Good, Goodness
The main Old Testament words for good/goodness come from the Hebrew word tob [b'f] while the most common New Testament words are kalos [kalov"], agathos [ajgaqov"], chrestos [crhstov"], and their cognates. These words often appear in a nonmoral sense; a "good" or "good-of-appearance" woman is beautiful ( Gen 6:2 ; 24:16 ; 26:7 ; 2 Sam 11:2 ; Est 1:11 ; Esther 2:2-3 Esther 2:7 ) and a "good" man is handsome ( 1 Sam 9:2 ). A land may be good ( Deuteronomy 1:25 Deuteronomy 1:35 ) and so may gold ( 2 Chronicles 3:5 2 Chronicles 3:8 ), soil ( Luke 8:8 ), a tree ( Matt 7:17 ), wine ( John 2:10 ), or all of creation (seven times in Gen. 1). But the most theologically important uses of these words have to do with moral qualities.
God's goodness is a bedrock truth of Scripture. His goodness is praised in the psalms ( 25:8 ; 34:8 ; 86:5 ; 100:5 ; 118:1 ; 136:1 ; 145:9 ). Jesus affirms the Father's goodness when speaking to the rich young ruler ( Matt 19:17 ; Mark 10:18 ; Luke 18:19 ). In 1 Peter 2:3 Peter echoes the language of Psalm 34:8: "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"'
Although we might discuss God's goodness in some abstract philosophical sense, in Scripture his goodness appears most clearly in his dealings with people. He is not only good in general, but he is good to us ( Psalm 23:6 ; 68:10 ; 73:1 ; 119:65 ; 145:9 ; Lam 3:25 ; Luke 6:35 ; Rom 2:4 ; 11:22 ; Eph 2:7 ; Titus 3:4 ). Human goodness is modeled on divine goodness ( Matt 5:48 ). For human beings goodness involves right behavior, expresses itself in kindness and other praiseworthy qualities, includes avoiding evil, and springs from the inner person.
It is nearly impossible to think about goodness in the abstract. In Scripture goodness always involves particular ways of behaving. Because God is good, he is good to his people; when people are good they behave decently toward each other, based on God's goodness to them. Moses' invitation to Hobab expresses this emphasis: "Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel" ( Num 10:29 ). The general biblical words for "good/ goodness" include this idea of right behavior, although the idea is often expressed by means of a more specific term like "upright/uprightness" or "righteous/righteousness."