Romans 9:31

But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

But Israel, which followed ('following') after the law of righteousness, hath not attained ('attained not') to the law of righteousness. [Here again Lachmann and Tregelles omit the second dikaiosunees (G1343) - in which case the meaning will be 'attained not to the law'-with 'Aleph (') A B D E G, three cursives, three copies of the old Latin, and one or two fathers. But Tischendorf rightly inserts it, though on the far less external authority of F K L, nearly all cursives, two copies of the old Latin (though a late corrector only of the one), the Vulgate, both the later Syriac and other later versions, with several fathers. Manifestly this reading was occasioned by a misunderstanding of the sense, and the recurrence of the same word.] The difficulty of this verse is to fix the precise sense in which the word "law" is used. That "the law of righteousness" means (by hupallage, as grammarians say) 'the righteousness of the law' (so Chrysostom, Calvin, Beza, Bengel, and others) is not to be endured. The view of Meyer and others-that it means ideally 'the justifying law,' is (as DeWette says) artificial. Nor must we take the word "law," as some do, to be superfluous, merely because the verse will explain without it. The word "law" is used here, plainly in the same sense as in Romans 7:23, to denote 'a principle of action:'-q.d., 'Israel, though sincerely and steadily seeking after the true principle of acceptance with God, nevertheless missed it.' (So, in effect, DeWette, and several other interpreters.)