ἱστῶμεν. (istomen) in Romans 3:31: Verb First Person Plural Present Active Indicative

Verb: the form expresses an action or state, here the idea of establishing or standing in place. The lemma is ἵστημι, but this occurrence is a verbal form in the clause.

Present: often views the action as in progress, customary, or presently in view. Context decides the exact force.

Active: presents the subject as doing or carrying the action.

Indicative: presents the verbal idea as an assertion or statement in the clause.

First person: the speaker or speakers are grammatically involved in the verbal form.

Not applicable: this verb form is not using noun case to mark its sentence role.

Plural: the form is first person plural, so Paul includes himself with others in the claim.

Not applicable: this verb form does not use grammatical gender to make its point.

νόμον

The verb stands in direct contrast to καταργοῦμεν and follows ἀλλὰ, so it contributes the second half of the reply: not abolishing law, but establishing it.

It functions as the main verbal claim in the concluding contrast, expressing a collective present assertion: we establish law.

It does not by itself define what law means, and it does not force a technical idea of permanent legal theory beyond the immediate argumentative contrast.

High: The verb carries Paul's answer that faith establishes law rather than abolishing it.

First-person plural present active indicative in argumentative contrast. states the positive half of Paul's reply. Attached to law as the object of the verb. Governed by the contrast between abolishing and establishing. The verb makes the establishing claim, while Paul's argument defines what law means in context.

What does Paul say faith does with law? He says it establishes law rather than abolishing it.

Direct: The first-person plural present directly supports English wording such as "we establish."

The grammar does not define every law-theology question; Romans 3 supplies the immediate argumentative scope.

Present tense proves an ongoing legal program by itself: The present form states Paul's contrast; the surrounding argument controls the theological claim.

The witness reads ἱστῶμεν in Romans 3:31 within the clause ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστῶμεν.

The lexeme ἵστημι can mean to stand, place, establish, or make stand, so the form carries the sense of establishing rather than replacing the noun it governs.

The present active indicative fits the verse's direct contrast after μὴ γένοιτο. It supports a present claim about the effect of faith, namely that it does not abolish law but upholds it.

In this verse the grammar serves Paul's rebuttal. The statement rejects the idea that faith cancels law and instead affirms that faith has a confirming or establishing effect in the argument.

Within Romans 3, the form supports Paul's broader insistence that justification by faith does not lead to lawlessness. The verbal choice communicates continuity of moral and covenantal seriousness without overdefining the mechanism.

For readers, the form helps the sentence sound like a firm public claim: faith does not tear down the law, it stands it up or establishes it in the argument being made.

Do not infer from the present indicative alone that every detail of the law is unchanged, or that the verb settles debates about the precise scope of law in the whole canon.