Discovery BoxRomans 4:13-14 
Context4:13 For the promise 1 to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 2
Romans 9:4
Context9:4 who are Israelites. To them belong 3 the adoption as sons, 4 the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, 5 and the promises.
Romans 11:4
Context11:4 But what was the divine response 6 to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people 7 who have not bent the knee to Baal.” 8
1 sn Although a singular noun, the promise is collective and does not refer only to Gen 12:7, but as D. Moo (Romans 1-8 [WEC], 279) points out, refers to multiple aspects of the promise to Abraham: multiplied descendants (Gen 12:2), possession of the land (Gen 13:15-17), and his becoming the vehicle of blessing to all people (Gen 12:13).
2 tn Grk “rendered inoperative.”
3 tn Grk “of whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
4 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”
5 tn Or “cultic service.”
6 tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”
7 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.
8 sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.
