Nielsen’s Nook

My study of Romans continues. It has been fascinating to track down Paul’s quote of Habakkuk 2:4 at the end of Romans 1:16-17. In Romans 1:17 Paul writes:

^1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation for all who believe, first to the Jew and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For God’s righteousness is revealed in it from faith to faith, just as it is written:

And the righteous will live by faith.
(author’s translation)

Paul is clearly referring back to Habakkuk 2:4 where the ESV renders:

⁴“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4, ESV)

Even in this English translation, one can see that there is a difference in Paul’s citation of Habakkuk 2:4, neither exactly follows the BHS (Hebrew):

Behold, his soul swollen with presumption it is not right within him, but a righteous person lives by his faithfulness.^a (author’s translation)
_____
^a BDB translates צַדִּיק בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה a righteous man by his faithfulness liveth.

nor the LXX (Septuagint):

ἐὰν ὑποστείληται, οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐν αὐτῷ, ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεώς μου ζήσεται.

If it draws back in fear, my soul is not content with it, but the righteous one will live by my faithfulness. (author’s translation)

Summary

In the BHS we read, “his faithfulness/faith”; in the LXX, “my faithfulness/faith” and in Paul we read simply, “faithfulness/faith”. The possessive pronouns, whichever was the original, have all been removed either by Paul or by the tradition in which Paul found himself.  So the question is raised either directly or indirectly by Paul, “By whose faithfulness will the righteous live?”