Romans 1:8

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

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

Romans 2:25

2:25 For circumcision ²  has its value if you practice the law, but ³  if you break the law, ⁴  your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

Romans 4:18

4:18 Against hope Abraham ⁵  believed ⁶  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ⁷  according to the pronouncement, ⁸  “so will your descendants be.” ⁹ 

Romans 6:22

6:22 But now, freed ¹⁰  from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit ¹¹  leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life.

Romans 8:36

8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ¹² 

Romans 10:6

10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ¹³  ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” ¹⁴  (that is, to bring Christ down)

Romans 11:28

11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.

Romans 13:5

13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities ¹⁵  but also because of your conscience. ¹⁶ 

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¹ tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”

² sn Circumcision refers to male circumcision as prescribed in the OT, which was given as a covenant to Abraham in Gen 17:10-14. Its importance for Judaism can hardly be overstated: According to J. D. G. Dunn (Romans [WBC], 1:120) it was the “single clearest distinguishing feature of the covenant people.” J. Marcus has suggested that the terms used for circumcision (περιτομή, peritomh) and uncircumcision (ἀκροβυστία, akrobustia) were probably derogatory slogans used by Jews and Gentiles to describe their opponents (“The Circumcision and the Uncircumcision in Rome,” NTS 35 [1989]: 77-80).

³ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

⁴ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. 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.

⁷ sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

⁸ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.

¹⁰ tn The two aorist participles translated “freed” and “enslaved” are causal in force; their full force is something like “But now, since you have become freed from sin and since you have become enslaved to God….”

¹¹ tn Grk “fruit.”

¹² sn A quotation from Ps 44:22.

¹³ sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.

¹⁵ tn Grk “its wrath”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Grk “because of (the) conscience,” but the English possessive “your” helps to show whose conscience the context implies.