Roma 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 

Roma 1:23

1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ²  or birds or four-footed animals ³  or reptiles.

Roma 1:32

1:32 Although they fully know ⁴  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ⁵  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ⁶ 

Roma 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ⁷  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Roma 4:9

4:9 Is this blessedness ⁸  then for ⁹  the circumcision ¹⁰  or also for ¹¹  the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹² 

Roma 5:2

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ¹³  in the hope of God’s glory.

Roma 5:14

5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type ¹⁴  of the coming one) transgressed. ¹⁵ 

Roma 6:13

6:13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments ¹⁶  to be used for unrighteousness, ¹⁷  but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments ¹⁸  to be used for righteousness.

Roma 7:7

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ¹⁹  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ²⁰  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ²¹ 

Roma 8:29

8:29 because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son ²²  would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ²³ 

Roma 9:17

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ²⁴  “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ²⁵ 

Roma 9:29

9:29 Just ²⁶  as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies ²⁷  had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” ²⁸ 

Roma 15:27

15:27 For they were pleased to do this, and indeed they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints. ²⁹  For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.

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

[1:23]  ² 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]  ³ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:32]  ⁴ tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:32]  ⁵ tn Grk “are worthy of death.”

[1:32]  ⁶ sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.

[2:12]  ⁷ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Or “happiness.”

[4:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.

[4:9]  ¹¹ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ¹² sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Or “exult, boast.”

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “pattern.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”

[6:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “weapons, tools.”

[6:13]  ¹⁷ tn Or “wickedness, injustice.”

[6:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “weapons, tools.”

[7:7]  ¹⁹ sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).

[7:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.

[8:29]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God’s Son) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[9:17]  ²⁴ sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.

[9:17]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.

[9:29]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:29]  ²⁷ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”

[9:29]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.

[15:27]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the Jerusalem saints) has been specified in the translation for clarity.