Pursuing Righteousness

מְתֻרְגְּמָן (m^e⋅tur⋅g^e⋅MĀN) is Hebrew for “translator.” The articles in this series illustrate how a knowledge of the Gospels’ Semitic background can provide a deeper understanding of Jesus’ words and influence the translation process. For more articles in this series, click here.

Revised: 25-Oct-2013

A person can’t translate what he doesn’t understand, and sometimes he can’t translate what he understands even if he has words for it in his target language. Discovering the meaning of a passage to be translated can take a Gospel student through some very exotic fields.

An interesting problem arose while I was reading and enjoying Robert Lindsey’s book, Jesus, Rabbi and Lord: A Lifetime’s Search for the Meaning of Jesus’ Words.^[11] Traditionally, the beatitude found in Matthew 5:10 is read as “blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Dr. Robert L. Lindsey would read this as “blest are the righteousness-driven,” that is, those with a passion for righteousness. Lindsey cites a possible Hebrew antecedent, נִרְדְּפֵי צְדָקָה (nirdefe tsedakah), to justify the metaphorical and active-voice interpretation of “pursued, persecuted.”^[12]

This presents a reader with several problems or riddles. There are a number of unstated intervening steps that an exegete must work through before he is able to evaluate Lindsey’s interpretation as a translation option, or before he can evaluate its historical probability.

Passive or Active?

First of all, the Greek οἱ δεδιωγμένοι (hoi dediogmenoi) could be either reflexive (“those pursuing/persecuting [for themselves]”) or passive (“those pursued/persecuted”), but normally would be read as passive because of the preposition ἕνεκεν (heneken, “because of”) which follows.^[13] It therefore would seem that an active-voice translation of the Matthean text is improbable.

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• ^[1] Pa’al, like nif’al, is one of the seven basic forms of the Hebrew verb. ↩
• ^[2] Additionally, this example is not the reading of the best manuscript of the Tosefta, which uses טְרוּפָה (terufah, "distressed" [wanting to leave]), instead of רְדוּפָה (redufah, "pursued"; "eager"; "anxious" [wanting to leave]). ↩
• ^[3] See, for example, 1 Cor. 4:12, 2 Cor. 4:9, Gal. 5:11 and Polycarp to Philippi 2:3: μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ καὶ οἱ διωκόμενοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης ὅτι αὑτῶν έστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοὺ (makarioi hoi ptochoi kai hoi diokomenoi heneken dikaiosynes hoti auton estin he basileia tou theou, "Blessed are the poor and those [being] persecuted because of righteousness, for of them is the kingdom of God"). ↩
• ^[4] With a flick at the end of the first י (yod), turning it into a ו (vav), this adjective would become the normal pa’al passive participle רדופין (redufin). In fact, many yods and vavs in the Dead Sea Scrolls are indistinguishable. Here, in either case, we have the passive-active idiom. Also notice that a preposition, עַל (al, "on, upon"), is used with the noun expressing the object of the desire. ↩
• ^[5] The preposition עַל (al, "on, upon") would help to explain the Greek preposition ἕνεκεν (heneken, "because of"). ↩
• ^[6] Cf. Prov. 15:9: תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה דֶּרֶךְ רָשָׁע וּמְרַדֵּף צְדָקָה יֶאֱהָב (to’avat yhvh derech rasha umeradef tsedakah ye’ehav, "The way of a wicked man is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves someone who pursues righteousness") and 21:21: רֹדֵף צְדָקָה וָחָסֶד יִמְצָא חַיִּים צְדָקָה וְכָבוֹד (rodef tsedakah vahased yimtsa hayim tsedakah vechavod, "Someone who pursues righteousness and grace will find life, righteousness and honor"). ↩
• ^[7] Lindsey, Jesus, Rabbi and Lord, 183. ↩
• ^[8] There is a rabbinic parallel to a passive suffering proverb as well: לְעוֹלָם יְהֵא אָדָם מִן הַנִּרְדָּפִין וְלֹא מִן הָרוֹדְפִין (le’olam yehe adam min hanirdafin velo min harodfin, "A man should always be among the pursued/persecuted and not among the pursuers/persecutors") (b. Bava Kamma 93^a [c. A.D. 500]). Contrary to Lindsey’s interpretation, this would give some support to the general applicability of the traditional view of the beatitude at Matthew 5:10. ↩
• ^[9] In an unpublished manuscript on the life of Jesus. ↩
• ^[10] This is indicated by ἕνεκεν (heneken). Compare the same preposition in Matt. 5:11 with the meaning "because of." ↩
• ^[11] See my review of Lindsey’s book. ↩
• ^[12] Lindsey, Jesus, Rabbi and Lord, 123. ↩
• ^[13] The other New Testament examples of ἕνεκεν (heneken, “because of”) with a noun refer to a reason for an action, never to the desired goal of an action (i.e., not “to pursue after righteousness”): Matt. 5:11; 10:18, 39; 16:25; 19:29; Mark 8:35; 10:7, 29; 13:9; Luke 9:24; 10:29; 21:12; Acts 28:20; Rom. 14:20; (2 Cor. 7:12, purpose clause with infinitive). ↩