Θεοῦ (Theou) in Romans 3:22: Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Θεοῦ (Theou) in Romans 3:22
Textual Witness
The witness reads Θεοῦ in Romans 3:22 within the phrase δικαιοσύνη δὲ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The genitive links righteousness to God, but Romans 3:21-26 governs how that righteousness is understood and received through faith in Jesus Christ.
How To Communicate It
Use the form to show that righteousness is God-related in the phrase, then let Paul's argument explain the doctrinal weight of the wording.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case suggests relationship, but the exact nuance must be read from the phrase and verse.
- Grammatical gender is a language feature here and does not make a theological gender claim.
- Do not use the grammar profile as a shortcut around the wording and logic of the verse.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: the word names God as a person referred to in the clause, not an action or quality.
Genitive: the form usually marks a dependent relationship, so here it modifies the surrounding phrase rather than standing alone.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, which fits a single referent in context.
Masculine: the noun is tagged with masculine grammatical gender, which is a language category and not a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
δικαιοσύνη
The genitive is connected to the head noun δικαιοσύνη and helps specify the kind or source of that righteousness in the phrase.
It functions as a genitive modifier that links righteousness to God in context, without forcing one narrow semantic relation beyond the passage.
It is not the clause subject, and the form itself does not prove a full doctrinal formula apart from the surrounding wording.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The genitive relation sits inside a theologically weighty phrase about the righteousness of God.
Genitive relation modifying righteousness. links righteousness to God while the surrounding argument clarifies the theological sense. Attached to righteousness in Romans 3:22. Governed by the noun phrase righteousness of God. The genitive should be handled cautiously because the phrase is context-controlled and theologically weighty.
Whose righteousness is in view? The phrase speaks of righteousness related to God, with the verse explaining its reception through faith in Jesus Christ.
Direct: The genitive directly supports the English of God in the phrase righteousness of God.
The genitive relation is real, but the precise doctrinal nuance must be read from Romans 3 rather than from case alone.
Genitive case settles the entire righteousness debate: The grammar marks relation; Paul's argument supplies the doctrinal claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads Θεοῦ in Romans 3:22 within the phrase δικαιοσύνη δὲ Θεοῦ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
The lemma is θεός, meaning God or a deity, and here the context clearly points to God rather than a generic god.
The genitive form links God to righteousness in the phrase, but the precise relationship is supplied by the clause movement, not by case alone.
In this verse the phrase presents righteousness as belonging to or coming from God, then traces its access through faith in Jesus Christ.
This fits the wider biblical pattern in which God's saving righteousness is revealed and received in relation to Christ and faith.
For readers and teachers, the form supports a concise rendering such as 'the righteousness of God,' while leaving the exact nuance to context.
Do not derive a standalone doctrine from the genitive ending, and do not use grammatical gender to make a theological claim about God's sex or nature.