(2) “Fidelity” and “Trust”: I will
also default to translating the Greek word πιστις (pistis) as “fidelity” rather than “faith”
and the verbal form πιστευω (pisteuō) as “trust” rather
than “believe” or “have faith.” Each of these options better approximates the relational
nauances of Paul’s language than the more traditional English “faith” and “believe,”
which over time have come to be read as little more than cognitive assent by
modern English readers. That “fidelity” derives from Latin fides, a
chief virtue familiar to Paul’s Roman audience is an additional benefit, as it
nods to layers of nuance likely implicit in Paul’s use of pist-language
as he attempts to represent covenantally based Jewish concepts for a
Greek-speaking audience in the Roman Empire. (Jason A. Staples, Paul and the
Resurrection of Israel: Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites [Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2024], 29-30)
(3) Justice language is central
throughout Romans, and many passages involve wordplay using multiple forms of dik-
stems (e.g., δικαιοω, δικαιιος, δικαιωμα, δικαιοσυνη, αδικος) that is
difficult or impossible to reproduce in English translations, which tend to
render the verb with “justify” and the nouns with cognates of “righteous.” Others
have tried to rectify this problem in various ways, perhaps most notably E. P.
Sanders’ neologism “to righteous” as a verbal form in place of the traditional “to
justify.” I have chosen to go the opposite direction, as I suspect modern
English readers are more likely to interpret “righteous” as a term of religious
piety rather than ethics, while I am persuaded that Paul’s dik-language
is rooted in ethical and relational/covenantal contexts better represented by
the English concept of “justice,” which involves doing what is right and
performing one’s social relational, or customary obligations. The Yiddish word “mensch”
also gets fairly close to the idea of a δικαιος person as
used by Paul, and I must confess to being tempted to translate Paul’s dik-language
with cognates of mensch, resulting in “menschify,” “menschification,” and “menschness.”
But since there would be just as foreign to most English readers as the Greek
terms themselves, I have resigned myself to using cognates of “justice” for
words deriving from the dik-root in Greek.
I will therefore default to “justness”
or “justice” rather than “righteous” for the term δικαιοσυνη (dikaiosunē) and “just” for the noun δικαιος (dikaios), though at times I will use
the word pair “righteous/just.” For the verb δικαιοω (dikaioō), I will default to “justify,”
which is like the Greek word in that it can represent being “made just,” “declared
just,” or “vindicated.” The neuter noun δικαιωμα (dikaiōma),
a word meaning “just things” or “things of justice” deserves special attention since
this word frequently appears in the Septuagint as a way of referring to the “statues”
or “ordinances” given to Israel by God, specifically the requirements of
justice. Because of its specialized use and the distinctive way Pal uses this term
to refer to the Torah’s love command(s), my translations of this term will be contextually
driven, though I will call attention to where this specific term underlies my translation
in those places. (Jason A. Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel:
Jews, Former Gentiles, Israelites [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2024], 30-31)
(5) Ekklēsia (Greek εκκλησια): This word is typically translated “church”
in most versions of the New Testament, misleadingly implying a specialized meaning
distinct to Christian gatherings. But this word is widely used outside
Christian contexts to mean “assembly,” and in the Septuagint (LXX; the Greek
translation of the Tanakh/Hebrew Bible), it is the most common translation of
the Hebrew קהל (qāhāl), referring to the assembled people of Israel. In
that context, membership in all the “assembly of YHWH” (e.g., Deut 23:4, 9 [ET
3, 8]) amounts to something akin to citizenship within Israel. I will therefore
leave ekklēsia untranslated as a reminder that for Paul this term refers
not to a separate “gentile church” but rather to elect eschatological Israel
united by the pneuma of Israel’s messiah and participating in the promised
new covenant. (Jason A. Staples, Paul and the Resurrection of Israel: Jews,
Former Gentiles, Israelites [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024], 32)
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