Greek word · G3548

νομοθεσία

nomothesia

law

'Lawgiving' or 'legislation'. It can mean the act of giving laws, or the body of law that results. Greeks used it for the work of famous lawgivers such as Solon or Lycurgus. Hellenistic Jews used it proudly for the Law of Moses.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament.

What it means

νομοθεσία, -ας, ἡ

(νόμος, τίθημι), [in LXX: 2Ma.6:23, 4Ma.5:35 4Mac 17:16 * ;]

legislation, lawgiving: Romans 9:4.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Romans 9:4

Range of meaning

'Lawgiving' or 'legislation'. It can mean the act of giving laws, or the body of law that results. Greeks used it for the work of famous lawgivers such as Solon or Lycurgus. Hellenistic Jews used it proudly for the Law of Moses.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB/WEB/BSB: 'the giving of the law'. YLT: 'the lawgiving'. NIV: 'the receiving of the law', which looks at it from Israel's side. NLT: 'gave them his law'. All are fine. The supplied gloss 'law' is a little loose: this is not the ordinary word for law (nomos) but a word for the law's giving or legislation.

How it drifted

There is no drift in the word itself. Readers shaped by the 'law versus grace' contrast may assume Paul mentions the law only to criticize it. Here it is plainly listed as a privilege.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Maccabees 6:23 (Eleazar's loyalty to 'the holy and God-made legislation'); 4 Maccabees 5:35; 17:16. The Letter of Aristeas and Philo use it for the Mosaic code, presented to Greek readers as the finest of all legislations. It appears nowhere else in the New Testament.

Similar words

Where it appears

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 9:4 νομοθεσία lawgiving

    the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises.

    Here: The giving of the Torah at Sinai, and the God-given body of law that came from it. Paul counts it as a gift and an honor, not a burden.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.