The application then of this passage is the following: Since all the sins of mortals must serve
to illustrate the glory of the Lord, and since he is especially glorified by his truth, it follows, that
even the falsehood of men serves to confirm rather than to subvert his truth. Though the word
κρίνεσθαι, may be taken actively as well as passively, yet the Greek translators, I have no doubt,
rendered it passively, contrary to the meaning of the Prophet.^91
Romans 3:5-8
- Quod si injustitia nostra Dei justitiam
commendat, quid dicemus? Num injustus est
Deus qui infert iram? Secundum hominem dico. - But if our unrighteousness commend the
righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God
unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as
a man) - Ne ita sit: nam quomodo judicabit Deus
mundum? - God forbid: for then how shall God judge
the world?
(^91) Whenever there is a material agreement between the Greek and the Hebrew, we ought not to make it otherwise. If the verb
, as admitted by most critics, may be taken actively and be thus made to agree with the Hebrew, what reason can there be
to take it in another sense? The only real difference is in one word, between , “overcomest,” and , “art clear:” but the
meaning is the same, though the words are different. To overcome in judgment, and to be clear in judgment, amounts to the
same thing. The parallelism of the Hebrew requires to be a verb in the middle voice, and to have an active meaning. The
two lines in Hebrew, as it is often the case in Hebrew poetry, contain the same sentiment in different words, the last line expressing
it more definitely; so that to be “justified,” and to be “cleared,” convey the same idea; and also “in thy word,” or saying —
and “in thy judgment”. In many copies both these last words are in the plural number, so that the first would be strictly what
is here expressed, “in thy words,” that is, the words which thou hast declared; and “in thy judgments,” that is, those which thou
hast announced, would be fully rendered by “when thou Judgest.”
Commentators, both ancient and modern, have differed on the meaning of the verb in question. Pareus, Beza, Macknight,
and Stuart, take it in an active sense; while Erasmus, Grotius, Venema, and others, contend for the passive meaning. Drusius,
Hammond, and Doddridge render it, “when thou contendest in judgment,” or, “when thou art called to judgment:” and such a
meaning no doubt the verb has according to Matthew 5:40, and 1 Corinthians 6:1, 6. But in this case regard must be had, especially
to the meaning which corresponds the nearest with the original Hebrew. Some have maintained that “in thy judgment” may
be rendered “in judging thee;” but this would not only be unusual and make the sentence hardly intelligible, but also destroy the
evident parallelism of the two lines. The whole verse may be thus literally rendered from the Hebrew, —
Against thee, against thee only have I sinned;
And the evil before thine eyes have I done;
So that thou art justified in thy words,
And clear in thy judgments.
The conjunction , admits of being rendered so that; see Psalm 30:12; Isaiah 41:20; Amos 2:7; and in many instances
may be thus rendered; see Luke 2:35; Philemon 6; 1 Peter 2:9. It is what Schleusner designates , signifying the issue or
the event.
Pareus connects the passage differently. He considers the former part of the verse parenthetic, or as specifying what is
generally stated in the previous verse, the third; and with that verse he connects this passage: so that the rendering of the two
verses would be the following, —
- For my transgression I acknowledge, And my sin is before me continually, —
- (Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, and the evil before thine eyes have I done,) That thou mightest be justified
in thy saying, And clear in thy judgment.
This is certainty more probable than what Vatablus and Houbigant propose, who connect the passage with the second verse,
“Wash me thoroughly,” etc. But the sense given by Calvin is the most satisfactory — Ed.