The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

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DASchoch
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The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by DASchoch »

In Romans 5:21 the standard translation of the verse reads something akin to:

so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The word "δικαιοσυνης" is couched between dia and eis and is in the Genitive.

My question is this, if righteousness here is in the Genitive, does it not still imply possession? And if so, wouldn't a better translation of the text read that grace might reign through your righteousness leading to eternal life?

thank you for your comments!

Blessings!
Jonathan Robie
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Re: The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by Jonathan Robie »

First off, here's the complete verse. Two verses, actually, I hate to split sentences up.
Romans 5:20=21 wrote:νόμος δὲ παρεισῆλθεν ἵνα πλεονάσῃ τὸ παράπτωμα· οὗ δὲ ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις, ἵνα ὥσπερ ἐβασίλευσεν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ, οὕτως καὶ ἡ χάρις βασιλεύσῃ διὰ δικαιοσύνης εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν.
But to your question, possession is only one of the uses of the genitive, and cases are often associated with specific uses of a preposition. Let's look at Mounce's dictionary:
Mounce's Dictionary wrote:(gen.) through, by means of; (acc.) because of, for the sake of, therefore
With the genitive, it means either through or by means of. With the accusative it can mean because of, for the sake of, or therefore.

Many prepositions can take only one case.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Stephen Carlson
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Re: The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Yeah, if you see a case form with a preposition, go with the preposition for the meaning. (Some of them use the case form to discriminate among their meanings.)
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
DASchoch
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Re: The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by DASchoch »

Jonathan, thanks...but I wasn't asking about the preposition, I got that part down. My question was specifically of the interpretation concerning the word "righteousness" in the Genitive, not "dia."

"dia" already tells me that the translation is "through," but I am asking if the genitive in righteousness can be translated as "your righteousness" since it is possessive and Paul is addressing people.

thanks again!
timothy_p_mcmahon
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Re: The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by timothy_p_mcmahon »

DASchoch wrote: September 4th, 2018, 10:22 pm I am asking if the genitive in righteousness can be translated as "your righteousness" since it is possessive and Paul is addressing people.
No, you can't.

The use of a genitive as the object of a preposition does not include any of the senses the case normally carries. It's just the object of δια. It's not "through OF" anything.

Further, even if there were a possessive element involved, the possessor would be righteousness, not the readers of the epistle. The only way it could be "your righteousness" is if δικαιοσύνης were modified by υμων, 'of you.'
DASchoch
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Re: The Genitive affect upon δικαιοσύνης

Post by DASchoch »

timothy_p_mcmahon wrote: September 5th, 2018, 1:11 am
DASchoch wrote: September 4th, 2018, 10:22 pm I am asking if the genitive in righteousness can be translated as "your righteousness" since it is possessive and Paul is addressing people.
No, you can't.

The use of a genitive as the object of a preposition does not include any of the senses the case normally carries. It's just the object of δια. It's not "through OF" anything.

Further, even if there were a possessive element involved, the possessor would be righteousness, not the readers of the epistle. The only way it could be "your righteousness" is if δικαιοσύνης were modified by υμων, 'of you.'
Thanks Timothy!

Blessings!
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