Roma 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  a slave ²  of Christ Jesus, ³  called to be an apostle, ⁴  set apart for the gospel of God. ⁵ 

Roma 2:17

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ⁶  and boast of your relationship to God ⁷ 

Roma 2:23-24

2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ⁸ 

Roma 3:2

3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ⁹  First of all, ¹⁰  the Jews ¹¹  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ¹² 

Roma 3:6

3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

Roma 3:11

3:11 there is no one who understands,

there is no one who seeks God.

Roma 3:18

3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹³ 

Roma 3:23

3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Roma 3:29

3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too!

Roma 4:2

4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous ¹⁴  by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God.

Roma 7:22

7:22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.

Roma 8:8

8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Roma 8:16

8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness to ¹⁵  our spirit that we are God’s children.

Roma 8:19

8:19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God.

Roma 8:31

8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Roma 9:14

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not!

Roma 9:16

9:16 So then, ¹⁶  it does not depend on human desire or exertion, ¹⁷  but on God who shows mercy.

Roma 10:2

10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, ¹⁸  but their zeal is not in line with the truth. ¹⁹ 

Roma 11:21

11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.

Roma 11:29-30

11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience,

Roma 11:32

11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. ²⁰ 

Roma 14:12

14:12 Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God. ²¹ 

Roma 15:7

Exhortation to Mutual Acceptance

15:7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory.

Roma 15:17

15:17 So I boast ²²  in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God.

Roma 15:32

15:32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

Roma 16:27

16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be glory forever! Amen.

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  sn Undoubtedly the background for the concept of being the Lord’s “slave” or “servant” is to be found in the Old Testament scriptures. For someone who was Jewish this concept did not connote drudgery, but honor and privilege. It was used of national Israel at times (Isa 43:10), but was especially associated with famous OT personalities, including such great men as Moses (Josh 14:7), David (Ps 89:3; cf. 2 Sam 7:5, 8) and Elijah (2 Kgs 10:10); all these men were “servants (or slaves) of the Lord.”

[1:1]  ³ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

[1:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ⁵ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

[2:17]  ⁶ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

[2:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

[2:24]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[3:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “much in every way.”

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:2]  tn Grk “first indeed that.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “they were.”

[3:2]  ¹² tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.

[3:18]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “was justified.”

[8:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or possibly “with.” ExSyn 160-61, however, notes the following: “At issue, grammatically, is whether the Spirit testifies alongside of our spirit (dat. of association), or whether he testifies to our spirit (indirect object) that we are God’s children. If the former, the one receiving this testimony is unstated (is it God? or believers?). If the latter, the believer receives the testimony and hence is assured of salvation via the inner witness of the Spirit. The first view has the advantage of a σύν- (sun-) prefixed verb, which might be expected to take an accompanying dat. of association (and is supported by NEB, JB, etc.). But there are three reasons why πνεύματι (pneumati) should not be taken as association: (1) Grammatically, a dat. with a σύν- prefixed verb does not necessarily indicate association. This, of course, does not preclude such here, but this fact at least opens up the alternatives in this text. (2) Lexically, though συμμαρτυρέω (summarturew) originally bore an associative idea, it developed in the direction of merely intensifying μαρτυρέω (marturew). This is surely the case in the only other NT text with a dat. (Rom 9:1). (3) Contextually, a dat. of association does not seem to support Paul’s argument: ‘What standing has our spirit in this matter? Of itself it surely has no right at all to testify to our being sons of God’ [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:403]. In sum, Rom 8:16 seems to be secure as a text in which the believer’s assurance of salvation is based on the inner witness of the Spirit. The implications of this for one’s soteriology are profound: The objective data, as helpful as they are, cannot by themselves provide assurance of salvation; the believer also needs (and receives) an existential, ongoing encounter with God’s Spirit in order to gain that familial comfort.”

[9:16]  ¹⁶ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:16]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”

[10:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”

[10:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.”

[10:2]  sn Their zeal is not in line with the truth means that the Jews’ passion for God was strong, but it ignored the true righteousness of God (v. 3; cf. also 3:21).

[11:32]  ²⁰ tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[14:12]  ²¹ tc ‡ The words “to God” are absent from some mss (B F G 6 630 1739 1881 pc) but are found in א A C D Ψ 0209 33 Ï lat sy co. External evidence somewhat favors their inclusion since Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine mss are well represented. From an internal standpoint, however, it is easy to see the words as a scribal gloss intended to clarify the referent, especially as a reinforcement to the quotation of Isa 45:23 in v. 11. Not only that, but the abrupt ending of the verse without “to God” is harsh, both in Greek and in English. In this instance, the internal considerations seem overwhelming on the side of the omission. At the same time, English stylistic needs require the words and they have been put into the translation, even though they are most likely not original. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[14:12]  tn Or “each of us is accountable to God.”

[15:17]  ²² tc ‡ After οὖν (oun), several important Alexandrian and Western mss (B C D F G 81 365 pc) have τήν (thn). The article is lacking in א A Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï however. Ì⁴⁶ supplies a relative pronoun and has a different reading entirely (“which I have [as a] boast”). Articles were frequently introduced to clarify the meaning of the text. In this instance, since the word modified (καύχησιν, kauchsin) is third declension, a visual oversight (resulting in omission) is less likely. Hence, the shorter reading is probably original. The difference in translation between these first two options is negligible (“I have the boast” or “I have a boast”). NA²⁷ puts the article in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[15:17]  tn Grk “Therefore I have a boast.”