In accordance with the writer\u27s convictions concerning the source of St. Paul\u27s teachings mentioned in the previous article we begin the investigation of the present topic with the questions: What might Paul be expected to mean by words like  righteous  (δίχαιοζ),  righteousness  (διχαιοςύνη) ,  justify  (διχαιοῦν) on the basis of his knowledge of the Old Testament? What effect would the use of these terms and related ones in Aramaic by the rabbis be expected to have on his own usage

Hamann, Henry P., Jr.

English

The LXX does not afford us much help as we try to understand what St. Paul means by faith, except in one respect, which will be clear later. There is, of course, in the Old Testament the apostle\u27s great example of faith, the patriarch Abraham. The Psalms, moreover, are replete with expressions which are the accents of faith. As Stewart has well said,  The thing itself can be traced everywhere from Genesis to Malachi,  and the same writer quite correctly points to Heb. 11 and its many examples of faith drawn from the Old Testament. But the term itself is rather rare. Paul, too, never attempts a definition. However, what the apostle does say about it, the parallel and contrasted ideas with which he brings faith into connection, quite decisively makes the modern view impossible

Concordia Seminary, St. Louis: Scholarly Resources