δίκαιος (dikaios) in Romans 3:10: Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
δίκαιος (dikaios) in Romans 3:10
Textual Witness
The witness reads δίκαιος in Romans 3:10 within the clause Οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς, so the form is part of a direct denial.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form sharpens the verse into a direct predicate claim: no one is righteous.
How To Communicate It
When translating or teaching, keep the focus on the clause's denial of righteousness, not on the morphology as if it were the main point.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not turn masculine agreement into a theological gender claim.
- Do not overread case or number beyond the clause's visible function.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the word describes a noun or stands with a verb to qualify a person or thing as just or righteous.
Nominative: the form commonly marks a subject or a predicate adjective, and here it fits the clause's statement about who is righteous.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, matching the clause's one-by-one claim that no single person is in view as righteous.
Masculine: the form belongs to the masculine grammatical class here, which reflects agreement in the phrase and does not by itself make a gendered theological claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἔστι and the clause οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς
The adjective is governed by the existential statement with ἔστι and functions as the clause's predicate description, not as a separate noun.
It identifies the quality denied in the statement: there is no righteous one, or no one who counts as righteous in the clause's claim.
It does not name a different person or create a new subject, and it does not by itself decide the larger argument beyond the clause.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The adjective carries the quality denied in Paul's scriptural indictment: no one is righteous.
Nominative singular masculine adjective in a negated existential clause. names the quality denied of any person in the clause. Attached to the clause saying there is none righteous. Governed by the negated existential verb in Romans 3:10. The adjective is central to the clause, but Paul's full argument defines the scope and theological weight.
What quality does the citation deny? It denies that there is anyone righteous.
Direct: The adjective directly supports renderings such as "righteous" or "just" in the negated clause.
The singular form works with the one-by-one denial and should not be narrowed to one individual. Masculine agreement should not be read as male-only reference. The verse states a universal negative in Paul's argument, not a grammar puzzle.
Singular adjective limits the claim to one person: The singular form works within the phrase "not even one" and supports the universal denial. masculine form means males only: The masculine form is grammatical and should not restrict the scope to males.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads δίκαιος in Romans 3:10 within the clause Οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς, so the form is part of a direct denial.
The lemma δίκαιος means just or righteous, and that basic sense is the resource the verse draws on.
As a nominative singular masculine adjective with ἔστι, it functions naturally as a predicate description of the clause's subject idea: no one is righteous.
In this verse the grammar supports a universal negative claim about human righteousness, expressed plainly and compactly.
The wording fits the broader biblical pattern that righteousness is a serious moral category, while this verse states its absence among all persons.
For readers and teachers, the form helps present the verse as a clear, direct statement rather than a hidden or technical label.
Do not derive a claim that the masculine form refers only to males, or that grammar alone settles every theological question in the passage.