[B-Greek] Rom. 1:17

Ben Crick ben.crick at argonet.co.uk
Wed Mar 2 17:53:47 EST 2005


On Tue  1 Mar 2005 (21:41:06), hholmyard at ont.com wrote:
> I was reading Psalm 84:7 and thought it might be suggestive for the 
> meaning of "from faith to faith" in Rom 1:17. The relevant line of  the
> Psalm is: "They go from strength unto strength." This means that  those
> who travel to Jerusalem for the annual festivals actually  increased in
> strength as they traveled (contrary to natural  expectation). Could the
> words in Rom 1:17 be a Semiticism meaning  that people are saved to
> every increasing levels of faith? "But the  righteousness of God is
> revealed in it from faith unto faith, just as  it is written, 'The
> righteous will live by faith.'" The righteousness  of God is revealed
> in the Gospel by faith and leading to more faith.  The Greek OT uses
> the same prepositions EIS and EK that Paul uses.

 Dear Harold,

 DIKAIOSUNH GAR QEOU EN AUTWi APOKALUPTETAI *EK PISTEWS EIS PISTIN*...

 The nub of this seems to be in the quotation from Habakkuk 2:4, hO DE
 DIKAIOW EK PISTIN ZHSETAI. So it is *righteousness* which is "from first to
 last by faith" (Douglas J Moo); "beginning in faith and ending in faith"
 (REB). St Paul's quotation is different from both the Hebrew and the LXX.
 In the Hebrew, the righteous man will live by his (own) faithfulness W:CaDDiYQ
 Be'e:MuNaToW YiX:YeH; in the LXX he will live by My faithfulness (i.e. God's)
 hO DE DIKAIOS EK PISTEWS MOU ZHSETAI.

 St Paul writing to the Romans did not have a modern study with texts and
 reference works propped open upon his desk. He was probably quoting from
 memory: hence the discrepancies with the Hebrew and the LXX.

 Theodoret of old suggested that it is a righteousness gained by reading first
 the Old Testament, then the New: DEI GAR PISTEUSAI TOIS PROFHTAIS, KAI DI
 EKEINWN EIS THN TOU EUAGGELIOU PISTIN PODHGHQHNAI.
 Bengel in his Gnomon novi testamenti compares with the Hebrew of 1 Chronicles
 17:5 "but I have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another".
 St Paul seems to have found justification by faith alone first in the
 Prophets; but now in Christ (Romans 5:1).

 The prepositions are not the same, but a similar problem occurs in John 1:17
 with the phrase KAI CARIN ANTI CARITOS. Grace upon grace (NRSV); One blessing
 after another (NIV).

 ERRWSQE
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF                                       ZFC Lu
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