by persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, and meekness. |
| Exercise control or dominion over the souls of men without respecting agency. | Demonstrated by kindness and pure knowledge, which greatly enlarges the soul without hypocrisy or guile. |
| Leads to covering sins, gratifying pride, and exercising vain ambition. | Involves reproving at the proper time with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost. |
| Actions that grieve the Spirit and cause the heavens to withdraw themselves. | An increase of love, so the person corrected knows their faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death causing the heavens to pour down blessings. |
| Powers or authority “amen” (end) when one takes part in unrighteous dominion. | Results in the Holy Ghost being a constant companion and a scepter of righteousness and truth as an unchanging dominion forever. |
Illustration–Majesty in Chains
Righteousness imbues majestic divine power. From an incident with Joseph Smith in Richmond Jail. Here’s Parley P. Pratt’s account:
Dear Bro. Richards:
In the last number of the News, the history of Joseph Smith is brought down to Nov. 2nd, 1838. It leaves him, myself, and others as prisoners in the hands of the enemy, encamped on crooked river, on the way to Independence, Jackson county, Mo., under a strong guard, commanded by Generals Lucas and Wilson.
Those scenes bring to my mind, a few incidents in the life of our illustrious Prophet and martyr, or which I was a personal witness, and which perhaps, have not yet found their way into the public history, or records of the Church.
As we arose and commenced our march on the morning of the 3rd Nov., Joseph Smith spoke to me and the other prisoners, in a low, but cheerful and confidential tone; said he, “be of good cheer, brethren; the word of the Lord came to me last night, that our lives should be given us; and that whatever we may suffer during this captivity, not one of our lives should be taken. Of this prophesy I testify in the name of the Lord, and though spoken in secret, its public fulfillment, and the miraculous escape of each one of us, is too notorious to need my testimony.
After our removal from Independence to Richmond, Ray county, and our being delivered to Gen. Clark, we were placed by that General in charge of Col. Sterling Price, now Governor of the State of Missouri, if I mistake not.
This said Col. Price placed us in a room without beds, chairs, or any other convenience, and chained seven of us all together, with a kind of trace chain, extending from one man’s ankle to another, and fastened round one ankle of each with a padlock. In this situation we were guarded night and day by about ten men at a time, who stood over us with loaded pistols in hand. At night we were all stretched on the floor in a row upon our backs, and tried to sleep, but the hard floor, the cold, and the inability to change our position because of our chains, and the noise of the guards effectually prevented sleep.
In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep, till the hour of midnight has passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies, and filthy language of our guards, Col. Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the “Mormons,” while at Far West, and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force, wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women, and children.
I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice, that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards, but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:
“SILENCE—Ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute, and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS MINUTE.”
He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon,–calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked down upon the quailing guards, whose weapons were lowed or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.
I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended upon a breath, in the courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones, and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms, but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains at midnight, in a dungeon, in an obscure village of Missouri.
Your brother, P.P. Pratt, Deseret News, Nov. 12, 1853
