Roma 3:29-30

3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 3:30 Since God is one, ¹  he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Roma 9:23-24

9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ²  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory – 9:24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?

Roma 10:12-13

10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ³ 

Roma 15:8-19

15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised ⁴  on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ⁵  15:9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. ⁶  As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” ⁷  15:10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ⁸  15:11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” ⁹  15:12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” ¹⁰  15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, ¹¹  so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s Motivation for Writing the Letter

15:14 But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, ¹²  that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 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 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve ¹³  the gospel of God ¹⁴  like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, ¹⁵  sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

15:17 So I boast ¹⁶  in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God. 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience ¹⁷  of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 15:19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

Yesaya 49:6

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ¹⁸  of Israel? ¹⁹ 

I will make you a light to the nations, ²⁰ 

so you can bring ²¹  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

Lukas 2:32

2:32 a light, ²² 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ²³  to your people Israel.”

Galatia 3:14

3:14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, ²⁴  so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.

Galatia 3:26-28

3:26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. ²⁵  3:27 For all of you who ²⁶  were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave ²⁷  nor free, there is neither male nor female ²⁸  – for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

Efesus 2:11-13

New Life Corporately

2:11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body ²⁹  by human hands – 2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ³⁰  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ³¹  having no hope and without God in the world. 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ³² 

Efesus 3:8

3:8 To me – less than the least of all the saints ³³  – this grace was given, ³⁴  to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ

Kolose 3:11

3:11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave ³⁵  or free, but Christ is all and in all.

[3:30]  ¹ tn Grk “but if indeed God is one.”

[9:23]  ² tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[10:13]  ³ sn A quotation from Joel 2:32.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “of the circumcision”; that is, the Jews.

[15:8]  ⁵ tn Or “to the patriarchs.”

[15:9]  ⁶ tn There are two major syntactical alternatives which are both awkward: (1) One could make “glorify” dependent on “Christ has become a minister” and coordinate with “to confirm” and the result would be rendered “Christ has become a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises…and so that the Gentiles might glorify God.” (2) One could make “glorify” dependent on “I tell you” and coordinate with “Christ has become a minister” and the result would be rendered “I tell you that Christ has become a minister of circumcision…and that the Gentiles glorify God.” The second rendering is preferred.

[15:9]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 18:49.

[15:10]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 32:43.

[15:11]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 117:1.

[15:12]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 11:10.

[15:13]  ¹¹ tn Grk “in the believing” or “as [you] believe,” with the object “him” supplied from the context. The referent could be God (15:13a) or Christ (15:12).

[15:14]  ¹² tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[15:16]  ¹³ tn Grk “serving.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but in keeping with contemporary English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:16]  ¹⁴ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.

[15:16]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “so that the offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable.” This could be understood to refer to an offering belonging to the Gentiles (a possessive genitive) or made by the Gentiles (subjective genitive), but more likely the phrase should be understood as an appositive genitive, with the Gentiles themselves consisting of the offering (so J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC 38], 2:860). The latter view is reflected in the translation “so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering.”

[15:17]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ After οὖν (oun), several important Alexandrian and Western mss (B C D F G 81 365 pc) have τήν (thn). The article is lacking in א A Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï however. Ì⁴⁶ supplies a relative pronoun and has a different reading entirely (“which I have [as a] boast”). Articles were frequently introduced to clarify the meaning of the text. In this instance, since the word modified (καύχησιν, kauchsin) is third declension, a visual oversight (resulting in omission) is less likely. Hence, the shorter reading is probably original. The difference in translation between these first two options is negligible (“I have the boast” or “I have a boast”). NA²⁷ puts the article in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[15:17]  tn Grk “Therefore I have a boast.”

[15:18]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “unto obedience.”

[49:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

[49:6]  ¹⁹ sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

[49:6]  ²⁰ tn See the note at 42:6.

[49:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”

[2:32]  ²² tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ²³ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[3:14]  ²⁴ tn Or “so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

[3:26]  ²⁵ tn Or “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

[3:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “For as many of you as.”

[3:28]  ²⁷ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 1:10.

[3:28]  ²⁸ tn Grk “male and female.”

[2:11]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in the flesh.”

[2:12]  ³⁰ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ³¹ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[2:13]  ³² tn Or “have come near in the blood of Christ.”

[2:13]  sn See the note on “his blood” in 1:7.

[3:8]  ³³ sn In Pauline writings saints means any true believer. Thus for Paul to view himself as less than the least of all the saints is to view himself as the most unworthy object of Christ’s redemption.

[3:8]  ³⁴ sn The parallel phrases to proclaim and to enlighten which follow indicate why God’s grace was manifested to Paul. Grace was not something just to be received, but to be shared with others (cf. Acts 13:47).

[3:11]  ³⁵ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.