[B-Greek] Re: Ro. 3:26

John Colby colby at solutions2000.net
Sun Dec 7 13:38:17 EST 2003


I wrote:

The end of Romans 3:26 reads:

 EIS TO EINAI AUTON DIKAION KAI DIKAIOUNTA TON EK PISTEWS IHSOU

 I take the first part as being an articular infinitive with a preposition (in order that He (might) be just...). How is the participle DIKAIOUNTA being used? Is it being used as an "object" of EINAI like DIKAION is? Is it substantive even with out an article? Is the phrase TON EK PISTEWS IHSOU the "direct object" of DIKAIOUNTA? 

Dr. Conrad responded:

I would understand the construction as equivalent to hWSTE AUTOS DIKAIOS
ESTIN KAI DIKAIWN TON EK PISTEWS IHSOU, i.e. the implicit subject is hO
QEOS (carried forward from what proceeded), *AUTON is not the subject
pronoun but intensive pronoun with DIKAION*; then DIKAIOUNTA is a second
predicate dependent upon EINAI:  " ... so that he is himself righteous and
makes righteous the one person who is righteous on the basis of the faith
in/of Jesus (TON EK PISTEWS IHSOU [DIKAION]). That is to say: two things
are being affirmed of God here: (a) he himself is righteous, and (b) he
causes to be righteous the one (whose righteousness) depends upon faith
in/of Jesus.

I now better understand the last part of this verse (KAI DIKAIOUNTA TON EK PISTEWS IHSOU). My question now concerns the first part of this verse, EIS TO EINAI AUTON DIKAION. In his Grammar, D.B. Wallace lists this verse under the "Predicate Accusative". He says: "Second, there is the predicate accusative in which *one accusative is the subject of the infinitive* and the second makes an assertion about the first. Thus, it is similar to the nominative subject and predicate nominative construction, following the same principles for distinguishing them." He gives these examples, which are the same type as Ro. 3:26:

Rom. 4:18 EIS TO GENSQAI AUTON PATERA POLLWN EQNWN
                  With the result that he became [the] Father of many nations

Jas. 1:18 EIS TO EINAI hHMAS APARCHN TINA TWN AUTON KTISMATWN
                That we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creation

Also some other examples (not translated):

Rom. 4:11 EIS TO EINAI AUTON PATERA PANTWN TWN PISTEUONTWN

Rom. 15:16 EIS TO EINAI ME LEITOURGON CPISTOU IHSOU

What is happening here? Is there different ways to translate this type of construction depending on the context, or is this construction disputed? 

DIA TI;

Jonathan Colby
Guyana, South America






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