Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Romans: Chapter 3]
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3:1 {What advantage then hath the Jew?} (\ti oun to perisson tou
Ioudaiou?\). Literally, "What then is the overplus of the Jew?"
What does the Jew have over and above the Gentile? It is a
pertinent question after the stinging indictment of the Jew in
chapter 2. {The profit} (\h• •phelia\). The help. Old word, only
here in N.T. See Mr 8:36 for \•phelei\, the verb to profit.
3:2 {Much every way} (\polu kata panta\). \Polu\ points back to
\to perisson\. So it means the overplus of the Jew is much from
every angle. {First of all} (\pr•ton men\). As in 1:8; 1Co
11:18 Paul does not add to his "first." He singles out one
privilege of the many possessed by the Jew. {They were intrusted
with} (\episteuth•san\). First aorist passive indicative of
\pisteu•\, to intrust, with accusative of the thing and dative of
the person in the active. In the passive as here the accusative
of the thing is retained as in 1Th 2:4. {The oracles of God}
(\ta logia tou theou\). In the accusative case, therefore, the
object of \episteuth•san\. \Logion\ is probably a diminutive of
\logos\, word, though the adjective \logios\ also occurs (Ac
18:24). The word was early used for "oracles" from Delphi and is
common in the LXX for the oracles of the Lord. But from Philo on
it was used of any sacred writing including narrative. It occurs
four times in the N.T. (Ac 7:38, which see; Ro 3:2; Heb 5:12;
1Pe 4:11). It is possible that here and in Ac 7:38 the idea
may include all the Old Testament, though the commands and
promises of God may be all.
3:3 {For what if?} (\ti gar ei?\). But Westcott and Hort print
it, \Ti gar? ei\. See Php 1:18 for this exclamatory use of \ti
gar\ (for how? How stands the case?). {Some were without faith}
(\•pist•san\). First aorist active indicative of \apiste•\, old
verb, to disbelieve. This is the common N.T. meaning (Lu
24:11,41; Ac 28:24; Ro 4:20). Some of them "disbelieved," these
"depositaries and guardians of revelation" (Denney). But the word
also means to be unfaithful to one's trust and Lightfoot argues
for that idea here and in 2Ti 2:13. The Revised Version renders
it "faithless" there. Either makes sense here and both ideas are
true of some of the Jews, especially concerning the Messianic
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Word Pictures in the New Testament
(Romans: Chapter 3)