Bible Lexicons

νόμος, νόμου, ὁ (νέμω to divide, distribute, apportion), in secular authors from Hesiod down, anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, usage, law; in the Sept. very often for תּורָה, also for חֻקָּה, דָּת, etc. In the N. T. a command, law; and

1. of any law whatsoever: διά ποίου νόμου; Romans 3:27; νόμος δικαιοσύνης, a law or rule producing a state approved of God, i. e. by the observance of which we are approved of God, Romans 9:31, cf. Meyer (see Weiss edition), Fritzsche, Philippi at the passage; a precept or injunction: κατά νόμον ἐντολῆς σαρκίνης, Hebrews 7:16; plural of the things prescribed by the divine will, Hebrews 8:10; Hebrews 10:16; νόμος τοῦ νως, the rule of action prescribed by reason, Romans 7:23; the mention of the divine law causes those things even which in opposition to this law impel to action, and therefore seem to have the force of a law, to be designated by the term νόμος, as ἕτερος νόμος ἐν τοῖς μέλεσί μου, a different law from that which God has given, i. e. the impulse to sin inherent in human nature, or ὁ νόμος τῆς ἁμαρτίας (genitive of author), Romans 7:23, 25; Romans 8:2, also ὁ νόμος τοῦ θανάτου, emanating from the power of death, Romans 8:2; with which is contrasted ὁ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος, the impulse to (right) action emanating from the Spirit, ibid.

2. of the Mosaic law, and referring, according to the context, either to the volume of the law or to its contents: with the article, Matthew 5:18; Matthew 12:5; Matthew 22:36; Luke 2:27; Luke 10:26; Luke 16:17; John 1:17, 45 (); ; Acts 6:13; Acts 7:53; Acts 18:13, 15; Acts 21:20; Acts 23:3; Romans 2:13 ((bis) here L T Tr WH omit the article (also G in Romans 2:13b)), Romans 2:15, 18, 20, 23b, 26; Romans 4:15a; Romans 7:1b, 5, 14, 21 (on the right interpretation of this difficult passage cf. Knapp, Scripta varii Argumenti, ii., p. 385ff and Fritzsche, Commentary to Romans, ii., p. 57; (others take νόμος here generally, equivalent to controlling principle; see 1 above under the end and cf. Winers Grammar, 557 (578); Buttmann, § 151, 15)); Romans 8:3; 1 Corinthians 9:8; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Galatians 3:13, 24; Ephesians 2:15 (on which passage see δόγμα, 2); 1 Timothy 1:8; Hebrews 7:19, 28; Hebrews 10:1, etc.; with the addition of Μωϋσέως, Luke 2:22; John 7:23; John 8:5; Acts 13:38() (here L T Tr WH omit the article); Acts 15:5; Acts 28:23; 1 Corinthians 9:9; of κυρίου, Luke 2:39; of τοῦ Θεοῦ, (Matthew 15:6 T WH marginal reading); Romans 7:22; Romans 8:7. κατά τόν νόμον, according to the (standard or requirement of the) law, Acts 22:12; Hebrews 7:5; Hebrews 9:22. νόμος without the article (in the Epistles of Paul and James and the Epistle to the Hebrews; cf. Winers Grammar, p. 123 (117); Buttmann, 89 (78); (some interpreters contend that νόμος without the article denotes not the law of Moses but law viewed as 'a principle', 'abstract and universal'; cf. Lightfoot on Galatians 2:19; also Fresh Revision, etc., p. 99; Vaughan on Romans 2:23; especially Van Hengel on Romans 2:12; Gifford in the Speaker's Commentary on Romans, pp. 41ff. (cf. Cremer, under the word). This distinction is contrary to usage (as exhibited e. g. in Wis. 18:4; Sir. 19:17 Sir. 21:11 Sir. 31:8 Sir. 32:1 Sir. 35:15, 24 (32); ,(33); 1 Macc. 2:21; 4 Macc. 7:7, and many other examples in the Apocrypha; see Wahl, Clavis Apocrr. under the word, p. 343), and to the context in such Pauline passages as the following: Romans 2:17, 25, 27; Romans 7:1(); ; Galatians 3:17, 18, 23, 24 (cf. Romans 2:12 and Romans 3:19; Romans 5:13 and Romans 5:14); etc. It should be added, perhaps, that neither the list of passages with the article nor of those without it, as given by Prof. Grimm, claims to be complete)): Romans 2:23a, 25; Romans 3:31; Romans 4:15b; Romans 5:13; Romans 7:1a, 2a; Romans 10:4; Romans 13:10; Galatians 3: ; Galatians 5:23; 1 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 7:12, etc.; with the addition of κυρίου, Luke 2:23 (here L has the article), (L T Tr WH add the article); of Θεοῦ, Romans 7:25; of Μωϋσέως, Hebrews 10:28; especially after prepositions, as διά νόμου, Romans 2:12; Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:21; χωρίς νόμου, without the cooperation of the law, Romans 3:21; destitute or ignorant of the law, Romans 7:9; where no law has been promulged, Romans 7:8; οἱ ἐκ νόμου, those who rule their life by the law, Jews, Romans 4:14, 16 (here all editions have the article); οἱ ἐν νόμῳ, who are in the power of the law, i. e. bound to it, Romans 3:19 (but all texts here ἐν τῷ νόμῳ); ὑπό νόμον, under dominion of the law, Romans 6:14; Galatians 3:23; Galatians 4:4, 21; Galatians 5:18; οἱ ὑπό νόμον, 1 Corinthians 9:20; δικαιοῦσθαι ἐν νόμῳ, Galatians 5:4; ἔργα νόμου (see ἔργον, under the end); ἐν νόμῳ ἁμαρτάνειν, under law, i. e. with knowledge of the law, Romans 2:12 (equivalent to ἔχοντες νόμον, cf. Romans 2:14); they to whom the Mosaic law has not been made known are said νόμον μή ἔχειν, ibid. 14; ἑαυτοῖς εἰσί νόμος, their natural knowledge of right takes the place of the Mosaic law, ibid.; νόμος ἔργων, the law demanding works, Romans 3:27; διά νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον, by the law itself (when I became convinced that by keeping it I could not attain to salvation, cf. Romans 7:9-24) I became utterly estranged from the law, Galatians 2:19 (cf. Winers Grammar, 210 (197); Buttmann, § 133,12). κατά νόμον, as respects the interpretation and observance of the law, Philippians 3:5. The observance of the law is designated by the following phrases: πληροῦν νόμον, Romans 13:8; τόν νόμον Galatians 5:14; πληροῦν τό δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου, Romans 8:4; φυλάσσειν (τόν) νόμον, Acts 21:24; Galatians 6:13; τά δικαιώματα τοῦ νόμου, Romans 2:26; πράσσειν νόμον, Romans 2:25; ποιεῖν τόν νόμον, John 7:19; Galatians 5:3; τηρεῖν, Acts 15:5, 24 (Rec.); James 2:10; τέλειν, Romans 2:27 (cf. James 2:8); (on the other hand, ἀκυρουν τόν νόμον Matthew 15:6 T WH marginal reading). ὁ νόμος is used of some particular ordinance of the Mosaic law in John 19:7; James 2:8; with a genitive of the object added, τοῦ ἀνδρός, the law enacted respecting the husband, i. e. binding the wife to her husband, Romans 7:2 where Rec.elz omit τοῦ νόμου (so ὁ νόμος τοῦ πάσχα, Numbers 9:12; τοῦ λεπροῦ, Leviticus 14:2; other examples are given in Fritzsche, Ep. ad Romans, ii., p. 9; cf. Winer's Grammar, § 30, 2 β.). Although the Jews did not make a distinction as we do between the moral, the ceremonial; the civil, precepts of the law, but thought that all should be honored and kept with the same conscientious and pious regard, yet in the N. T. not infrequently the law is so referred to as to show that the speaker or writer has his eye on the ethical part of it alone, as of primary importance and among Christians also of perpetual validity, but does not care for the ceremonial and civil portions, as being written for Jews alone: thus in Galatians 5:14; Romans 13:8, 10; Romans 2:26; Romans 7:21, 25; Matthew 5:18, and often; τά τοῦ νόμου, the precepts, moral requirements, of the law, Romans 2:14. In the Epistle of James νόμος (without the article) designates only the ethical portion of the Mosaic law, confirmed by the authority of the Christian religion: Romans 2:9-11; Romans 4:11; in the Epistle to the Hebrew, on the other hand, the ceremonial part of the law is the prominent idea.

