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by Paul Sumner
The Hebrew word tzaddik is both an adjective and a noun. [It is also spelled tzaddiq or zaddik.) As adjective, it means just, righteous, or right. God himself is called "righteous" [Deut 32:4, Isa 45:21, Ps 7:11]. The Messiah is also called "the Righteous Branch" of David [tzemach tzaddik, Jer 23:5], or "Branch of Righteousness" [tzemach tzedakah, Jer 33:15]. As a noun, God is called "the Righteous One" [tzaddik, Isa 24:16]. In Isaiah 53 the Messiah is "the Righteous One," God's "Servant" [tzaddik, eved, v. 11]. The human tzaddik is one who lives justly or righteously [Gen 6:9, Hos 14:9, Ps 1:6]. To be "tzaddik-ed" (declared righteous) means to be justified or vindicated for being right, just, or acceptable to God. The classic biblical example of this is Abraham, who was credited with "righteousness" [tzedakah] for his faith (Gen 15:6). In later Jewish culture a tzaddik is one who faithfully observes the Law of God. Yeshua taught that the reward of being tzaddik and doing tzedakah is being "repaid at the resurrection of the tzaddikim" (Luke 14:14). God does not overlook them. [Top] Yet Yeshua wasn't a fool. He knew people could fake it. He often exposed fraudulent tzaddikim "who trusted in themselves...and viewed others with contempt" (Luke 18:9). Such phony tzaddikim mingled with his disciples to spy on him (Luke 20:20). So he warns: it's possible to merely play the role, to dress the part as a costume tzaddik.
Peter refers to Yeshua as "the Holy One and Righteous One [haTzaddik]" (Acts 3:14). Stephen calls him "the Tzaddik" (Acts 7:52). Ananias —"a man who was devout [= hasid] by the standard of the Law "— said to Paul of Tarsus: "The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Tzaddik" (Acts 22:12,14). It's evident the term Tzaddik — as an adjective and a noun — conveyed high esteem for someone based on their response to the Law of God. But a truly righteous response to the Lord involved far more than rote compliance. It involved faith with obedience and enduring trust in him.
The Lamed Vav Later traditions said the world would descend into chaos if there were less than this number of righteous ones present. A single Tzaddik even becomes a "Savior" within the Jewish community (C. Montefiore & H. Loewe, A Rabbinic Anthology, pages 231-232). [Top] Among Hasidim in the Middle Ages, the role and stature of the Tzaddik grew to mythic proportions. In some circles, the man combined features of a prophet, a mystic, a miracle-worker and healer—even a substitute for the messiah. Gershom Sholem said the tzaddik was considered "the living incarnation of the Torah" (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p. 344; The Messianic Idea in Judaism, pp. 251-256). Modern Lubavitch followers of the late Rabbi Menahem Schneerson thought of him as a Tzaddik and even the Tzemach Tzaddik ("the Righteous Branch" of Jer 23:5 and 33:15). After he died in 1994, many have still asserted their belief that God will raise him from the dead and reveal him as Moshiach: the Messiah).
The 36 or the One Tzaddik We must realize that the Jewish followers of Yeshua, centuries before, assigned the title to their Rabbi-Master-Adon, whom they declared to be the one and only Tzemach Tzaddik sent by God. [Consider the article Predictions of Messiah's Coming in Jewish Literature — PDF] [Top] |
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Hebrew-Greek Transliteration [PDF]
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