IV. Righteousness in the Bible
What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. *
* Micah vi, 8.
THIS, and similar passages, are often quoted to give the bible a reputation. Many commentators, Mathew Arnold among them, contend that righteousness is the major key-note of the Old Testament. To prove this, the above passage from the prophet Micah is often quoted. Another text which these commentators are fond of quoting reads as follows:
And to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God. *
* Psalms 1, 23.
To deserve this salvation by a life of righteousness, it is claimed, was the one all-permeating thought of the "people of the bible." But this last passage from the Psalms occurs only once in the Old Testament, and it is a little strange that there should be just one reference to the thought which is said to permeate the whole bible. However, that is not the real answer to the conclusions drawn from this passage. By consulting the margin of the Revised Version of the bible, which, too, is the work of Christian scholars and has this advantage over the Authorized Version, that it is more accurate—by consulting, then, the latest and more accurate translation of the bible, we find that the text reads:
Whosoever offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me, and prepareth a way that I may show him the salvation of God.
There is nothing here about "righteousness," or ethical conduct, or conversation. It was the English translators who gave the text its moral tone.
Let us now examine the text which opens this chapter. It declares that God requires of his people justice, mercy and humility. The word which has been translated into English as "mercy" is hesed. It is difficult to believe that this word meant in Hebrew what we understand by "mercy." In the one hundredth and thirty-sixth Psalm, David, whose character we explain in this book, thus praises the hesed, or "mercy" of God: