πάντας (pantas) in Romans 3:9: Adjective Accusative Plural Masculine
πάντας (pantas) in Romans 3:9
Textual Witness
The witness reads "Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας πάντας ὑφ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι," so the form stands inside a clause about both Jews and Greeks.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form reinforces that the statement is comprehensive, not selective, but the verse context still carries the decisive meaning.
How To Communicate It
It helps the reader hear the clause as a claim about the whole set of Jews and Greeks, not a subset or an exception.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Masculine agreement here is grammatical, not a theological gender claim.
- If syntax is not fully certain from the context, state only the conservative sense of total scope.
What Does The Label Mean?
Adjective: the word qualifies or describes a noun, here shaping the scope of the people mentioned.
Accusative: the form commonly marks an object or an accusative relation, and here it fits the clause about Jews and Greeks being stated as a whole.
Plural: the form is grammatically plural in this occurrence, matching a collective scope rather than a single person or thing.
Masculine: the form belongs to the masculine grammatical class in agreement with the nearby plural group, and that class alone does not make a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It attaches to the coordinated phrase "Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας" and modifies that plural group.
It is shaped by agreement with the plural accusative people being described, not by a separate verbal force.
It marks the scope of the statement as comprehensive, indicating that the accusation or summary applies to the whole group.
It does not by itself introduce a new subject, change the lemma, or add a separate doctrinal claim beyond the context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The adjective makes Paul's summary about Jews and Greeks comprehensive before the charge that all are under sin.
Accusative plural modifier of the coordinated people group. marks the whole Jew-and-Greek group in view as included in the summary. Attached to Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας. Governed by agreement with the accusative coordinated phrase. The adjective marks comprehensive scope, while the clause states the condition under sin.
Who is included in Paul's summary charge? The adjective marks the whole group of Jews and Greeks in the statement.
Direct: The form directly supports rendering the phrase with all or all of them.
The adjective should be read with the coordinated people group and the under-sin statement, not detached as a separate category.
All supplies a doctrine apart from the clause: The adjective marks the scope of the people group; the surrounding sentence supplies the theological claim.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads "Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας πάντας ὑφ᾽ ἁμαρτίαν εἶναι," so the form stands inside a clause about both Jews and Greeks.
The lemma πᾶς normally carries the sense of all, every, or the whole, and this form applies that sense to the group named in the verse.
Its plural accusative shape agrees with the people listed and supports a collective reading of total scope, while the sentence still gives the main claim.
Paul is stating that Jews and Greeks alike are included under sin, and the adjective strengthens the reach of that statement.
This fits the broader argument in Romans 3 where universal human need is being pressed without needing the form to say more than the sentence itself.
For readers and translators, the form supports rendering the phrase with inclusive force, such as all of them or all people in that stated group.
Do not infer from masculine agreement a male-only reference, and do not make the form do the work of proving more than the context says.