[B-Greek] hISTHMI in Rom 3:31

Iver Larsen iver_larsen at sil.org
Sat Mar 20 09:18:32 EST 2004


I'd like to follow up a bit on the present tense of hISTHMI in this passage.

> >And then I should give Rom. 3,31 for discussion purposes:
> >
> >NOMON OUN KATARGOUMEN DIA THS PISTEWS; MH GENOITO, ALLA NOMON hISTANOMEN.

<snip>

> >Additionally, the sense of hISTHMI in this Romans passage is quite
> >different from the perfect tense hISTHMI when used of "standing." In
> >Romans 3,31, the lexical sense of hISTHMI seems to be "to
> uphold," not the sense of "to stand." Could this account for the present
tense usage in
> >Rom. 3,31?

[Carl:]
> --the present active hISTHMI (= hISTANW) means "I cause to stand"

I really don't think that the common renderings "uphold" or "establish"
accurately convey the meaning of hISTANOMEN in Rom 3:31, but I have not been
able to find a single word in English that catches the meaning well.

One option is "we cause the law to stand" or "we make the law stand" which
would have to be understood in context, and especially as the opposite of
KATARGEW (abolish, set aside, make an end to). Why is there no English
version that does this?

There are no other examples of the present tense of hISTHMI in the GNT and I
do not have good search programs for the LXX and other Greek literature. I
did find an example in Ez 17:14 where hISTANEIN AUTHN (Hebrew 'MD) refers to
making the kingdom stand, i.e. causing it to continue to be in existence.
(NIV says "survive", NCV "continue" and KJV, (N)RSV "it might stand" whereas
a few versions like GNB and REB connected the verb with the wrong object,
probably because of the idea of "upholding" the law in Rom 3:31.)

So, is it reasonable to suggest that "we make the law stand" in Rom 3:31
refers to its continuing existence or survival without specifying the
relationship between the law and the believer. Paul does say much more about
that in e.g. 8:4 and 13:8-10.

One translation option is to make the meaning more explicit by bringing some
of the wider context to bear on the exegesis and translation as the
following idiomatic versions do:
NLT: only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
NCV: Faith causes us to be what the law truly wants.
JBP: We put the Law in its proper place.

Any other suggestions for how to catch the meaning in English? In Danish it
is impossible to say "make the law stand", so we tried "we put the law in
its proper place" following J.B. Phillips. But I cannot say that I am
totally satisfied with it.

Iver Larsen




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