Biblingo: Learn the Biblical Languages

Who is truly a "Jew" in Romans 2:28-29? Does Paul essentially redefine what it means to be Jewish? And what do ellipsis and constituent negation have to do with circumcision? 
 
In order to better understand and translate these verses, Dr. Kevin Grasso unpacks three key characteristics of biblical Greek syntax: ellipsis, negated constituents, and contrastive focus. 
 
This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast. 
 
Show notes: 
 
- Basic Pragmatics Concepts: https://youtu.be/h1xtO_Ozxiw 
 
- Matthew Thiessen, "Paul and the Gentile Problem": https://academic.oup.com/book/7322 
 
- Andrew Carnie, "Syntax: A Generative Introduction": https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Syntax:+A+Generative+Introduction,+4th+Edition-p-9781119569237

Who is truly a "Jew" in Romans 2:28-29? Does Paul essentially redefine what it means to be Jewish? And what do ellipsis and constituent negation have to do with circumcision?

In order to better understand and translate these verses, Dr. Kevin Grasso unpacks three key characteristics of biblical Greek syntax: ellipsis, negated constituents, and contrastive focus.

This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast.

Show notes:

- Basic Pragmatics Concepts: https://youtu.be/h1xtO_Ozxiw

-  Matthew Thiessen, "Paul and the Gentile Problem": https://academic.oup.com/book/7322

- Andrew Carnie, "Syntax: A Generative Introduction": https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Syntax:+A+Generative+Introduction,+4th+Edition-p-9781119569237

The Inward Jew: Romans 2:28-29 and Biblical Greek Syntax

Galatians 3:22 in Greek reads: ἀλλὰ συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν, ἵνα ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοθῇ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. 
 
We can translate this as 'But the Scriptures shut up everything under sin, so that the promise from πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ might be given to those who are faithful.' 
 
The only phrase left untranslated in this sentence has led to a tremendous amount of scholarly sparring, which I myself have taken part in. It is the phrase ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, and the debate is called "the Pistis Christou debate". It centers around how to understand the relationship between the words 'pistis,' usually translated 'faith' or 'faithfulness,' and 'Jesus Christ.' 
 
Most translations translate this as 'faith in Jesus Christ.' This is called the objective genitive position. A significant portion of the scholarly world thinks it should be translated 'faithfulness of Jesus Christ.' This is called the subjective genitive position. Here, Dr. Kevin Grasso argues for a third view, translating the phrase as 'the Jesus-Christ-faith,' where it is the faith or message about Jesus the Christ that is being referred to. 
 
This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. In this episode, Kevin dives into Galatians 3:22 to show how the Greek can help us better understand how these terms relate, and ultimately better understand the text. 
 
Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast. 
 
For a longer, more scholarly treatment of this topic, please see Dr. Kevin Grasso's journal article "A Linguistic Analysis of πίστις χριστοῦ: The Case for the Third View" available for free here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0142064X20949385

Galatians 3:22 in Greek reads: ἀλλὰ συνέκλεισεν ἡ γραφὴ τὰ πάντα ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν, ἵνα ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοθῇ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν.

We can translate this as 'But the Scriptures shut up everything under sin, so that the promise from πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ might be given to those who are faithful.'

The only phrase left untranslated in this sentence has led to a tremendous amount of scholarly sparring, which I myself have taken part in. It is the phrase ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, and the debate is called "the Pistis Christou debate". It centers around how to understand the relationship between the words 'pistis,' usually translated 'faith' or 'faithfulness,' and 'Jesus Christ.'

Most translations translate this as 'faith in Jesus Christ.' This is called the objective genitive position. A significant portion of the scholarly world thinks it should be translated 'faithfulness of Jesus Christ.' This is called the subjective genitive position. Here, Dr. Kevin Grasso argues for a th

The Jesus-Christ-Faith: Galatians 3:22 and The Pistis Christou Debate

Romans 10:4 has been the subject of a lot of debate, and most of the debate has centered around the interpretation of the first Greek word: τέλος. A standard Greek dictionary for the New Testament such as BDAG gives the first definition as “a point of time marking the end of a duration” and glosses the word as ‘end, termination, cessation.’ On the other hand, the third definition in BDAG says “the goal toward which a movement is being directed” with the glosses of ‘end, goal, outcome.’ So some in this debate say that the word τέλος means that the Law ceases in some sense with the Christ, the Messiah, while others say that the Messiah is the culmination or climax of the Law or Torah or covenant. In this video, we suggest an alternative interpretation and translation of the verse that focuses not on the meaning of the word τέλος but instead on the last phrase παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι. In doing so, we suggest that the precise nuance of τέλος actually isn’t as important to the correct understanding of the verse. It is the end of the verse, not the beginning, that matters more. 
 
This is a bonus episode for our series on Key Terms in Pauline Theology. As we release the main episodes for this series where we interview top scholars in the field regarding their research on key terms, we're also going to release these shorter episodes where we dive into a specific biblical text that deals with that term. So in our previous episode, Kevin interviewed Joshua Jipp about the term Χριστός, or Messiah, and how it relates to other terms, such as νόμος, or Torah. In this episode, Kevin dives into Romans 10:4 to show how the Greek can help us better understand how these terms relate, and ultimately better understand the text. 
 
Go to biblingo.org/podcast to learn more and subscribe to the Biblical Languages Podcast.

Romans 10:4 has been the subject of a lot of debate, and most of the debate has centered around the interpretation of the first Greek word: τέλος. A standard Greek dictionary for the New Testament such as BDAG gives the first definition as “a point of time marking the end of a duration” and glosses the word as ‘end, termination, cessation.’ On the other hand, the third definition in BDAG says “the goal toward which a movement is being directed” with the glosses of ‘end, goal, outcome.’ So some in this debate say that the word τέλος means that the Law ceases in some sense with the Christ, the Messiah, while others say that the Messiah is the culmination or climax of the Law or Torah or covenant. In this video, we suggest an alternative interpretation and translation of the verse that focuses not on the meaning of the word τέλος but instead on the last phrase παντὶ τῷ πιστεύοντι. In doing so, we suggest that the precise nuance of τέλος actually isn’t as important to the correct understan

Christ is the τέλος of the Law? A Better Translation of Romans 10:4

Each month, we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time! 
 
Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live 
 
This recording uses a reconstructed Koine Greek pronunciation.

Each month,  we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time!

Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live

This recording uses a reconstructed Koine Greek pronunciation.

Colossians 1:14 (Biblical Greek)

Colossians 1:12 - Biblical Greek

Each month, we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time! 
 
Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live 
 
This recording uses a Modern Hebrew pronunciation. The verse is repeated at different speeds.

Each month,  we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time!

Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live

This recording uses a Modern Hebrew pronunciation. The verse is repeated at different speeds.

Isaiah 2:2 - Biblical Hebrew

Each month, we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible or Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time! 
 
Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live 
 
This recording uses a Modern Hebrew pronunciation. The verse is repeated at different speeds.

Each month,  we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible or Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time!

Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live

This recording uses a Modern Hebrew pronunciation. The verse is repeated at different speeds.

Proverbs 29:14 - Biblical Hebrew

Each month,  we memorize a verse from the Hebrew Bible or Greek New Testament as a community. This helps us to internalize the biblical languages and God's Word at the same time! Learn more & join a cohort: biblingo.org/live

Biblingo: Learn the Biblical Languages Videos