νόμου (nomou) in Romans 3:20: Noun Genitive Singular Masculine

Noun: this word names law as a concept or authority, not an action or modifier, and here it functions inside a genitive phrase.

Genitive: this form commonly shows relationship, source, description, or association, and here it links law to the surrounding phrase without by itself deciding the exact nuance.

Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, so it presents law as a unified referent in the phrase.

Masculine: this noun belongs to the masculine grammatical class, which is a language feature and does not by itself make a theological or biological claim.

ἐξ ἔργων ... and later διὰ γὰρ νόμου

The genitive is governed by the prepositions ἐξ and διὰ in the verse, so the form participates in a relational phrase rather than standing alone.

It helps specify the kind of works in view and the means by which knowledge of sin is stated, so the reader hears law as the relevant standard in the argument.

It does not, by itself, define the full theology of law, and it does not turn the noun into a different word or force one technical sense in every occurrence.

High: The repeated genitive form anchors both works of law and through law in the verse's justification argument.

Genitive noun in law-related relational phrases. connects works and knowledge of sin to law in Paul's argument. Attached to ἐξ ἔργων νόμου and διὰ γὰρ νόμου. Governed by the surrounding prepositional and genitive constructions. The occurrence is high value because the law phrase helps distinguish exposed sin from justifying works.

What role does law have in this verse' The form ties works to law and then states that through law comes knowledge of sin.

Direct: The form directly supports law-related phrases such as works of law and through law.

The verse contains more than one law phrase, so the profile should not flatten them into one bare dictionary sense. The genitive relation does not by itself settle every Pauline use of νόμος.

Genitive of law decides the entire doctrine of justification: The form marks relation in the clause; the doctrine is read from Paul's argument as a whole.

The witness reads νόμου twice in Romans 3:20, within ἐξ ἔργων νόμου and διὰ γὰρ νόμου, so the repeated form anchors the verse's language about law.

The lemma νόμος means law, and in this context the supplied lexicon summary and verse frame support understanding it as law in a Pauline argument about accountability.

The genitive works with the prepositions to express relation or means, so the clause speaks of works associated with law and of knowledge that comes through law.

The verse denies justification by works of law and adds that through law comes knowledge of sin, so the grammar supports law as the standard that exposes rather than justifies.

This fits the wider biblical pattern in which revealed law shows God's standard and reveals human need, while the verse still keeps justification out of human works.

For readers and teachers, the form helps clarify that Paul's point is not about any action in general but about works connected with law and about law's diagnostic role.

Do not derive from the genitive alone a full doctrine of what every use of law must mean, or treat grammatical gender as a theological statement.