Rev 19:8 Righteousness/Righteous deeds?

Clwinbery at aol.com Clwinbery at aol.com
Tue Oct 15 09:07:23 EDT 2002



In a message dated 10/15/02 5:44:34 AM, nick_lunn at wycliffe.org writes:

>     Revelation 19:7-8 (NIV) says:-
>     
>     Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of
>the 
>     Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
>     Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen 
>     stands for the righteous acts [TA DIKAIWMATA] of the saints.)
>     
>     Just about every English version I consulted translates TA DIKAIWMATA
>
>     as 'righteous acts', 'righteous deeds' or 'good deeds'.
>     
>     If this is a correct translation of this neuter plural noun, then
>I 
>     find it strange. Such a reading seems to go against the Pauline 
>     doctrine of justification by faith rather than by works. But more
>than 
>     that, in this context (and elsewhere in Revelation, e.g. 3:18) the
>
>     garments are said to be 'given', that is, they are not naturally our
>
>     own.
>     
>     My question is: Is there anything to support the interpretation of
>
>     this plural noun as signifying 'righteousness'? This is how the old
>
>     KJV renders it. I note that Leon Morris in his commentary on the 
>     Revelation (Tyndale) understands the word in terms of a 'sentence
>of 
>     justification', that is, the divine pronouncement of acquittal 
>     bestowed upon each faithful believer - hence, he says, the plural
>
>     form. Can this comment be substantiated?
>     
Usually when a verb is transformed into a noun by adding MA/MATOS it is made 
into a noun that refers to the thing done. This word group appears in Louw & 
Nida is the domains of legal words, relationship terms, and what God 
requires. In this passage, I think it is dealing with a right relationship 
with God in which the believer responds to what God requires.

The rest of your question is theological and off-limits to the b-greek list.

Carlton Winbery
Louisiana College



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