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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Romans 1:4 - 1:4
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4. τοῦ ὁρισθέντος, “who was distinguished, from His brethren κατὰ σάρκα, as GOD’S Son by an act of power,” closely |[56] Act 17:31, ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν κ.τ.λ., “by a man whom He marked out or distinguished for that office, by the warrant of raising Him from death.” The fundamental notion of ὁρίζειν is to distinguish or mark off one object from others by drawing a line between them: so of local boundaries, of definitions, of appointments to specific work or office, of discriminations. Here, as in Acts l.c[57], the line is drawn by the act of GOD in raising Jesus from the dead; that marked Him off from other men and indicated consequently His true character as, not David’s son only, but Son of GOD. N. then that the word does not imply that He then became Son of GOD, as γενόμενος implies that He became man, but that His unique Sonship then became clear to men. Cf. also Act 11:29 with Field’s note. Chrys. δειχθέντος, ἀποφανθέντος comes near to the meaning but does not express so fully the action of GOD.
[56] | parallel to
[57] l.c. locus citatus
Contrast ἔθηκε, Heb 1:2; γενόμενος, Rom 1:3, Heb 6:20; Col 1:18; ἐποίησεν, Act 2:36; ἐχαρίσατο, Php 2:9. These verbs can be used when it is a question of office and relation to man, but not of nature and relation to GOD.
υἱοῦ θεοῦ, anarthrous, as marking the character, not the individual merely.
ἐν δυνάμει, ‘by an act of power’; cf. Act 2:33, τῇ δεξιᾷ = by His mighty Hand; 1Co 6:14; 2Co 13:4; Eph 1:19-20; Heb 7:16. The resurrection of Jesus was an exercise of GOD’S power, unique but inevitable, Jesus being who He was, unique but the warrant of consequent exercise of the same power on men in Christ; cf. also Php 3:10. The phrase goes closely with ὁρισθέντος; for ἐν cf. 1Pe 1:5 (v. Hort); Rom 15:13; Rom 15:19; 1Co 2:5; 2Co 6:7.
κατὰ πν. ἁγιωσύνης. κατὰ indicates the correspondence of this act of GOD with the nature of Him on whom it was exercised. It was natural that, Jesus being what He was, GOD should raise Him from the dead; cf. Act 2:24. It follows that πν. ἁγ. refers to the divine nature of Jesus, in contrast with σάρξ which indicates His true human nature. This divine nature is properly indicated by the genitive of quality. ἅγιος is the specific word in the Greek Bible for that which is essentially divine. It is used secondarily of persons and things as related to or belonging to GOD, cf. Hort, 1 Pet. p. 70; Davidson, O.T. Theology, pp. 256 ff.; Heb 9:14 (with Westcott’s note). The a[58] sense of the article shows that we are dealing with the nature of the Son Himself.
[58] al alibi
ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν. The raising of Christ is the testimony of GOD to His nature; cf. Act 1:22; Act 2:24 et passim; 1Co 15:14 alibi With ὁρισθέντος—the distinction was the immediate result of resurrection; cf. closely Act 26:23. The phrase ἀν. ν. (without articles, limited to Acts (4), Rom. (here), 1 Corinthians 15 (3), Heb 6:2) describes most generally the fact and its nature = resurrection from death. νεκρῶν is gen. of definition, distinguishing this ἀνάστασις from other kinds (cf. Luk 2:34; Heb 7:11; Heb 7:15; Act 7:37 alibi).
Ἰ. Χρ. τ. κ. ἡ. The full title sums up the argument implicit in the preceding clauses: the Son of GOD is the Man Jesus, the promised Christ, our Sovereign Lord, the one subject of the Gospel; cf. esp. Act 2:36, Php 2:11. It occurs about 68 times in S. Paul, about 19 in the rest of N.T.