[B-Greek] hISTHMI in Rom 3:31
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Sun Mar 21 09:37:56 EST 2004
>
> Perhaps can "vindicate" do?
> English is not my first foreign language. So I cannot judge the matter
> properly.
Well, I don't think that fits very well, nor am I satisfied with "confirm"
or "affirm" or "validate" or even
"annul" for KATARGEW, because it narrows the sense to a legal contract. For
KATARGEW I think "bring to an end" (put out of work) for the active and
"come to an end" for the MP forms are more accurate, and therefore "(cause
to) continue to exist" is one option for hISTHMI (present) as suggested by
the LXX of Ezek 17:14.
These various translation suggestions basically reflect how one interprets
Paul's understanding of the role of the law for the believer or in what way
it continues, and that leads us into theology which I shall try to steer
clear of. But one has to compare this statement with other statements of
Paul in order to fully understand what he is thinking of. For instance:
Eph 2:15 AUTOS ... TON NOMON TWN ENTOLWN EN DOGMASIN KATARGHSAS
What I am trying to grapple with is a balance between the old covenant/law
with its specific ordinances and commandments having come to an end as in
Eph 2:15, and at the same time not throwing away the torah as useless as
must have been the charge Paul is defending himself against in Rom 3:31.
Are there more linguistic evidence from contemporary Greek sources or the
LXX that could throw light on the use of the present tense of hISTHMI?
I have now found another example of an active present tense of this verb in
the LXX. Isa 44:26 has a Hebrew parallelism. First, God is the one who
"makes stand" (hISTWN) the words of his servant (RHMATA PAIDOS AUTOU), and
secondly he "makes true" the (divine) plan/will as proclaimed by his
messengers/prophets (KAI THN BOULHN TWN AGGELWN AUTOU ALHQEUWN). In the
context of a prophetic word the meaning is apparently to fulfill. A
prophetic word may "fall to the ground" if it is not fulfilled, but will
"stand" if it is fulfilled. The NET translates Isa 44:26 like this: "who
fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants and brings to pass the
announcement of his messengers." The corresponding Hebrew word in the hifil
with "word", promise or covenant as object has the sense of "carry out,
perform" according to Holladay, and then give as an example Deut 9:5 (LXX:
hINA STHSHi THN DIAQHKHN). Both NLT and REB use "fulfill" here, while others
talk about "keeping the promise." Similarly 1 Ki 2:4 and probably others.
So, if Paul sees the torah as a prophetic forerunner of the new covenant,
then he might well be saying that the Christian in the new covenant fulfills
the law/torah of the old. If so, that would be an echo of what Jesus said in
Matt 5:17, and it would fit well with the rest of Paul's writings.
Iver Larsen
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