σου, (sou) in Romans 3:4: P-2GS
σου, (sou) in Romans 3:4
Textual Witness
The witness reads σου in Romans 3:4 within the phrase ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, and the form is fixed by the provided text tradition.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The form narrows the phrase to the addressed person's words and gives the quotation direct force, but the surrounding clause still controls the main meaning.
How To Communicate It
In translation and teaching, this is best conveyed as 'your words' or 'in your words,' preserving the personal address without overstating the grammar.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Genitive case here points to relation in the phrase, but it does not by itself determine every nuance.
- Do not turn grammatical gender into a theological gender claim.
What Does The Label Mean?
Pronoun: the form points to a person addressed in the discourse, rather than naming that person directly.
Genitive: the form usually marks possession, relation, source, or close association, and here it links the address to the speaker's words.
Singular: the form is grammatically singular in this occurrence and addresses one person in the quoted wording.
Not marked: this second-person pronoun form does not carry grammatical gender here, so it should not be read as a theological gender claim.
What The Form Does In This Verse
ἐν τοῖς λόγοις
The pronoun completes the prepositional phrase and identifies whose words are in view, namely the one being addressed in the quotation.
It functions as a genitive of association or possession within the phrase, pointing to the addressee's words and not introducing a new subject.
It does not make the pronoun the subject of the clause, and it does not by itself specify the identity beyond the contextual address.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The pronoun belongs to quoted judgment language used in Paul's argument about God's truthfulness.
Second-person singular genitive pronoun in a quoted phrase. marks whose words are in view. Attached to the phrase about your words. Governed by the quotation embedded in Paul's argument. The genitive gives the phrase direct address; the quotation and argument carry the larger theological force.
Whose words are in view? The quoted line refers to the addressed person's words.
Direct: The form directly supports possessive wording such as "your words."
The genitive marks relation in the phrase, not every detail of Paul's use of the quotation. The direct address belongs to the quoted wording and must be read inside Paul's larger argument.
Genitive case settles argument: Do not make the case form carry Paul's whole claim about God being true and human beings false.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads σου in Romans 3:4 within the phrase ἐν τοῖς λόγοις σου, and the form is fixed by the provided text tradition.
The lemma is σύ, a second-person pronoun, so the form signals address to 'you' without changing the lexical identity.
In this verse the genitive works with λόγοις to specify the words being cited, while the larger sentence speaks about God being shown true and the human speaker being found false.
The phrase means 'in your words' or 'by your words' in the quotation, highlighting the addressed person's speech as the arena in view.
The wording fits a citation that frames divine truth and human failure, using direct address to intensify the contrast in the argument.
For readers and hearers, the form makes the quotation personal and pointed, since the words are not abstract but addressed to someone specific.
Do not derive a separate theology from the pronoun form, and do not treat genitive case alone as if it settled every syntactic detail.