3. of the Christian religion: νόμος πίστεως, the law demanding faith, Romans 3:27; τοῦ Χριστοῦ, the moral instruction given by Christ, especially the precept concerning love, Galatians 6:2; τῆς ἐλευθερίας (see ἐλευθερία, a.), James 1:25; James 2:12; cf. ὁ καινός νόμος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἄνευ ζυγοῦ ἀνάγκης ὤν, the Epistle of Barnabas 2, 6 [ET] (see Harnack's note, in the place cited).

4. by metonymy ὁ νόμος, the name of the more important part (i. e. the Pentateuch), is put for the entire collection of the sacred books of the O. T.: John 7:49; John 10:34 (Psalm 81:6 ()); John 12:34 (Psalm 109:4 (); (Theod.) Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14); John 15:25 (Psalm 34:19 (); ()); Romans 3:19; 1 Corinthians 14:21 (Isaiah 28:11f; so 2 Macc. 2:18, where cf. Grimm); ὁ νόμος καί οἱ προφῆται, Matthew 11:13; John 1:46; Acts 13:15; Acts 24:14; Acts 28:23; Romans 3:21 (2 Macc. 15:9); equivalent to the system of morals taught in the O. T., Matthew 5:17; Matthew 7:12; Matthew 22:40; ὁ νόμος (οἱ) προφῆται καί ψαλμοί, the religious dispensation contained in the O. T., Luke 24:44 (ὁ νόμος, οἱ προφῆται καί τά ἀλλά πατριά βιβλία, proleg. to Sir.). Paul's doctrine concerning ὁ νόμος is exhibited by (besides others) Weiss, Biblical Theol. §§ 71, 72; Pfleiderer, Paulinismus, pp. 69f. (English translation, i., p. 68f; A. Zahn, Das Gesetz Gottes nach d. Lehre u. Erfahrung d. Apestel Paulus, Halle 1876; R. Tiling, Die Paulinische Lehre vom νόμος nach d. vier Hauptbriefen, as above with Dorpat, 1878). νόμος does not occur in the following N. T. books: 2 Corinthians, Colossians, Thessalonians, 2 Timothy, Peter, Jude, John, and Revelation.