oa [Romans 9:16, ‘...τρέχοντος...’: A Short Note on Paul's Use of This Verb, Romeinen 9:16, ‘...τρέχοντος...’: Een korte exegetische overweging bij een woord van Paulus]

The usual interpretation of the verb ‘...τρέχοντος...’ assumes that the idea of ‘running’ is derived from the Hellenistic metaphor of foot-races in the stadium, as found elsewhere in the Pauline Letters. It is, of course, quite possible that the original addressees would have understood it this way, but one might ask whether Paul himself was thinking here of runners on the racetrack. One of the issues in the Letter to the Romans is the meaning of the Law in Christian life. It struck me that the poet of the Ode to the Law wrote, ‘I will run in the way of your commandments’ (Ps. 119:32). My intention in this short note is to offer the reader the opportunity to consider whether Paul could have in mind the expression ‘to run’ from this Psalm.