δόξης (doxes) in Romans 3:23: Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
δόξης (doxes) in Romans 3:23
Textual Witness
The witness reads δόξης in Romans 3:23 within the phrase τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, so the form is securely part of the verse's shared textual wording.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The genitive form sharpens the verse by showing what humanity falls short of, but the clause's argument still comes from the full sentence, not from the form alone.
How To Communicate It
In teaching, this form can be explained as the phrase that names the glory connected to God and the standard humans do not attain, while keeping the emphasis on the verse's whole message.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive form here suggests relationship in the phrase, but it does not by itself settle every interpretive question.
- Feminine grammatical gender is a noun class feature and must not be treated as a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names a reality or concept here, and it points to glory as a recognized idea in the clause.
Genitive: the form usually marks a relationship, dependence, or shared reference, and here it fits the phrase that follows ὑστεροῦνται.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, presenting one shared referent rather than several.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which is a language feature and does not by itself make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ
The genitive phrase completes the verb for falling short by naming the glory in relation to God as what humanity lacks or fails to reach.
It functions as part of the object of deficiency, identifying the glory that is not reached or shared in the verse's statement about all people.
It does not by itself mean possession, origin, or cause, and it does not turn the noun into a new lexical sense.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive phrase helps frame what all people fall short of in a central statement about sin.
Genitive complement in a deficiency phrase. identifies the glory as the standard, sphere, or object of deficiency in the clause. Attached to the glory of God. Governed by the clause about falling short in Romans 3:23. The exact genitive nuance should remain tied to the phrase and Paul's argument rather than a single case label.
What do all people fall short of? The phrase says they fall short of the glory of God.
Direct: The genitive directly supports the English phrase 'of the glory of God.'
Greek genitives can express several relationships; here the falling-short clause controls the interpretation. The phrase 'of God' must be read with glory and the wider argument, not isolated as a grammar puzzle.
Genitive always means possession: Possession is one possible genitive relation, but this phrase needs the verb and clause to set the sense. feminine gender makes a theological claim: Feminine is the grammatical class of the noun, not a claim about God or glory as female.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads δόξης in Romans 3:23 within the phrase τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ, so the form is securely part of the verse's shared textual wording.
The lemma is δόξα, meaning glory or honor, and the form here is one inflected occurrence of that same lexeme.
Because ὑστεροῦνται takes the genitive phrase, δόξης contributes the sense of what is lacking. The grammar highlights relationship, not a hidden extra meaning.
The verse says all sinned and also fall short of the glory of God. The genitive helps frame glory as the referenced standard or sphere of deficiency.
This fits the wider biblical pattern in which divine glory is a central marker of God's honor, presence, and revealed greatness.
For readers and teachers, the form supports a translation like 'of the glory of God' and helps explain why the verse speaks of falling short rather than merely failing a rule.
Do not derive that the noun alone proves a specific doctrinal formula, a gendered meaning, or a meaning beyond what the clause and phrase already supply.