[B-Greek] Rom 10:3
Carl Conrad
cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sun Oct 11 12:10:42 EDT 2009
On Oct 11, 2009, at 10:05 AM, John Wilking wrote:
>
> I'm trying to make sense of KAI THN IDIAN ZHTOUNTES STHSAI. If we
> pick up DIKAIOSUNHN from the previous clause we are left with STHSAI
> THN IDIAN DIKAIOSUNHN. Does something like this occur elsewhere?
The full text: Rom. 10:3 ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ
θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν
[δικαιοσύνην] ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ
δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν.
[AGNOOUNTES GAR THN TOU QEOU DIKAIOSUNHN KAI THN IDIAN [DIKAIOSUNHN]
ZHTOUNTES STHSAI, THi DIKAIOSUNHi TOU QEOU OUC hUPETAGHSAN. ]
It's not altogether clear what it is you are asking. Is it, "What does
STHSAI THN IDIAN DIKAIOSUNHN mean?" I'd say that the sense is
something like "set up their own notion of what is fair" or "set up
their own notion of what is right." Paul Tillich once suggested a
trichotomy of "autonomy," "heteronomy," and "theonomy." In terms of that
STHSAI THN IDIAN DIKAIOSUNHN might be equivalent to Tillich's term
"autonomy," which I take to mean observance of principles that one
chooses for him or herself rather than abiding by principles proposed
by God.
The nearest equivalent to the phrase in question that I find in the
GNT is Mark 7:9 καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· καλῶς
ἀθετεῖτε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα
τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν στήσητε. [KAI ELEGEN
AUTOIS· KALWS AQETEITE THN ENTOLHN TOU QEOU, hINA THN PARADOSIN hUMWN
STHSHTE. ], something like, "You've got a neat way of nullifying God's
commandment so as to put your own tradition in place."
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
More information about the B-Greek
mailing list