I have heard it preached that the word "righteousness" (as in Matthew 6:33) in the original language is same as the word for "charity" and that, therefore, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" means "Seek first God's kingdom and charity." I believe that God does want us to meet the needs of the poor, but this seems exaggerated somehow. Since I don't know Greek, your help would be invaluable. -- Hee Keun Yu (Seoul)
It is true that righteousness in the Hebrew carries a sense of social justice, but it is not true that it means charity. That is not an accurate translation. You are right; it is overinterpreting. Of course the New Testament was written in Greek--though a minority of scholars think Matthew was composed in Hebrew or Aramaic. Regardless, the earlier New Testament manuscripts we have today are in Greek. Dikaiosune (Greek) does not mean charity. In Matthew 6:1, it is used in reference to charity, but this is an implication or application of dikaiosune, not its actual lexical meaning (righteousness).
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