connective “even as” (kathōs) indicates that the justification of Abraham became the standard for both Jews and Gentiles. A Jew who traced his racial and religious heritage to the patriarch had to be justified in the same way as his ancestral father. Although the Gentile could not trace his physical roots to Abraham, nevertheless he also had to be declared righteous in similar fashion because the universal blessings of the Abrahamic covenant applied to him (cf. 3:8). In addition, the connective even