H6663 — צָדַק (tsadaq)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H6663
Original: צָדַק
Transliteration: tsadaq
Pronunciation: tsaw-dak'
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Primitive root (צדק family)
Occurrences: 41 in OT (54 translation entries in KJV due to multi-word renderings)
First Occurrence: Gen 38:26 — "She hath been more righteous (tsadaq) than I"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A primitive root; to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense):—cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just(-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be, turn to) righteous(-ness).

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	22	be righteous, be in the right, be just
Hiphil	12	justify, declare righteous, acquit, cause righteousness
Piel	5	prove right, show to be righteous (comparative)
Niphal	1	be vindicated, be restored to rightness
Hithpael	1	clear oneself, justify oneself

Tallied from hebrew_parser.py --lemma output (vs= feature values).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Core Translation	Approx. Count	Notes
justify / justified / justifieth	~20	Most common rendering across all stems
righteous / be righteous	~11	Qal: intrinsic state of being right
just / be just	~8	Qal: moral standing before God
justice / do justice	~3	Hiphil: act of rendering a just verdict
clear / cleansed	~3	Includes Dan 8:14 "be cleansed" (Niphal)
to righteousness	1	Dan 12:3 Hiphil ptcp: "turn many to righteousness"

Note: KJV often renders as full phrases ("shall be justified," "He that justifieth"), producing 45 unique translation strings for 54 total entries.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Job	23	2.1
Isaiah	8	0.6
Psalms	5	0.2
Daniel	4	1.1
Genesis	3	0.2
Ezekiel	3	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
Deuteronomy	1	0.1
2 Samuel	1	0.1
1 Kings	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Proverbs	1	0.1
Jeremiah	1	0.1

Job dominates with 56% of all occurrences (23/41), reflecting its sustained exploration of whether a mortal can be righteous before God. Wisdom and prophetic literature account for 90% of usage. The word is absent from the Pentateuch after Deuteronomy and from all post-exilic historical books.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Being Righteous Before God (Qal — intrinsic standing)¶

Job 4:17 — "Shall mortal man be more just (tsadaq) than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?"
Job 9:2 — "how should man be just (tsadaq) with God?"
Job 25:4 — "How then can man be justified (tsadaq) with God?"
Psalm 143:2 — "in thy sight shall no man living be justified (tsadaq)"

2. Declaring Righteous / Judicial Acquittal (Hiphil — forensic declaration)¶

Exodus 23:7 — "I will not justify (tsadaq) the wicked"
Deuteronomy 25:1 — "they shall justify (tsadaq) the righteous, and condemn the wicked"
1 Kings 8:32 — "justifying (tsadaq) the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness"
Proverbs 17:15 — "He that justifieth (tsadaq) the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD"

3. Proving/Showing Oneself Right (Piel, Hithpael — demonstrative/reflexive)¶

Genesis 44:16 — "how shall we clear ourselves (tsadaq, Hithpael)?"
Job 32:2 — "he justified (tsadaq, Piel) himself rather than God"
Jeremiah 3:11 — "The backsliding Israel hath justified (tsadaq, Piel) herself more than treacherous Judah"
Ezekiel 16:51-52 — "thou hast justified (tsadaq, Piel) thy sisters in all thine abominations"

4. Being Vindicated / Restored to Right (Niphal — passive)¶

Daniel 8:14 — "then shall the sanctuary be cleansed (tsadaq, Niphal)" — the only Niphal occurrence; KJV renders "cleansed" but the verb is tsadaq, carrying the sense of vindication or restoration to rightness

5. Causing Righteousness in Others (Hiphil participle — causative)¶

Isaiah 53:11 — "by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify (tsadaq, Hiphil) many"
Daniel 12:3 — "they that turn many to righteousness (tsadaq, Hiphil ptcp)"

6. God's Righteousness Affirmed (Qal — God as subject/standard)¶

Psalm 51:4 — "that thou mightest be justified (tsadaq) when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest"
Psalm 19:9 — "the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous (tsadaq) altogether"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	8x	forensic context: "judgment" + "justify"
שָׁפַט (shaphat)	H8199	8x	judicial context: "judge" + "justify"
צַדִּיק (tsaddiyq)	H6662	7x	cognate pair: "justify the righteous"
אָמַר (amar)	H559	7x	speech context: declaring one's righteousness
רָשָׁע (rasha')	H7563	6x	antonym: "wicked" contrasted with "justified"
רָשַׁע (rasha')	H7561	6x	antithetical verb: "condemn" vs. "justify"
אֱנוֹשׁ (enosh)	H582	5x	"mortal man" — can a mortal be just before God?
עֶבֶד (eved)	H5650	5x	"servant" — especially Isa 53:11
צְדָקָה (tsedaqah)	H6666	3x	cognate noun: righteousness as quality

Word Family / Cognates¶

H6662 צַדִּיק (tsaddiyq) — adjective: just, righteous (206x)
H6664 צֶדֶק (tsedeq) — masculine noun: righteousness, justice (119x)
H6666 צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) — feminine noun: righteousness (157x)

Synonyms¶

H2135 זָכָה (zakah) — "be clean, be clear, count pure"; overlaps with the vindication / innocence side of tsadaq.
H2891 טָהֵר (taher) — "be pure, cleanse"; neighboring purity term when the verb moves toward acquittal or cleansing.
H8552 תָּמַם (tamam) — "be complete, be upright"; overlaps with blameless completeness.
H571 אֶמֶת (emeth) — "truth, faithfulness"; surfaced by search_relationships.py as a moral-rightness neighbor.
H2889 טָהוֹר (tahor) — "pure, clean"; adjective partner to the purity field surrounding tsadaq.

Antonyms¶

H2398 חָטָא (chata') — "sin, miss the mark"; direct contrast to being or being declared in the right.
H7561 רָשַׁע (rasha') — "be wrong, do wickedly, condemn"; direct forensic and moral opposite to tsadaq.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	"cleanse"	taher = ritual/physical purity; tsadaq = moral/forensic rightness
נָקָה (naqah)	H5352	"clear, acquit"	naqah = declare innocent/exempt from punishment; tsadaq = declare positively righteous
זָכָה (zakah)	H2135	"be clean, be pure"	zakah = moral cleanliness/purity; tsadaq = forensic standing of rightness

KJV overlap: H6662 tsaddiyq (42x "just"), H6664 tsedeq (21x "just"), H6666 tsedaqah (15x "just") — all cognates, distinguished by part of speech rather than meaning.

LXX overlap via G1344: H8199 shaphat (9x → dikaioo), H2135 zakah (3x → dikaioo) — Hebrew distinguishes "judge," "be pure," and "be righteous" but Greek collapses them under δικαιόω.

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003003015] Innocent — reflects the acquittal / vindication side of the verb.
[002001001029] Good — marks the broader moral evaluation attached to righteous standing.
[002001003014] Right — centers the root idea of being right / in the right.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Frequency	Notes
δικαιόω (dikaioo)	G1344	21x	Primary verbal equivalent — "to justify, declare righteous"
δίκαιος (dikaios)	G1342	22x	Adjective used when Qal describes a state: "righteous"
κρίνω (krino)	G2919	8x	"to judge" — when tsadaq appears in judicial contexts
ἄμεμπτος (amemptos)	G273	4x	"blameless" — broadens to general moral approval