G4102

• {"n":"Romans 3:22; Galatians 2:16","s":"Faith in Christ, or the faithfulness of Christ. Greek does not say which.","u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/bible-translation-differences\/#id=romans-3-22-galatians-2-16","r":"Romans 3:22","b":[{"l":"How modern translations read it","t":"Most versions read faith in Christ. The NET, CSB and NRSV all footnote or adopt the faithfulness of Christ. Notice that the King James reads faith of, which leaves the question open exactly the way the Greek does."},{"l":"First, in plain English","t":"**The love of a mother.** Is that the love she gives, or the love you give her? Same four words, opposite directions, and English has no way to mark which. Now try **the fear of God** and notice you have been reading past this problem your whole life."},{"l":"What you are seeing","t":"Pistis Christou is a noun followed by a noun in the genitive. Greek genitives can be objective, where Christ is the object of the faith, or subjective, where Christ is the one doing the believing or being faithful. The form is identical either way."},{"l":"Why translators split","t":"English prepositions force a choice. In and of point in opposite directions and there is no English preposition that leaves it hanging. The King James of is the closest English gets, which is why a four hundred year old translation preserves an ambiguity that modern versions resolve."},{"l":"The rule to carry away","t":"Whenever you see of in an older translation where a modern one says in or for, suspect a genitive. The Greek was joining two nouns and letting the reader work out the relationship. Modern English translations usually decide for you, and the decision is rarely flagged."},{"l":"Choosing between them","t":"Faith in Christ makes the verse about the believer's trust. Faithfulness of Christ makes it about Christ's own obedience, with the believer's faith named separately in the next clause, which otherwise repeats itself. The redundancy argument is the strongest point for the subjective reading. The weight of tradition and of Paul's usage elsewhere is the strongest point for the objective one."},{"l":"The word","t":"\u03c0\u03af\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 pistis \u00b7 G4102"}],"src":["Richard B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ (1983, 2nd ed. 2002), the case for the subjective genitive","James D. G. Dunn's reply, and the Hays-Dunn exchange in Pauline Theology vol. 4","NET Bible translators' note at Romans 3:22"]}