Romans 10:16-17
10:16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 1
10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word 2 of Christ. 3
1 sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
2 tn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rJhma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.
3 tc Most mss (א1 A D1 Ψ 33 1881 Ï sy) have θεοῦ (qeou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Cristou; found in Ì46vid א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 pc lat co). External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rJhma Cristou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression.
tn The genitive could be understood as either subjective (“Christ does the speaking”) or objective (“Christ is spoken about”), but the latter is more likely here.