Rom 4:3 BLB
For what does the Scripture say? “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.”
Rom 4:3 YLT
for what doth the writing say? 'And Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him--to righteousness;'
How do we translate the word ἐλογίσθη (elogisthē)?
επιστευσεν δε αβρααμ τω θεω και ελογισθη αυτω εις δικαιοσυνην
[Romans 4:3 - TR (undisputed) - Beza, Stephanus, Elzevir and Scrivener are all identical]
Logizomai Strong 3049 is a deponent verb, thus it is middle voice or responsive. It is a response to an action. Some call this 'reflexive'.
The word appears in the NT several times and also in the Septuagint in regard to Abraham. The words 'Abraham believed God and it was 'accounted'/'reckoned' to him unto righteousness' appear several times in exactly the same form.
Logizomai is God's response to Abraham's faith.
Logizomai is a matter of evaluation. This can be seen in Paul's use of the word in regard to 'treasuring up' weekly contributions so that there should be no gatherings of large numbers of small denomination coins when he arrives. They should add to their savings, then 'treasure up' to a small number of high denomination coins, easily transported on Paul's further journey, 1 Corinthians 16:2.
Concentration of value is the concept lying behind the word.
A value is concentrated, and an estimation of that value is made.
'Accounting' is useful but has too much association with finance and coinage. 'Logicate' would be useful and it is available in the English language but has not been used, 'reckoning' having developed but 'reckoning' has bad connotations, a 'reckoning' behind the 'reckoning' ; a hint of deviousness in the reckoning.
Logizomai, in the way in which it is used, particularly by Paul, is a matter of the logical assessment of real value.
God sees the faith of Abraham.
In that faith he sees his own righteousness, for that is what Abraham saw. Abram, as he then was, saw that God had promised and that God was true and that God would do what he had promised . . . . because God is righteous.
And Abram believed God.
And God saw that faith and saw the content of the faith.
And 'there was' (there is no subject) 'evaluated' (logizomai) 'to' (an indirect object) 'him' . . . 'unto' (another indirect object, a prepositional clause) 'righteousness'.
... there was evaluated to him unto righteousness
Abraham had, and has, no righteousness of his own. There is evaluated to him, unto (it is always eis) the righteousness of God (at the time not stated, because there was no full revelation, then, of the source of the righteousness ; for it was yet to be revealed in Paul's gospel).
That is to say, by faith, he is justified with the righteousness of God, for it is the righteousness of God that he believes and that is what is in his faith.
God sees it in his faith. And attributes it to him.
It would be wrong not to attribute it to him.
Reading Barnes’ commentary on Rom 4:3, I was struck by his observation regarding the word ἐλογίσθη:
I have examined all the passages, and as the result of my examination have come to the conclusion, that there is not one in which the word is used in the sense of reckoning or imputing to a man what does not strictly belong to him; or of charging on him what ought not to be charged on him as a matter of personal right.
Though I agree with Barnes that ἐλογίσθη refers to the act of believing, I cannot see why it is necessary to credit to man something that already belongs to him. If faith belongs “strictly” to man, if it is his as a matter of personal right, then why the need to state that it is reckoned or credited to him? That faith was imputed to Abraham suggests that man, in fact, cannot claim full rights of ownership. In other words, faith is not man’s by right but by imputation. Faith, after all, is a response to God’s call (Jn 6:44 & 65, Rom 10:17). It is God who initiates and God who guides the way, but faith is credited to man out of God’s abundant grace and goodness.
Given these considerations, I prefer the NKJ’s rendering, which has Abraham’s faith as “accounted to” him and “for” righteousness.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
The lexical form of the operative verb in Rom 4:3 is λογίζομαι (logizomai), which, according to BDAG means:
- to determine by mathematical process, reckon, calculate, eg, 1 Cor 13:5, 2 Cor 5:19, Rom 4:3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 22, etc
- to give careful thought to a matter, think (about), consider, ponder, let one's mind dwell upon, eg, John 11:50, Heb 11:19, 2 Cor 10:11, 7, 2a, etc
- to hold a view about something, think, believe, be of the opinion, eg, Rom 8:8, 2:3, 14:14, etc.
Obviously BDAG allocates the first meaning as #1 above in Rom 4:3.
This is part of Paul's larger point where he uses an accounting term as a metaphor for justification. “Credit”, “account”, “imputed”, or “reckoned” (Greek: logizomai) is a financial or accounting term used in the market place but was employed by Paul to denote the act of God in crediting Abraham (and sinners generally) as righteous when they trusted in God, apart from the works of the law, as a free gift. The idea is based upon the assumption that sin creates a debt to God which must be repaid (Col 2:13-15, Matt 6:12).
Again, it is only an analogue, metaphor or figure of speech and so is not literally true. (Rom 4:3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24, 2 Cor 5:19, Gal 3:6, James 2:23. See also Gen 15:6.) That is, the righteousness of God is “imputed” to the undeserving sinner, freely. Thus, God “cancels the debt” (Matt 18:21-35).
Here are the senses of λογίζομαι in the New Testament.
Figure 1. Senses of λογίζομαι in the New Testament (generated with Logos Bible Software)
However, remember Paul was quoting the Old Testament (Gen. 15:6). Thus, λογίζομαι translates the Hebrew word חשׁב. We can narrow down the meaning by the overlap between the two words.
Figure 2. Senses of חשׁב in the Old Testament.
Thus, to consider (reckon) is the overlap. However, this does have a positive sense like credit. It is not the Hebrew word שׁקל which means to weigh or to consider in the sense of still evaluating; that is, the evaluation was finished.
As I understand it, the most literal translation of Romans 4:3 is, "For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it (or, “this”) reasoned him unto righteousness.”
The active verb is "believed," "episteusen." It is a verb in the aorist indicative active tense. The word often translated “credited,” “elogisthē,” is a verb in the aorist indicative passive tense. This is critical because it shows that “elogisthē” is caused by "episteusen." This means that Abraham's belief is causing the action of “elogisthē”, and " elogisthē" means “it reasoned” or, “this reasoned.” It is not to credit.
Also, the word "to" in the phrase, "to him as righteousness” is not in Greek! It would be the Greek preposition "pros". This is indeed necessary if Abraham's faith is causing God to credit the righteousness of Christ to, "pros," him. However, this verse can be translated as it is, as it does not need this additional word, and is actually more faithful to the text to leave it out.
Another significant consideration is in the phrase "to him as [eis] righteousness.” The Greek word "eis" means "into" or "unto," but most translations use the more ambiguous word "as" or "for." Therefore, the most accurate rendering of the phrase, "to him as righteousness" should be, "him unto righteousness."
On this basis, I argue that the most literal translation of Romans 4:3 is, "For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it [his active faith] reasoned him unto righteousness.”
Is there a grammatical reason this is incorrect?
