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Greek Lessons
- The Overflowing Syntax of Grace: Distributive Emphasis and Participial Purpose in 2 Corinthians 9:8
- Who Fights Without Pay? Rhetorical Interrogatives and Negated Expectation in 1 Corinthians 9:7
- Not All Are Israel: Verbless Clauses and Theological Precision in Romans 9:6
- The Accusative Relative That Confronts: Syntax of Divine Identity in Acts 9:5
- When the Day Demands: The Syntax of Obligation and Temporal Urgency in John 9:4
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Category
Tag Archives: Romans 9:6
Not All Are Israel: Verbless Clauses and Theological Precision in Romans 9:6
Οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ, (Romans 9:6)
When Theology Hides in the Missing Verb
Romans 9:6 is short, sharp, and syntactically explosive. Paul defends the integrity of God’s word: Οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ — “But it is not as though the word of God has failed.” But what follows is a clause of both mystery and meaning:
οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ
Where is the verb? There is none. And yet the statement stands firm. Paul uses a verbless clause — a structure common in Koine Greek — to make a profound theological distinction.… Learn Koine Greek
