Just
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צַדִּיק (tsaddiq) describes someone righteous, just, or in the right. Genesis 6:9 calls Noah righteous within his generation, Genesis 18:25 contrasts the righteous with the wicked in Abraham's appeal to the Judge of all the earth, and Genesis 20:4 uses the term in Abimelech's question about an innocent nation.
Reader summary
Full entry for צַדִּיק (H6662) · Open the biblical lexicon
צַדִּיק (tsaddiq) describes someone righteous, just, or in the right. Genesis 6:9 calls Noah righteous within his generation, Genesis 18:25 contrasts the righteous with the wicked in Abraham's appeal to the Judge of all the earth, and Genesis 20:4 uses the term in Abimelech's question about an innocent nation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 206 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the righteous (44), of the righteous (39), righteous (12), but the righteous (9), the righteous man (8).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 6:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Proverbs (66), Psalms (52), Ezekiel (16), Isaiah (14).
צַדִּיק (tsaddiq) describes someone righteous, just, or in the right. Genesis 6:9 calls Noah righteous within his generation, Genesis 18:25 contrasts the righteous with the wicked in Abraham's appeal to the Judge of all the earth, and Genesis 20:4 uses the term in Abimelech's question about an innocent nation. The adjective is relational and evaluative; it does not require every person so described to be sinless in every respect.
Legal texts demand accurate distinction. Exodus 23:7 protects an innocent and righteous person from a false charge, Deuteronomy 25:1 directs judges to justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, and Proverbs 17:15 condemns reversing those judgments. First Kings 8:32 asks God to judge between parties. Righteous language can therefore concern a specific case, and responsible use requires evidence rather than assuming someone's general reputation settles every allegation.
Psalms, wisdom, and prophets describe a life oriented to God and neighbor. Psalm 1 contrasts the way of the righteous with the wicked, Psalm 34 says God's eyes attend to the righteous, Proverbs 29:7 links the righteous with concern for the poor, and Ezekiel 18 portrays concrete justice, fidelity, and refusal of exploitation. Isaiah 53:11 calls the servant righteous, while Jeremiah 23:5 and Zechariah 9:9 portray a righteous king. These themes support Christological reading where later texts make it, without collapsing every occurrence into imputed-righteousness terminology.
Tsaddiq identifies what is right in a person or party relative to moral character, covenant conduct, or a judicial question. It can describe God, ordinary faithful people, an innocent litigant, a servant, or a king, with the controlling standard supplied by context.
Noah is called righteous and blameless in his generation and is said to walk with God.
Abraham appeals to God not to sweep away the righteous with the wicked and trusts the Judge of all the earth to do justice.
The covenant law forbids killing the innocent and righteous through a false matter.
Judges must declare the righteous party right and the wicked party wrong in a dispute.
The Lord knows the way of the righteous while the way of the wicked perishes.
The righteous person knows or attends to the cause of the poor.
The prophet begins a concrete portrait of a righteous person who practices justice and righteousness.
The servant is called righteous within the passage's suffering, knowledge, justifying, and iniquity-bearing claims.
Zion's coming king is described as righteous and endowed with salvation while arriving humbly.
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. One who acts rightly within covenant relationship; moral excellence demonstrated through just conduct toward God and others
One who acts rightly within covenant relationship; moral excellence demonstrated through just conduct toward God and others
just Usage: just, lawful, righteous (man).
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 8 selected witnesses from 206 lexical occurrence verses.
צַדִּיק is built from this root:
The righteous are those whose lives are oriented toward God's wisdom. Isaiah 24:14-16a
The righteous are those whose lives are grounded in wisdom and reverence for God. Isaiah 26:7-11
The righteous place their hope in God rather than in worldly gain. Isaiah 45:20-25
The righteous live under God's covenant care and provision. Proverbs 10:24
The righteous represent those who orient their lives around God's wisdom. Proverbs 10:25
The righteous person aligns with God's covenantal order. Proverbs 10:28
Righteous character produces a legacy that benefits others. Proverbs 10:3
The righteous contribute positively to the health of their communities. Proverbs 10:30
The righteous represent those who live under God's wisdom and protection.
God’s righteousness grounds both judgment and praise.
The righteous walk a path shaped by God’s justice.
Affirms God’s moral perfection in salvation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Tsaddiq gives congregations a concrete and accountable picture of righteousness. Noah walks with God, courts protect the innocent party, wisdom measures speech and generosity, and Ezekiel describes justice in actual relationships. The word opposes both moral relativism and self-righteous performance. It also guards due process: a person can be righteous regarding a charge without being flawless in all life, and reputation does not eliminate the need to examine evidence.
Teaching should direct people toward fidelity, truth, care for the poor, repentance, and trust in God's just judgment. Isaiah's servant and Zechariah's king open messianic connections, but those should be made through their passages and later canonical use. The adjective must not be used to confer untouchable status on leaders or communities.
Gen.18.25
H6662 is adjectival and can function substantivally for a righteous person. Its force may be general, covenantal, comparative, or case-specific; context determines the standard and scope.
The New Testament identifies Jesus as righteous, speaks of justification and transformed conduct, and calls communities to justice and holiness. Those claims develop the field without making every H6662 occurrence an instance of one Pauline doctrine.
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Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain