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The word
Tsedek is a masculine noun meaning:
righteousness.
Ts’dakah is a feminine noun meaning:
to do more than is required,
such as;
to do more than the minimum for someone who is hurting: to truly love your neighbor as yourself.
The term is also applied to giving beyond the tithe to charities.
Therefore Ts’dakah is translated as
acts of loving kindness.
Ts’dakah is to be done in love,
cheerfully, with no thought of reward.
And
acts of loving-kindness
Romans 5:12
Heb. 1:8 your throne God is forever and ever and the scepter is the righteous scepter of your kingdom.
The word here is Gk. Euthutes which means:
uprightness, equity, impartiality;
which are a description of
righteousness.
We are the righteousness of God in Christ
Matt. 5:6
John 6:53
Righteousness in action 5v10
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Righteousness
is doing the perfect will of God
so this is hungering to do His perfect will
seeking him and His righteousness
with the whole heart and with zeal
and not giving up.
Press on for the sake of righteousness.
A good biblical example is
Noach
ish tzaddik – a righteous man.
צַדִיק
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: tsaddiq
Phonetic Spelling: (tsad-deek’)
Definition: just, righteous
Noah/Noe/Noach –
B’resheet/Genesis 6:9 – 11:32
Righteous and he was wholehearted so that with God Noah did walk
His heart was set apart from others of his day
His heart was whole because he was full of God.
Ts D K is being wholehearted in the ways of righteousness.
Only our Heavenly Father can fill us, and give meaning and purpose in our lives.
We are cautioned not to look to the world to fill us.
B’resheet/Genesis 9:12-16
When we walk righteously with God we offer Him our trustworthy service.
Sometimes in the face of YHVH/Yehoveh/Adonai’s faithfulness, we flaunt our strength in an arrogant attitude of entitlement. If we truly hope to walk with God and to be called righteous by Him, it will be according to His plan and not by our choice. Our desire then should be to live a life of devotion to God. Not satisfying our own wants or walking pridefully in our own strength, but instead, seeking after Him to fill us up and make us whole in heart.
V 14 you will be established by acts of loving kindness beyond righteousness.
Is 54 :17 acts of lovingkindness are of Me.
In Matt 9:13 when Yeshua/Jesus said,
I desire loving kindness not sacrifice:
He was quoting from Hos 6:6 here;
the Hebrew text has
Hesed or chesed.
This word is often translated as mercy.
The ideal is not to have to kill something and sacrifice its’ blood to cover our sinful ways; but to be
a tsaddik – a righteous person
and going beyond the basic requirement of
righteous living,
to show,
and be,
and
do lovingkindness
in our dealings with everyday aspects of life.
This is the WAY the Truth and the Life.
It is how Yeshua/Jesus lived and told us to
follow Him by example
doing as He did.
This is our part of righteousness.
Matt 5:6 righteousness in action and…
Matt 7:12 doing unto others as…
Acts of loving kindness = doing unto others as you would want done to you; and as we sow, so we shall reap; often not from the same people or immediately, but, all actions have consequences.
In Hebrew these acts are called Mitsvot / Mitsvah.
מִצְווֹת mitzvoth/mitzvot/mitsvot
מִצְוָה mitzvah
the feminine noun mitzvah, meaning:
divine commandment.
Mitzvot are the expression of the will of God,
and include not only an order to do something;
in its primary meaning, the Hebrew word:
mitzvah ˈmɪtsvə /, means: commandment,
מִצְוָה , [mit͡sˈva],
Biblical: miṣwah;
plural מִצְווֹת mitzvot [mit͡sˈvot],
The plural is mitsvot and it means:
religious and moral obligations.
These obligations include all commandments, statutes, ordinances, observances, teachings and testimonies. Having no exact translation, it is rendered in different contexts as
good deeds, law or command
and can also mean:
duty or obligation
which is a key concept in Jewish law.
The expression in the
Greek language
is normally translated as either:
good deeds or good works;
but it can also include
righteousness
because
doing righteousness
is a common usage: tsadee
In Matt. 6:2 charitable giving in the Hebrew is either:
Ts’dakah or Mitsvah.
Ts’dakah is from the root
ts-d-k as in our post title
and as noted earlier means:
to do right to be just;
as well as in todays understanding referring to
charitable giving, which is going beyond the tithe.
In Biblical Hebrew Ts’dakah is translated
acts of loving kindness
meaning:
going beyond what is required (righteousness) by God.
Our salvation is NOT the result of our works but
it is the cause of our works.
We are not made righteous by our works
but we do good works/mitzvot because we are righteous.
Mitsvot are the evidence that we have been made
righteous by faith.
Gen. 15:6
Good deeds/Mitsvot
are the evidence of our relationship with our Heavenly Father and with Yeshua/Jesus.
As He Himself said in Matt 7:16 you will recognize them by their fruit.
Also in Acts 26:19 Paul said
Works worthy of repentance are also called
mitsvot/mitsvah or
doing righteousness.
mitsvah: commandment
Original Word: מִצְוָה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: mitsvah
Phonetic Spelling: (mits-vaw’)
Definition: commandment
Other references: Matt 7:21; 16:27; Luke 3:8; John 5:29 Acts 26:20; Rom 2:10,13; 1cor 3:8; Eph 2:10; 2Tim 4:14 Titus 1:16, 2:14, 3:8; heb10:24; james 2:14-26; 2Pet 1:5, 3:10;1John 2:4, 3:16-18; Rev 2:5;19:8;20:12,13; 22:12.
We are made righteous
by faith and grace
but
righteousness
is also ACTION.
This is often what we miss in this term
because
we think it is something
we have or become
and NOT
something we are
to DO
The word righteousness is
the noun form of the Hebrew root Ts d k .
ts d k and the Greek verb Dikaio
both mean
to do right, to be just.
They are
verbs that require action
by the subject/person identified by the verb.
When we are
made righteous by our faith
our behavior has to change.
If it does not
1 John 2:3-6 tells us a serious truth.
There are many times in the Brit Chadashah/New Testament that we have references like Acts 26:19 quoted by Paul.
And to him and all new testament authors, the word
believe
required
action
and as in that reference, this change in behavior
comes from above, as written in Pauls reference to the
gift of righteousness
in Romans 5:17 and 6:18.
There’s much we can do to be a better person yet we can do so much more when faith and commitment to God bring us the gift of righteousness.
Paul in 1 Cor. 6:9.
We need to know that in the Hebraic mind set,
in Jewish thinking; the word
believe
requires the
change in behavior
that John was talking about in
1 John 2:3; Ezek. 18:5-9
The connection to the Hebrew name
בית סדה
Some manuscripts have
Beit Hi sda
meaning: House of mercy
better known as
Bethesda,
which is Hebrew according to
John 5:2
and consists of two elements.
The first part is identical to the common Hebrew word בית bayit meaning house:
The second part of the name
Bethesda
is thought to derive from the Hebrew noun
חסד hesed,
meaning kindness or fidelity:
חסד בית
Bethesda
pronounced bay-thes-dah
beth chicda’, house of mercy
or the flowing water,
It is the Hebrew name of a pool, reservoir or tank, with five porches; it was near the Sheep Gate of Jerusalem, upon which an angel of the Lord periodically descended and stirred the waters.
Bethesda
John 5:2
Beit Hesed
House of loving-kindness
Beit בית
The noun
בית bayit
means
house.
Hesed חסד
The verb חסד hasad means
to be good or kind.
The important noun
חסד hesed
means:
loving-kindness or allegiance in a legally binding way.
Adjective
חסיד hasid
means
kind or godly.
house of loving kindness
בית של חסד אוהב
Righteousness and holiness
are the
foundation of relationships
for all of humanity.
We all have relationships; one with our Heavenly Father, another with people, and even with animals.
We are called to: do right to be just in every endeavor and we are to keep ourselves pure.
A good guide for us is according to Jesus/Yeshuas’ words: whatever you have done to the least of these my brethren you have done unto me.
If we remember that what we do is as if we have done it to Jesus/Yeshua and how we treat others we are treating Him!
It may help us to rethink some of our actions.
That is our minimum standard we are required as
Lev. 11:45, to be holy as He is.
And although none of us is perfect while in this earthly body; each of us must strive to do right and to keep pure.
Our Heavenly Father knows the intent of our hearts and sees our faith and the Blood of the Lamb.
So long as we acknowledge Him, do right (Micah again), and keep ourselves pure, we know that we have eternal life.
This righteousness is called
Ts’dakah – acts of loving kindness.
And as we are the
house/beit
in which
His Spirit of Holiness/Ruach HaKodesh
abides/lives
we can become
His Bethesda!
John 5:2
Beit Hesed – House of loving-kindness
where Yeshua/Jesus said in John 7:38
From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water but this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.
The rivers of living waters of
His Ruach HaKodesh/Spirit of Holiness
are flowing from within us as, without apology,
we live out our identity in Messiah and
DO the good works
He prepared in advance for us to DO.
So it could be said that Ts D K is found in Bethesda!
Beit בית
Hesed חסד
“house of loving kindness”
בית של חסד אוהב
Shalom shalom
‘Mishpachah’
‘Family/Tribe’
משפחה
Mish-pa-KHa,
friends, visitors and every reader…
Please don’t leave this page before making certain you are His
Beit בית
Hesed חסד
“house of loving kindness”
בית של חסד אוהב
and are truly born from above.
Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is
your Redeemer, Savior, Lord
and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.
I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Ts D K
is Hebrew for
Righteousness
Ts’dakah
Tsedek
is a masculine noun meaning:
righteousness
Righteousness – Tzedaqah or tsedaqah
Ts D K (without the vowels)
צדק
There are many scriptures that speak of righteousness and because of language differences and translations we sometimes miss the Hebraic meaning of a word and instead attach our western mindset to a word, phrase or scripture.
One of the well known scriptures is in Ephesians 6:
the breastplate of righteousness
but what does righteousness really mean?
צדק.
Righteousness, Fairness, Justice. Integrity
Righteousness, in human standards, is defined as:
the quality of being morally true or justifiable.
It can be considered synonymous with
rightness or being upright.
Righteousness: conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong.
Another definition of Righteous is:
acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin.
In Hebrew it is from
tsadaq: the right (natural, moral or legal);
also (abstractly) equity or (figuratively) prosperity.
Righteousness: Tzedaqah or tsedaqah.
Below is a quick look at the ancient Hebrew meaning:
The original pictographs give us a picture of
צֶדֶק:
צֶ Tzade = Fishhook,
Hunt, Chase, Catch, Desire, Trail, Journey, a man on his Side.
דֶ Dalet = Door, Entrance, Gate, Pathway of Life, Hang, to Move in and out.
ק Qoof = Back of Head, Follow, Behind, Last, Least, Horizon.
With these meanings it could be read as:
Hunting for the Door by Following the Least.
Tzade, is the 18th letter of the Hebrew Aleph-bet.
It is pronounced like the Tz sound in Tsunami, and Pizza.
The letter looks like a
Hook dragging a fish on a path through the water,
and the shape creates a visual description of how it feels to be Hooked by Desire:
This word Tzedeq, contains 3 sub-roots.
צַד Tzd, = Side,
צוּד Tzud = to Hunt, and
דַּק Daq = small, as in finely ground, or threshed.
The letter Tzade and the meaning of the word Daq
placed together form a picture of the need for our
Desire to be made Least,
or figuratively Threshed.
Like the chaff that is separated from the grain at harvest, in the winnowing/sifting process.
(See previous posts below for more on threshing/winnowing)
In the Hebrew language the meaning of
Righteousness צֶדֶק Tzedeq,
Is also paralleled with
Evenness מֵישָׁר Meshar.
This is a word, a noun, derived from the 3 letter verb root
יָשַׁר Yashar,
meaning
Straight, or Equal:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt.7:14
In Ps.98:9 the scripture says that:
before יְהוָֹה YHVH, for He comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with Righteousness צֶדֶק Tzedeq
and the peoples with Equity מֵישָׁר Meshar.
