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hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the
south of Jeshimon?” (1 Sam. 23:19).
'
(
, 3233), “right hand; on the right side; the right side (of one’s body);
southern.” This noun appears 25 times in the Old Testament.
'
means “right hand”
in Exod. 29:20, the first biblical occurrence. In 1 Kings 7:21 the word refers to the “right
side” in regard to a location.
'
appears in Ezek. 4:6 with the meaning of the “right
side” of the body. The word implies “southern” in 1 Kings 6:8: “The door for the middle
chamber was in the right side [southern side] of the house.…”
(
, 8486), “south; southern quarter; southwards.” This noun makes 22
biblical appearances. In its first biblical occurrence (Exod. 26:18), the word refers to the
direction “southward.”
can mean “south” or “southern quarter” as in Josh. 15:1.
TO BE RIGHTEOUS
A. Verb.
%
(
$
, 6663), “to be righteous, be in the right, be justified, be just.” This verb,
which occurs fewer than 40 times in biblical Hebrew, is derived from the noun
%!
Nowhere is the issue of righteousness more appropriate than in the problem of the
suffering of the righteous presented to us in Job, where the verb occurs 17 times. Apart
from the Book of Job the frequency of
%
in the various books is small. The first
occurrence of the verb is in Gen. 38:26, where Judah admits that Tamar was just in her
demands: “She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my
son.”
The basic meaning of
%
is “to be righteous.” It is a legal term which involves the
whole process of justice. God “is righteous” in all of His relations, and in comparison
with Him man is not righteous: “Shall mortal man be more just [righteous] than God?”
(Job 4:17). In a derived sense, the case presented may be characterized as a just cause in
that all facts indicate that the person is to be cleared of all charges. Isaiah called upon the
nations to produce witnesses who might testify that their case was right: “Let them bring
forth their witnesses that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth”
(43:9). Job was concerned about his case and defended it before his friends: “… Though I
were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge”
(9:15).
%
may also be used to signify the outcome of the verdict, when a man is
pronounced “just” and is judicially cleared of all charges. Job believed that the Lord
would ultimately vindicate him against his opponents (Job 13:18).
In its causative pattern, the meaning of the verb brings out more clearly the sense of a
judicial pronouncement of innocence: “If there be a controversy between men, and they
come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify [
%
] the
righteous [
%
], and condemn the wicked” (Deut. 25:1). The Israelites were charged
with upholding righteousness in all areas of life. When the court system failed became of
corruption, the wicked were falsely “justified” and the poor were robbed of justice
because of trumped-up charges. Absalom, thus, gained a large following by promising
justice to the landowner (2 Sam. 15:4). God, however, assured Israel that justice would be