γέγραπται, (gegraptai) in Romans 3:4: Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Passive Indicative
γέγραπται, (gegraptai) in Romans 3:4
Textual Witness
The witness reads γέγραπται in Romans 3:4 within a comparison and quotation frame.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form strengthens the quotation by presenting it as established and continuing in force, which supports the verse's appeal to Scripture.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, it can be rendered naturally as 'it is written' or 'as it is written' to preserve the citation's authority.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Perfect passive indicative here supports the citation frame, but it does not by itself prove more than the text uses it to say.
- Do not make tense, voice, or mood carry more meaning than the surrounding sentence and quotation require.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or state, and here it presents the written result of that action as already in view.
Perfect: presents a completed action or state with continuing relevance where the context supports it.
Passive: presents the subject as receiving or being affected by the action.
Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.
Third person: the form speaks about someone or something rather than directly as I/we or you.
Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.
Singular: the ending is singular, and in this clause it matches a single, impersonal verbal reference.
Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It follows καθὼς and introduces the cited wording that comes next.
It is governed by the comparison marker καθὼς and functions as an appeal to what stands written.
It marks the citation as a settled written authority behind the claim that follows.
It does not name a new subject or add a separate event; it supports the quotation frame.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The perfect passive citation formula grounds Paul's argument in what stands written.
Third-person singular perfect passive indicative. introduces the quoted words as standing written authority. Attached to the quotation introduced in Romans 3:4. Governed by the comparison marker and appeal to Scripture. The passive citation formula does not identify the human author by itself.
How does Paul introduce the quoted words? He introduces them as what is written.
Direct: The form directly supports the citation formula "it is written."
The perfect points to the standing force of the written citation but does not by itself state every doctrine of Scripture. The passive voice does not identify the human writer in this clause. The singular form belongs to the citation formula, not to the number of words quoted.
Perfect tense alone proves all doctrine of Scripture: The perfect supports the citation frame; broader doctrine requires the wider biblical witness. passive voice identifies the author: The passive citation formula does not name the human author.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads γέγραπται in Romans 3:4 within a comparison and quotation frame.
The lemma is γραφω, a verb for writing, and in this context it points to something that has been written.
The perfect passive form highlights a written result that remains valid for the speaker's argument, without needing to specify the original writer.
Paul frames the quoted words as grounded in Scripture, so the line carries the force of an already established written statement.
This use fits the broader biblical pattern where what is written functions as enduring testimony in argument and teaching.
For readers, the form signals that the quotation is not casual speech but an authoritative written witness.
Do not derive authorship, date, or extra doctrinal claims from the verb form alone.