A
צַדִיק Tzadiq
is a person who
does what is Right.
“Blessed are those who
hunger and Thirst for Righteousness,
for they will be filled,” Matthew 5:6
The Hebrew word for Thirst is:
צָמָא Tzama.
It is a word picture of a person
Tzade צָ = Hooked by their cravings/lust/desire,
for
Mem. מ = Water,
Aleph. א. = Strongly.
To a truly thirsty person water really is a serious matter,
that of life and death.
Likewise, צְדָקָה, Tzedaqah, the Righteous person
Desires the Water of Life:
“…I Am the Aleph and the Tav, the Beginning and the End.
To the Thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the Water of Life.”
Torah defines Righteousness
“In the Way of Righteousness צְדָקָה Tzedaqah is Life, in its Path there is no Death,” Proverbs 12:28
There is only one way to enter the Dalet/Door, or Pathway of Life, and that is by doing what Yehoveh/YHVH has shown us is Right.
That is Yeshua/Jesus
John 10:9. I am the Dalet/the Door of the sheep.
Jesus answered,
“I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me,” John 14:6
YHVH, the Eternal, is our Righteousness, Jeremiah 23:6
Keeping His commandments
sets us free from our selfish desires,
The robe of righteousness
Blessed are those who Wash their Robes, (these are those who are faithful to the Covenant ) so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and may enter the city by its Gates. Revelation 22:14; Revelation 2:7; Exodus 19:10; Psalm 118:20
The core of Torah in spirit and heart is: Doing Right.
Yeshua/Jesus summed this up in Matthew 7:12
In everything, then, Do to others as you would have them Do to you. For this is the Essence of the Law and the Prophets,
“Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. Beloved, I am Not writing you a new Commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning.“ 1 John 2:6.
KJV: the LORD [is] righteous, and I and my people
יְהוָֹה צִדְקֵנוּ
ye-ho-vaw’ tsid-kay’-noo
the LORD is our righteousness
The word Tsidkenu,
is the Hebrew word used for righteousness in
The Lord Our Righteousness ,
means: upright, straight, and narrow.
The righteousness of God is the root of all integrity. It is the definition of all that is genuinely good in this life.
in Hebrew: Jehovah tsidkenu or Yahweh tsidqenu
Jer. 23:6; 33:16
But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. Matthew 3:13
John’s baptism also symbolized preparation for the coming kingdom of heaven.
To fulfill all righteousness
is to
submit yourself to life in God.
In Hebrew fulfill is
and in Greek word for fulfill is pleroo which means:
to fulfill or to complete.
In Luke 1:17 Yeshua/Jesus was identifying Himself with John’s ministry as the forerunner for the coming Messiah and
he fills to the full the right
requirement of YHVH/Yehoveh in the Tanakh.
The word righteous
is a translation of the Hebrew verb
צדק
Ts.D.Q,
Strong’s #6663,
which means
to walk a straight line.
From this root comes the noun
צדיק
tsadiyq,
Strong’s #6662
which means
a straight line.
This can literally mean a straight line,
or figuratively what is right;
which is where we get the words
right and righteous.
As discussed earlier, Torah is:
a way of life
or
a WAY of WALKing.
Jesus/Yeshua is the living Torah
The Torah IS a straight line
and teaches God’s children
how to WALK a straight line.
Therefore,
Torah is the straight line
by which his children are to walk.
The word translated walk is halakhah in Hebrew.
Israel had to walk “in the way.“
And as spiritual Israel we are to do also.
“I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou wholehearted.”
Genesis 17:1, JPS
The word “halakhah” is usually translated as “Jewish Law,”
although a more literal (and more appropriate) translation might be
“the path that one walks.”
The word is derived from the Hebrew root Hei-Lamed- Kaf,
meaning to go, to walk or to travel.
הלך hâlak
A tsadiyq is also
one who walks a straight line
or
a righteous one.
Those who follow the
righteous Torah
are considered
righteous, a tsadiyq.
