YHWH Tsid'Ke-nu / Tsidkenu
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NOTICE
This particular 2013 study has been completely rewritten and expanded, but is
currently available in PDF form only. I have left the former study online below
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internet. Click here to download the 2019 "YHWH Tsid'Ke-nu/Tsidkenu" study for free.
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· · · · · · · · · ORIGINAL 2013 STUDY · · · · · · · · ·
YHWH-Tsid'Ke-nu
(Tsidkenu, Tzidkaynu, Tsidqenuw)
YHWH Is Our Righteousness / YHWH Is the Righteous One
Pronounced Yä-wá' (or Yod-Há-Väv-Há') T-sid'-kay'-noo, the compound name appears only twice, both times in Jeremiah:
- Jeremiah 23:5, 6 — "'Behold, the days come,' says Yahweh, 'that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name by which He shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness [YHWH-Tsid'Ke-nu].'" (WEB)
- Jeremiah 33:16 — "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness [YHWH-Tsid'Ke-nu]." (WEB)
Historical Backdrop to Jeremiah's Use of the Compound Name
As a result of Judah's rejection of the one true God and their turning to idols, the time for Judah's punishment by exile was drawing near. In sharp contrast to YHWH's laws (cf. Deuteronomy 16:18), the people of Judah further added to their sin by perverting righteous judgment and ordaining unrighteous decrees, as in...
- Isaiah 5:23 — "Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, But deny justice for the innocent!" (WEB)
- Isaiah 10:1 — "Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write perverseness..." (WEB)
Since their actions indicated that they despised YHWH's provision of redemption as YHWH-Jireh, He could not continue to be YHWH-Rophe, their Healer (cf. Isaiah 1:6); and without the protection of YHWH-Nissi, their Banner, they were defeated at every turn. Nevertheless, they stubbornly refused to repent and return to YHWH-M'Kaddesh, their Sanctifier, and they became more corrupt and degenerate. And having forsaken YHWH-Shalom, their Peace, they were torn by internal dissension and violence, and subjected by outward aggression and conquest.
It is in these contexts, therefore, that YHWH pronounced judgment against Judah and Israel, while at the same time promising through the Prophet Jeremiah that a time was coming in the future when He would save Judah once again and execute justice and righteousness in the land through the "righteous Branch", none other than Y'shua haMashiach (Jesus the Christ).
Origin of and Other Uses of "Tsid'Ke-nu"
The word "tsid'ke-nu" derives from the Hebrew word "tsedek", which means "stiff", "straight", or "righteous".
No matter how hard we try or what words we use, mere human language is totally insufficient to convey a full understanding of the ideas of righteousness and justification contained in the word "tsid'ke-nu". Only when we study it in the context of YHWH's character as the "Perfectly Righteous One" can we begin to see it clearly.
The words "tsedek" or "tsid'ke-nu" appear hundreds of times in Scripture in reference to outward obligations and relationships with each other as well as with our holy God...
- Leviticus 19:35, 36 — "'You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin [tsid'ke-nu], shall you have. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" (WEB)
- Psalm 71:16 — "I come in the might of the Master
 ; I make mention of Your righteousness [tsid'ke-nu], Yours alone." (TS98)
- Isaiah 45:19 — "'I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I didn't say to the seed of Jacob, "Seek you me in vain": I, Yahweh, speak righteousness [tsid'ke-nu], I declare things that are right [tsedek].'" (WEB)
- Isaiah 45:24 — "'I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. I have not said to the seed of Ya'aqob, "Seek Me in vain." I am , speaking righteousness [tsid'ke-nu], declaring matters that are straight [tsedek].'" (WEB)
- Zephaniah 2:3 — "Seek , all you meek ones of the earth, who have done His right-ruling. Seek righteousness [tsid'ke-nu], seek meekness, if so be that you are hidden in the day of wrath of ." (TS98)
- See also Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 6:25, 9:4-6, 24:13; 1 Samuel 26:23; 2 Samuel 22:21,25; Psalms 4:5, 5:8, 7:8,17, 11:7, 18:20,24, 24:5, 31:1, 33:5, 35:24,27, 36:6, 40:9, 51:17, 96:13, 98:2,9, 103:6,17, 118:19, 119:75, 143:1,11; Proverbs 15:9; Isaiah 5:7,16, 26:10, 33:5, 42:6,21, 45:8,13, 48:1, 51:1, 54:17, 56:1, 58:8, 61:3,10-11, 62:2; Jeremiah 4:2, 9:24, 22:3, 23:6, 33:16, 51:10; Ezekiel 14:14,20; Daniel 9:7,16; Hosea 10:12; Joel 2:23; Micah 6:5, 7:9; Malachi 3:3.
As the eternal, self-existent "I AM", and Master, sovereign Ruler and covenant-keeping Mighty God, YHWH is Himself perfectly righteous or perfect righteousness, as in...
- Psalm 11:7 — "For Yahweh is righteous [tsid'ke-nu]. He loves righteousness [tsedek]. The upright shall see His face." (WEB)
- Psalm 129:4 — "Yahweh is righteous [tsid'ke-nu]. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked." (WEB)
- 1 Samuel 12:7 — "Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before Yahweh concerning all the righteous [tsid'ke-nu] acts of Yahweh, which He did to you and to your fathers." (WEB)
- Ezra 9:15 — "Yahweh, the God of Israel, You are righteous [tsid'ke-nu]; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before You in our guiltiness; for none can stand before You because of this." (WEB)
- Deuteronomy 32:4 — "The Rock [El Sali], His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice: A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, Just and right [tsid'ke-nu] is He." (WEB)
- Psalm 119:142, 144 — "Your righteousness [tsid'ke-nu] is an everlasting righteousness [tsid'ke-nu]. Your law is truth....Your testimonies are righteous [tsid'ke-nu] forever. Give me understanding, that I may live." (WEB)
- See also Exodus 9:27; 2 Chronicles 12:6; Psalms 11:7, 37:39, 129:4, 145:17; Lamentations 1:18.
Oh! Worship Him, Church! See Him as He truly is! Stand in awe of Him. Bow in reverence of Him. YHWH, our God is holy . . . YHWH, our God is righteous . . . YHWH, our God is just . . . YHWH, our God is the God, fully deserving of all our praise and adoration and worship and obedience! When we finally begin to comprehend and acknowledge our holy God's perfect righteousness, we cannot help but acknowledge our own guilt before the Righteous One, as the Prophet Daniel did in Daniel 9:7, 8 — "Oh, , to You is the righteousness [tsid'ke-nu], and to us shame, as it is this day — to the men of Yehudah (Judah), to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) and all Yisra'el, those near and those far off in all the lands to which You have driven them, because of their trespass which they have trespassed against You. O Master [Adonai], to us is shame, to our sovereigns, to our heads, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You."
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