Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
God's Justice By Messiah's Faithfulness
Normal Greek:
"22 —A justice, yet, of God through the faithfulness of Yeshua Messiah for all those faithfully trusting; for there is no discrimination 23 because all sin and are falling short of the glory of God, 24 justice being executed freely in His favor through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua." (DLT: torahtimes.org, Rom. 3:22A)
Judeo-Greek:
"22 — righteousness, yet, from God through the faithfulness of Yeshua Messiah for all those faithfully trusting; for there is no discrimination 23 because all sin and are falling short of the glory of God, 24 righteousness being given freely in His favor through the redemption that is in Messiah Yeshua." (DLT: torahtimes.org, Rom. 3:22B)
(DLT: torahtimes.org, Rom. 3:22).
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Normal Greek Amplified: A justice [paying of the penalty] through the faithfulness [commitment of Yeshua to the work of the cross] for all those faithfully trusting [committing] ....justice being executed [accomplished on the cross by payment of the penalty] freely [not by us, as a gift] in His favor [by God's mercy, loving kindness].
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Judeo-Greek Amplified: Righteousness [moral uprightness] from God through the faithfulness of Yeshua Messiah [from Messiah's upright divine life] for all those faithfully trusting....righteousness being given freely [present tense progressive...that must be accepted by faithfulness to become real].
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"Most commentators interpret the phrase "...faith in Yeshua" as referring to the believer's "faith in" Yeshua....The Greek...syntax, however, more correctly require the translation "through the faithfulness of Yeshua" (i.e., Yeshua's own faithfulness to God).32...32 See G. Howard, "Romans 3:21-31 and the Inclusion of the Gentiles," Harvard Theological Review 63 (1970), 223-33. Grammatically, the genitive case (indicating ownership or association) may be either "objective" (where the "of" refers to the object as belonging to someone else), or "subjective" (where the "of" refers to something belonging to oneself, one's own). The biblical concept of "faith," moreover, is always "faithfulness" and not "(doctrinal) belief" (pg. 137, 155, A Commentary of the Jewish Roots of Romans, Joseph Shulam).
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"Is Paul's use of the combination dikaiosynē theou to be interpreted from the common conception of dikaiosynē as 'justice' or 'righteous judgment' (in a legal sense), or does Paul describe a state of affairs which cannot be subsumed under the normal meaning of the term?" (Manfred T. Brauch, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, E.P. Sanders, pg. 524, Appendix). The answer to Manfred's first question is yes, and to the second question yes, but very hard to explain to non-linguists, and impossible to translate with an ambiguity that equally satisfies both questions in English. So I just translate with the normal meaning of the Greek word in version A and using Judeo-Greek in version B. "The prevailing pre-Reformation interpretation of dikaiosynē theou spoke of 'distributive justice' in the sense that God is the Judge who judges righteously, not haphazardly, but according to the norm of his own holiness and perfection. Luther opened new interpretive possibilities. First, he took the construction dikaiosynē theou as an objective genitive throughout, translating the phrase with 'the Righteousness which counts before God'," (ibid. pg. 525). From a Torah perspective we have to conclude that the pre-Reformation view was correct. Luther's innovation stemmed from a misunderstanding of Torah, that God wanted righteousness in a forensically legal sense in the first place that counted with Him. From a Torah perspective, such legal accounting is not necessary, because God is not in the business of granting acquittals even if it be argued by substitutionary merits of Christ. God only grants pardons for the guilty who are willing to be reformed.
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"And are falling short of the glory of God". Notice that Paul does not speak of "total depravity" here, but merely falling short, by however much or however little. Also, the falling short is in the present tense progressive. In God's estimation (reckoning) all are falling short, even the faithful. But God has mercy on us because of Messiah's death on the cross.
justice: BDAG, def. no. 1. This word refers to God's righteous actions in the application of justice.
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/rom0322.html)
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