Romans 1:8

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

1:8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

Romans 2:20

2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth –

Romans 4:19

4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

Romans 5:5

5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:9

5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath.

Romans 5:12

The Amplification of Justification

5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because 10  all sinned –

Romans 8:7

8:7 because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

Romans 8:24

8:24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?

Romans 8:27

8:27 And he 11  who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit 12  intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.

Romans 9:32

9:32 Why not? Because they pursued 13  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. 14  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 15 

Romans 10:9

10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord 16  and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 14:23

14:23 But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. 17 

Romans 15:15

15:15 But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God

tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”

tc Most mss (D F G Ψ 33 1881 Ï it) read “he did not consider” by including the negative particle (οὐ, ou), but others (א A B C 6 81 365 1506 1739 pc co) lack οὐ. The reading which includes the negative particle probably represents a scribal attempt to exalt the faith of Abraham by making it appear that his faith was so strong that he did not even consider the physical facts. But “here Paul does not wish to imply that faith means closing one’s eyes to reality, but that Abraham was so strong in faith as to be undaunted by every consideration” (TCGNT 451). Both on external and internal grounds, the reading without the negative particle is preferred.

tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A C D Ψ 33 Ï bo) have ἤδη (hdh, “already”) at this point in v. 19. But B F G 630 1739 1881 pc lat sa lack it. Since it appears to heighten the style of the narrative and since there is no easy accounting for an accidental omission, it is best to regard the shorter text as original. NA27 includes the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (Jh agaph tou qeou, “the love of God”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“our love for God”), subjective genitive (“God’s love for us”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). The immediate context, which discusses what God has done for believers, favors a subjective genitive, but the fact that this love is poured out within the hearts of believers implies that it may be the source for believers’ love for God; consequently an objective genitive cannot be ruled out. It is possible that both these ideas are meant in the text and that this is a plenary genitive: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (ExSyn 121).

sn On the OT background of the Spirit being poured out, see Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28-29.

tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

10 tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (ef Jw) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”

11 sn He refers to God here; Paul has not specifically identified him for the sake of rhetorical power (for by leaving the subject slightly ambiguous, he draws his audience into seeing God’s hand in places where he is not explicitly mentioned).

12 tn Grk “he,” or “it”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

13 tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.

14 tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א2 D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.

tn Grk “but as by works.”

15 tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

16 tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.

17 tc Some mss insert 16:25-27 at this point. See the tc note at 16:25 for more information.