πίστιν (pistin) in Romans 3:3: Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
πίστιν (pistin) in Romans 3:3
Textual Witness
The witness reads πίστιν in Romans 3:3 within the question, τὴν πίστιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταργήσει;
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form makes πίστιν the focal noun under the question's verb, so the reader hears the issue as whether God's faith can be made ineffective by human unbelief.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, this grammar can be rendered smoothly as the object of the question, while preserving the rhetorical force and the genitive link to God.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Accusative case indicates role, but the clause and discourse determine the full sense.
- Feminine gender is grammatical here and does not create a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Noun: this form names a thing or reality, here the concept of faith or trust.
Accusative: the form usually marks a direct object or another closely related object-like role in the clause.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence, referring to one abstract concept rather than many.
Feminine: the noun belongs to the feminine grammatical class, which here is a language feature and not a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
It is attached to the article τὴν and the phrase τοῦ Θεοῦ in the question.
The accusative is most naturally governed by καταργήσει, where it functions as the thing that might be nullified or rendered ineffective.
It names the object under discussion, the faith of God, and helps frame the rhetorical question about whether human unbelief could affect it.
It does not, by its form alone, prove a different lexical meaning or settle every nuance of the phrase without the wider context.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The accusative noun is the object in Paul's question about whether human unbelief can nullify God's faithfulness.
Accusative noun as object of the rhetorical question. names what is being asked about as potentially nullified. Attached to τὴν πίστιν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Governed by καταργήσει. The accusative marks the object; the genitive phrase and rhetorical context must govern the precise explanation.
What is Paul asking whether unbelief can nullify? The noun phrase identifies the faith or faithfulness of God as the object in the question.
Direct: The object relation directly affects rendering the question around faith, faithfulness, or trust connected with God.
The genitive phrase τοῦ Θεοῦ needs careful handling; the accusative case alone does not decide every nuance of faith or faithfulness.
Case alone settles the faith versus faithfulness question: The accusative marks grammatical role; the phrase and Paul's argument decide how the concept should be explained.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads πίστιν in Romans 3:3 within the question, τὴν πίστιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καταργήσει;
The lemma is πίστις, which ordinarily refers to faith, trust, or belief, and the form does not change that identity.
Its accusative form fits the clause as the thing being questioned as to whether it could be set aside, with the genitive τοῦ Θεοῦ identifying whose faith is in view.
The verse contrasts human ἀπιστία with the continued reliability of God's faithfulness or faith, asking whether one would undo the other.
Within the chapter's larger argument, the form supports a claim that divine reliability is not overturned by human failure.
For readers, the grammar highlights the object of the rhetorical question and keeps attention on the contrast between unbelief and God's faith.
Do not derive from the accusative alone that the phrase must mean only one theological nuance, or that the grammar by itself resolves the debate between faith and faithfulness.