Justice & Righteousness

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

Proverbs 2:7-9

2:7—God stores away salvation for upright people, He is a shield for those who walk upright. 

2:8—He guards the paths of justice, and the path of his pious ones He watches. 

2:9—Then you will understand righteousness and justice and what is upright, all good paths. 

2:9 commences with “then,” thereby teaching that it is only once a person learns God's providence from the 2 previous verses, that only then one “understands righteousness and justice.” Upright and pious people earn God’s providence, “He is a shield for those who walk upright.” But he must be one who “walks” perfectly…referring to a “continuous” lifestyle, not just one act of righteousness. “Walking” is continuous. Thus, those who walk upright earn His providence. Now, only after this providence does King Solomon say, “Then one will understand righteousness, justice and what is upright.” 

We must ask: In what manner does understanding justice require the prerequisite knowledge of God's providence? We also wonder what is meant by “paths” of justice and “paths” of the pious ones.

Providence shields a righteous person from anything negative. A shield is needed, for the righteous path is not synonymous with material success. Many times, operating justly forfeits the pious person success. The world functions mathematically: the more you work, the greater is your success. And the more you deceive, swindle and rob, the greater is your wealth. So naturally-accumulated wealth is the result of operating purely materialistically, and has nothing to do with honesty and integrity. One who is righteous veers away from chasing unjust gain and therefore needs God's providence to compensate for his forfeitures. He is also at the mercy of crooked men. Take a just man and a swindler: left to natural law, the swindler will accumulate much more wealth, as we see in the case of Jacob and Lavan. Had God not stepped in and provided providence for Jacob, all of Lavan’s deceit would have left Jacob penniless (Gen. 31). God extends His providence to pious people. 

What is the meaning of a “path” of righteousness? This refers to a system external to oneself, external to one's personal motives. A righteous person gauges all his actions to comply with God's justice, righteousness and charity. God’s Torah system dictates all his actions. Therefore God favors and protects one who abandons his drive for cheating others, in favor of following God and His will.  

Verse 2:9 indicates that one only understands God's righteousness and justice after God protects man. This indicates that inherent in understanding justice and righteousness, one must understand God’s system of Reward and Punishment. Thats’ why verse 9 follows verses 7 and 8. The former refer to God’s Reward and Punishment, and verse 9 refers to man’s new understandings. Accurate knowledge of righteousness and justice demands knowing God's system of Reward and Punishment, His providence. This system teaches who is good and who is evil. Once man understands God’s definitions of good and evil, then he can perform justice and righteousness. But an atheist or an idolater cannot perform true justice or righteousness. 

Talmud Avoda Zara 2b states that “God released the nations from their 7 Noahide commands.” This means that as the gentiles were no longer aware of God's commands, all of their morality was of no value as they were not “following God,” but their personal motives. It was “as if” God released their obligation as they did not recognize Him, so their morality was not a “subjugation” to God’s will, but to societal convenience. This is the same idea as Proverbs 2:9, meaning that God endorsing the proper righteousness and justice by assisting the pious, is vital, as this teaches true morality, Reward and Punishment. And without knowledge of, and compliance to God’s will, one cannot perform true righteousness or justice, as he acts based on emotions alone. Meaning, until one copies the unselfish righteousness and justice portrayed by God, he must be acting based on his own selfishness. Thus, copying God's righteousness and justice is the only way to perform righteousness and justice, as the rabbis teach “Mahu af attah; Just as God acts, you shall act” (Tal. Shabbos 133b). Otherwise one is simply acting from his own emotions which is not how God acts. True righteousness and justice is to address the objective need (God’s perspective), not to satisfy one’s feelings (man’s perspective). You're actually catering to the emotions of others—not your own—when you act properly. 

 True righteousness and justice requires knowledge of how God interacts with a man. For without understanding God’s system of Reward and Punishment, one cannot know what is good or evil. All morality requires God's definitions; it requires knowledge of Reward and Punishment. Therefore, Proverbs 2:9 saying “then” you will understand righteousness and justice, can only come subsequent to one's knowledge of rReward and Punishment, which defines what is good evil.