Roma 1:16-25

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  1:17 For the righteousness ²  of God is revealed in the gospel ³  from faith to faith, ⁴  just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” ⁵ 

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ⁶  who suppress the truth by their ⁷  unrighteousness, ⁸  1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, ⁹  because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ¹⁰  are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ¹¹  were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ¹²  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ¹³  or birds or four-footed animals ¹⁴  or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ¹⁵  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ¹⁶  their bodies among themselves. ¹⁷  1:25 They ¹⁸  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ¹⁹  and worshiped and served the creation ²⁰  rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

[1:16]  ¹ sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.

[1:17]  ² tn The nature of the “righteousness” described here and the force of the genitive θεοῦ (“of God”) which follows have been much debated. (1) Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:98) understand “righteousness” to refer to the righteous status given to believers as a result of God’s justifying activity, and see the genitive “of God” as a genitive of source (= “from God”). (2) Others see the “righteousness” as God’s act or declaration that makes righteous (i.e., justifies) those who turn to him in faith, taking the genitive “of God” as a subjective genitive (see E. Käsemann, Romans, 25-30). (3) Still others see the “righteousness of God” mentioned here as the attribute of God himself, understanding the genitive “of God” as a possessive genitive (“God’s righteousness”).

[1:17]  ³ tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the gospel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Or “by faith for faith,” or “by faith to faith.” There are many interpretations of the phrase ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (ek pistew" ei" pistin). It may have the idea that this righteousness is obtained by faith (ἐκ πίστεως) because it was designed for faith (εἰς πίστιν). For a summary see J. Murray, Romans (NICNT), 1:363-74.

[1:17]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[1:18]  ⁶ tn The genitive ἀνθρώπων could be taken as an attributed genitive, in which case the phase should be translated “against all ungodly and unrighteous people” (cf. “the truth of God” in v. 25 which is also probably an attributed genitive). C. E. B. Cranfield takes the section 1:18-32 to refer to all people (not just Gentiles), while 2:1-3:20 points out that the Jew is no exception (Romans [ICC], 1:104-6; 1:137-38).

[1:18]  ⁷ tn “Their” is implied in the Greek, but is supplied because of English style.

[1:18]  ⁸ tn Or “by means of unrighteousness.” Grk “in (by) unrighteousness.”

[1:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “is manifest to/in them.”

[1:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:22]  ¹² tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ¹³ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ¹⁴ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:24]  ¹⁵ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 81:12.

[1:24]  ¹⁶ tn The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ ἀτιμάζεσθαι (tou atimazesqai, “to dishonor”) has been taken as (1) an infinitive of purpose; (2) an infinitive of result; or (3) an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive, expanding the previous clause.

[1:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “among them.”

[1:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “who.” 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.

[1:25]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ²⁰ tn Or “creature, created things.”