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 1:6

1:6 You also are among them, ⁶  called to belong to Jesus Christ. ⁷ 

Roma 1:15

1:15 Thus I am eager ⁸  also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. ⁹ 

Roma 2:18

2:18 and know his will ¹⁰  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ¹¹ 

Roma 4:3

4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited ¹²  to him as righteousness.” ¹³ 

Roma 4:25

4:25 He ¹⁴  was given over ¹⁵  because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of ¹⁶  our justification. ¹⁷ 

Roma 6:12

6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires,

Roma 6:23

6:23 For the payoff ¹⁸  of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Roma 7:14

7:14 For we know that the law is spiritual – but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin. ¹⁹ 

Roma 7:17

7:17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me.

Roma 7:21

7:21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me.

Roma 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ²⁰  in Christ Jesus has set you ²¹  free from the law of sin and death.

Roma 8:33

8:33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? ²²  It is God who justifies.

Roma 9:9

9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ²³  “About a year from now ²⁴  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ²⁵ 

Roma 9:19

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”

Roma 10:1

10:1 Brothers and sisters, ²⁶  my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites ²⁷  is for their salvation.

Roma 11:32

11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. ²⁸ 

Roma 12:17

12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. ²⁹ 

Roma 13:6

13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities ³⁰  are God’s servants devoted to governing. ³¹ 

Roma 13:10

13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Roma 15:11

15:11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” ³² 

Roma 15:17

15:17 So I boast ³³  in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God.

[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.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “among whom you also are called.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. The NIV, with its translation “And you also are among those who are called,” takes the phrase ἐν οἳς ἐστε to refer to the following clause rather than the preceding, so that the addressees of the letter (“you also”) are not connected with “all the Gentiles” mentioned at the end of v. 5. It is more likely, however, that the relative pronoun οἳς has τοῖς ἔθνεσιν as its antecedent, which would indicate that the church at Rome was predominantly Gentile.

[1:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “called of Jesus Christ.”

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Or “willing, ready”; Grk “so my eagerness [is] to preach…” The word πρόθυμος (proqumo", “eager, willing”) is used only elsewhere in the NT in Matt 26:41 = Mark 14:38: “the spirit indeed is willing (πρόθυμος), but the flesh is weak.”

[1:15]  ⁹ map For location see JP4 A1.

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the will.”

[2:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

[4:3]  ¹² tn The term λογίζομαι (logizomai) occurs 11 times in this chapter (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). In secular usage it could (a) refer to deliberations of some sort, or (b) in commercial dealings (as virtually a technical term) to “reckoning” or “charging up a debt.” See H. W. Heidland, TDNT 4:284, 290-92.

[4:3]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “who,” referring to Jesus. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “handed over.”

[4:25]  sn The verb translated given over (παραδίδωμι, paradidwmi) is also used in Rom 1:24, 26, 28 to describe God giving people over to sin. But it is also used frequently in the gospels to describe Jesus being handed over (or delivered up, betrayed) by sinful men for crucifixion (cf., e.g., Matt 26:21; 27:4; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33; 15:15; Luke 20:20; 22:24; 24:7). It is probable that Paul has both ideas in mind: Jesus was handed over by sinners, but even this betrayal was directed by the Father for our sake (because of our transgressions).

[4:25]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “because of.” However, in light of the unsatisfactory sense that a causal nuance would here suggest, it has been argued that the second διά (dia) is prospective rather than retrospective (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 288-89). The difficulty of this interpretation is the structural balance that both διά phrases provide (“given over because of our transgressions…raised because of our justification”). However the poetic structure of this verse strengthens the likelihood that the clauses each have a different force.

[4:25]  ¹⁷ sn Many scholars regard Rom 4:25 to be poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage.

[6:23]  ¹⁸ tn A figurative extension of ὀψώνιον (oywnion), which refers to a soldier’s pay or wages. Here it refers to the end result of an activity, seen as something one receives back in return. In this case the activity is sin, and the translation “payoff” captures this thought. See also L&N 89.42.

[7:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “under sin.”

[8:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ²¹ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[8:33]  ²² sn An allusion to Isa 50:8 where the reference is singular; Paul applies this to all believers (“God’s elect” is plural here).

[9:9]  ²³ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

[9:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.

[9:9]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.

[10:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[10:1]  ²⁷ tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:32]  ²⁸ tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[12:17]  ²⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.

[13:6]  ³⁰ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:6]  ³¹ tn Grk “devoted to this very thing.”

[15:11]  ³² sn A quotation from Ps 117:1.

[15:17]  ³³ 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.”