13 I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that often I have planned to come to you (but I have been prevented so far), in order that I might have some fruit also among you, even as among the rest of the nations. 14 Both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, I am obligated. 15 So my eagerness is to proclaim the gospel also to you who are in
Paul, continuing with his talk of travel plans, informs the church that he has often planned to come to them, though he has been prevented from it because as he will say later in 15.18-22, his desire to not build on another's foundation has hindered him from coming. Paul hopes to come to them that he might receive some new creation fruit among them as he has also received it among the rest of the nations. For Paul is not simply an apostle to the Jews, rather Paul is under obligation to all people to present to them the gospel, because he is a herald of God's good news regarding the reign of the Davidic king, who is the king of the world. Because he has an expectation of fruit, and because he is under obligation to all men, Paul is eager to herald the gospel among those who are in
Paul gives us another reason for his eagerness to herald the gospel in vv. 16-17, and it is because the message he proclaims is the 'power of God for salvation to everyone who believes'. Paul's message is for the Jew first, but it is not for the Jew alone. Rather, it is for the Jew first and then the Gentile, so that all who hear the message of the gospel, and believe in it will be saved. This also informs us regarding why Paul is obligated to all men, it is because his gospel is for all men. The good news of God regarding the reign of God's king is not good for only the Jew. No, the good news regarding the reign of the Davidic king is good news to all men, for the good news is the power of God for salvation to everyone.
Paul also says regarding the gospel that he proclaims that in the gospel itself God's righteousness is revealed. What is this righteousness of which Paul speaks? There are three main views:
That human righteousness which 'counts' in God's eyes (theou being understood as an objective genitive),
God's own saving power or activity (theou taken as a subjective genitive),
God's gift of righteousness (theou understood as a genitive of origin) [Taken from Sam K. Williams, "The 'Righteousness of God' in Romans," JBL 99/2 (1980), 241].
Paulos, as you know, the reasons for these different translations are numerous. Unfortunately, the riddle to Paul's phrase 'righteousness of God' cannot be answered with only looking at this text. Rather, we must see where else 'righteousness of God' appears (For example chapter 3), and see how it is used in other passages in Romans. Because of this, I think it is good at this point to say what I think the phrase means, and then when I come to the other passages in Romans, where Paul uses the phrase, I will pick up the discussion then.
So, I understand Paul's phrase, 'the righteousness of God' to be God's righteousness, that is God is revealing one of his qualities or attributes in the gospel. This righteousness is a parallel quality to his truthfulness, and his faithfulness not only in Romans (see for faithfulness 3:3 and truthfulness in 3:7) but also in the Hebrew Scriptures (For example, Psalm 5:8-9; 36:11 [Hebrew], where YHWH's hesed is parallel to his sedaqah). What do you think of this Paulos?
Unfortunately 'the righteousness of God' is not the only enigmatic phrase in Paul's thesis statement (1:16-17). For we now come to two other phrases, which must be handled with care. The first phrase I have translated above as "from faithfulness to faithfulness." Literally rendered it should be 'of faith[fulness] unto faith[fulness]. Now, of course you know why I have bracketed 'fulness', and it is because the Greek noun pistis can mean either 'faith' or 'faithfulness' depending on the context. When the passive idea is communicated more specifically, then the noun should be translated more as 'faithfulness or dependability, or trustworthiness'. Thus, if the qualifying noun of pistis is God, the passive understanding is required, because it is emphasizing God's faithfulness. Well, of course, when the active is to be emphasized, then the act of believing is emphasized. Thus, we can talk rightly about belief in (eis) Jesus.
But on its own in this phrase the translation of 'of faith[fulness] unto faith[fulness] is difficult, because we are unable to show for certain what or who the object of the pistis is. Also, we are not able to show for certain, who the actor or possessor of the faith[fulness] is. Because of this there are many plausible answers. But I must choose one, at least at this point, to see if it will make sense of the immediate context, and also other passages in Romans when we come to them. So at this point I take the phrase to be 'from faithfulness unto faithfulness'. Thus, this means that what is in view is God's faithfulness, which is parallel to his righteousness. In other words, the gospel in revealing the righteousness of God shows that God is consistently faithful.
Paulos, how do you see this phrase? What are the downfalls to my interpretation? What are its strengths? Is this near to what Paul is talking about? Any help you could offer me here would be greatly appreciated, for this is a difficult, yet important piece of Romans.
Unfortunately, though, this is not the last enigmatic phrase in this thesis statement. The last enigmatic phrase is actually a quote from Habakkuk 2:4. The issues here, as you know Paulos, are complex. First, there are the differences in the phrase from the Hebrew, 'his faith[fulness]' to the Septuagint 'my faith[fulness]' to Paul's quote which simply states 'faith[fulness]. Then there are the issues regarding how one understands the word pistis. Is it active, 'faith' or is it passive 'faithfulness'? Then, there is the issue regarding the function of the words in the clause. Is it 'will live by faith', or 'by faith will live', or 'will live by faithfulness', or 'by faithfulness will live'? Again, there are good arguments for many plausible interpretations regarding this verse, but I will pick one, and I will see what you think, and hopefully you can set me straight or confirm and solidify. As you can tell from my translation, I take this to refer to the Righteous One, that is the Messiah, who will live by faithfulness. That is, Paul is using this verse as an introduction to Jesus who is the Righteous One, who lived by faithfulness. This then also sets up a contrast to what follows this thesis statement, where Paul talks about God's wrath being revealed against all unrighteousness (1:18).
Paulos, how do you take the phrase? What are the strengths (if there are any) or weaknesses with taking Habakkuk 2:4 this way? As of yet I have not confirmed this reading of Habakkuk 2:4 in the context of Habakkuk, so I may need to change once I have fully wrestled with Habakkuk, but I have not done significant work in Habakkuk to say if any of the other interpretations fit either. So any help here would be appreciated as well.
Well, it is getting a bit late, and I still must read some more of my parchments, when I see you next I will make sure to return your parchments to you, since I know how valuable they are to you! Grace and peace to you!
Timotheos
No comments:
Post a Comment