40.137; idem Quinct. 10.36; Quintilian Inst. 4.4.1–8; Pliny the Elder Nat. 8.1.1; 18.1.1; Dio Chrysostom Or. 1.11; 38.5–6. Technically a “thesis” involved a hypothetical topic and a “hypothesis” a concrete one (Theon Progymn. 1.60 [cf. 2.91–104; 11.2–6, 240–43]; Hermogenes Progymn. 11, On Thesis 24–26; Anderson 2000: 63–65). Paul’s might resemble a philosophic thesis, though Stoics omitted these (Anderson 1999: 61, 241–42). Paul’s form may differ from conventional rhetorical expectations (cf. Elliott 1990: 62–63, 82–83, doubting that it is a thesis).
34. Moo 1996: 29, 32, 65; Jewett 2007: 135.
35. See especially Hays 1989: 36–38; idem 2005: 45, 94, 137, citing these texts, and noting the texts to which Paul appeals in Rom 9:27–33; 11:26–27; 15:7–13, 21.
36. Cf. similarly Apollinaris of Laodicea (Bray 1998: 29); John Chrysostom. Hom. Rom. 2.
37. Paul drew on Isa 28:16 lxx in two of these texts, and knew Isaiah’s broader expectation (Isa 45:17; 54:4; 65:13; 66:5; see more fully Hays 1989: 38–39). He may have also known Jesus’s saying in Mark 8:38 (cf. John 12:26).
38. E.g., Porter 1997: 579; cf. again John Chrysostom Hom. Rom. 2; on litotes, Rowe 1997: 128.
39. So also Origen Comm. Rom. on 1:16 (in Bray 1998: 30).
40. Paul may speak of the gospel going next to Greeks possibly because Greeks (broadly defined, since Alexander) were the next ones to receive it; “Greeks” constituted the primary mission field of Paul’s day, at least in his cultural sphere.
41. Rajak 1995: 1, 11–13; cf. Josephus Ant. 19.278. This is often true of Luke as well (e.g., Acts 14:1; 16:3).
42. For ethnic conflicts between Jews and Greeks, see Stanley 1996.
43. Certainly appropriate in a thesis statement such as Rom 1:17; “justice” came to be viewed as a standard category of reasoning for developing a thesis (Hermogenes Progymn. 11, On Thesis 26).
44. “Justice” may depict an aspect of God’s nature as do God’s wrath (1:18) and God’s power (1:20). Elliott (2008: 76–77) finds in God’s justice a critique of human injustice, focusing on the empire.
45. God answering in righteousness (Ps 143:1) need not include judging, since no mortal could meet God’s standard (Ps 143:2).
46. Gen 38:26; cf. Job 33:32; Sir 1:22; 23:11; 26:29; 31[34]:5; of God in Sir 18:2; used in a comparative sense in Jer 3:11; Ezek 16:51–52. Cf. 1QS 3.3; Gen. Rab. 65:6.
47. To “justify” was also to “render justice” on someone’s behalf (2 Sam 15:4); one should “justify,” “vindicate,” “defend the rights of” the widow (Isa 1:17) and the poor (Ps 82:3).
48. In the Greek version of Isa 53:11, it is the servant who is justified.
49. Some other Jews also depended on God’s “righteousness” to vindicate or save them (1QS 11.5, 9–14; cf. 1QH 4.29–37; 11.10–11; 1QM 11.3–4; Gen. Rab. 33:1; for a fuller range of biblical (and some early Jewish) background, see e.g., Stuhlmacher 2001: 13–24).
50. Cf. also Phil 3:9; Ambrosiaster Commentary on Paul’s Epistles (CSEL 81:37); John Chrysostom Hom. Rom. 2; Basil Humility 20 (Bray 1998: 31–32).
51. Schlatter 1995: 26–27.
52. This “transformative” righteousness view (vs. mere acquittal) is the one dominant in most of church history (Fitzmyer 1993: 118–19).
53. Cf. the construction in 2 Cor 2:16 (a rhetorical flourish, as in Menander Rhetor 2.3, 378.29–30; Ps 84:7; Jer 9:3). Alternatively, God’s righteousness may be revealed on the basis of faith in the gospel, generating more faith (cf. Rom 10:17; the construction in Gal 6:8). “From faith” might counter the assertion that it was “from works” (cf. 3:20; 4:2; 9:11, 32; 11:6); it also reflects Hab 2:4 lxx. Many understand it as from God’s faithfulness (3:3) to human faithfulness, yet one would expect Paul’s context to clarify such different uses more adequately.
54. Scholars debate whether “faith” here attaches to “live” or to “righteous”; normally in Romans Paul connects faith with righteousness (3:22, 26, 28, 30; 4:3, 5, 9, 11, 13; 5:1; 9:30; 10:4, 6, 10), though in any case all three terms are closely connected here.
55. Cf. e.g., 2 Chron 23:18; 1QS 5.15, 17; CD 5.1; 7.10; 11.18, 20. On Paul and ancient citation techniques, including adaptation of wording to fit the context, see especially Stanley 1992 passim.
56. Some think that Paul alludes to both the Greek and Hebrew versions, but his audience likely was unacquainted with the Hebrew version.
57. T. Hul. 10:16; Sipra A.M. par. 8.193.1.10; Sipre Deut. 336.1.1; ’Abot R. Nat. 40 A; y. Hag. 2:1, §9; cf. Ezek 33:14–16, 19; 4 Ezra 7:21; m. ’Abot 6:7; but contrast L.A.B. 11:9.
58. Salvation and wrath seem to be two sides of God’s righteousness (1:16–18); the latter responds to human unrighteousness (1:18). The gospel reveals the former (1:16) and presupposes the situation (depicted in 1:18–32) of the latter.
59. Recognized also by Ambrosiaster and Apollinaris of Laodicea (Bray 1998: 35).
60. E.g., the language of Ps 94:11 in Rom 1:21; exchanging God’s glory for idols (1:23) in Ps 106:20 (cf. Jer 2:11; possibly language from Deut 4:16–18); perhaps also moral hardening (cf. Rom 1:28; 11:7, 25) and the handing over to their sins (Rom 1:24; Ps 81:12).
61. The judgment of consequences of false belief appears elsewhere (cf. Isa 29:9–14; Jub. 21:22; Josephus J.W. 5.343; Epictetus Disc. 1.12.21–22; 3.11.1–3; Porphyry Marc. 22.348–360).
62. So Dio Chrysostom Or. 12.29, 34, 36–37; for examples, cf.
