Romans 1:16

The Power of the Gospel

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 1 

Romans 2:29

2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart 2  by the Spirit 3  and not by the written code. 4  This person’s 5  praise is not from people but from God.

1 sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.

2 sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

3 tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV).

4 tn Grk “letter.”

5 tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.