And if we are careful to obey all this Torah before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness (tsadiyq). (Deuteronomy 6:25)
You will again see the distinction between the righteous (tsadiyq) and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. (Malachi 3:18)
The New Covenant also teaches that righteousness comes from obedience to the Torah.
For it is not those who hear the Torah who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the Torah who will be declared righteous. (Romans 2:13)
Hebrews 8:12 I will show loving kindness to them and I shall forgive their unrighteousness. And I shall no longer remember their sins.
12 I will show loving-kindness to them and forgive their sins. I will remember their sins no more.”
from chasad.
This word is variously translated as
mercy, lovingkindess,
steadfast love, compassion,
and even
goodness,
is the Hebrew word
chesed, or hesed.
The LXX usually uses ελεος – mercy,
and the Latin uses misericordia.
In academia, the Septuagint
is often abbreviated as LXX,
the Roman numeral for seventy.
Chesed/hesed
is one of the thirteen attributes of God that the Jewish sages derived from the study of God’s revelation to Moses.
Exodus 34:6-7.
For thy loving kindness is before mine eyes:
and I have walked in thy truth. (Psalm 26:3 KJV).
One of the Hebrew words for
love is
hesed חסד,
pronounced kheh-sed,
which is actually a difficult word to translate literally into English. That is because there is a range of meanings.
Hesed surpasses ordinary kindness and friendship. It is the inclination of the heart to show
amazing grace to the one who is loved.
Hesed runs deeper than social expectations.
Hesed is love, mercy, favor, grace, forgiveness kindness, gentleness, patience and more all rolled into one.
It is used many times in scripture and the best way to translate it is in the phrase
loving-kindness.
The Hebrew words meaning:
compassion, grace, love and mercy are:
Compassion, Pity, Rahamim
Compassionate: Rahum, Rahaman
Grace: Hen, Hanun/ Chen chanun
Love: Ahavah, Ohev
Loving Kindness: Hesed
Mercy: Rahamanoot
Mercy חֶ֔סֶד
Doing righteousness – Ts D K
Ts’dakah
Most translations have Ts’dakah as righteousness
but that is really too weak an interpretation/translation as we understand the word to mean in English; because
Righteousness
means:
to do what is right,
to be just;
which is what the Father requires of us.
According to Micah 6:8:
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Act Justly
would have been understood by Micah’s audience as living with a sense of right and wrong. In particular, the judicial courts had a responsibility to provide equity and protect the innocent. Injustice was a problem in Israel at that time.
To Love Mercy
it contains the Hebrew word hesed,
which means: loyal love
or loving-kindness.
Along with justice, Israel was to provide mercy. Both justice and mercy are foundational to God’s character
God expected His people to show love to their fellow man and to be loyal in their love toward Him, just as He had been loyal to them
Walk humbly
is a description of:
the heart’s attitude toward God.
God’s people depend on Him rather than their own abilities. (Micah 2:3).
Instead of taking pride in what we bring to God, we humbly recognize that no amount of personal sacrifice can replace a heart committed to justice and love. Israel’s rhetorical questions had a three-part progression, and verse 8 contains a similar progression.
The response of a godly heart is:
outward (do justice),
inward (love mercy),
and upward (walk humbly).
The message of Micah is still pertinent today.
Religious rites, no matter how extravagant, can never compensate for a lack of love.
External obedience to rules is not as valuable in God’s eyes as
a humble heart that simply does what is right.
God’s people today will continue to desire:
justice, mercy, and humility before the Lord.
Conclusion in Part 2…
Shalom shalom
‘Mishpachah’
‘Family/Tribe’
משפחה
Mish-pa-KHa,
friends, visitors and every reader…
Please don’t leave this page before making sure you are His..
Know of a certainty that Jesus/Yeshua is
your Redeemer, Savior, Lord
and soon returning King
and that you have a personal relationship with Him.
You are greatly loved and precious in His sight.
It’s all about Life and Relationship, not Religion.
NOT SURE? YOU CAN BE..
SAY THE FOLLOWING FROM YOUR HEART RIGHT NOW…
Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry.
I repent of them all and turn away from my past.
I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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