31 ἵνα with the subjunctive.
30 ἀπέθανεν χαὶ ἔζησεν is read by א* A B C etc. After ἀπέθανεν some MSS read χαὶ ἀνέστη, some have ἀνέζησεν instead of ἔζησεν, and there are several combinations of these possibilities. The problem seems to have arisen in that after “died” the scribes looked for a verb that plainly indicated resurrection. We should take ἔζησεν as ingressive, “sprang to life”; it indicates resurrection, but not in the way some scribes expected.
IBNTG C. F. D. Moule: An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek (Cambridge, 1953)
31 ἵνα with the subjunctive.
32 χυριεύσῃ. The verb is used of the lordship that sin will not have (6:14).
Murray John Murray: The Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids, 1960 and 1965)
Calvin John Calvin: The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians (Edinburgh, 1961)
33 For the strong term ἐξουθενέω see on v. 3.
34 γάρ.
35 παρίστημι means “to place beside, stand beside”, but it is also used in the technical sense of standing before a judge or a judgment seat (cf. Acts 27:24).
36 βῆμα is connected with βαίνω and can mean “a step” (Acts 7:5), hence a raised place mounted by steps, a platform, or, as here, the official seat of a judge.
37 θεοῦ is read by MSS like א* A B C* D G, and Χριστοῦ by אc C2 P Ψ and others. The weight of the MSS is behind θεοῦ, and it would seem that Χριστοῦ has been imported from 2 Cor. 5:10.
38 ἐξομολογέω may be used in the sense “promise” (Luke 22:6), or for confessing sins (Matt. 3:6 etc.), but it is also used of acknowledging (Phil. 2:11) and of praising (Matt. 11:25). Chrysostom thinks that this means “shall give an account of what he has done”, and Michel sees the meaning as “the eschatological confession of sins which each must make before the throne of God” (TDNT, V, p. 215). Käsemann rejects this in favor of “acclamation connected with proskynesis” (p. 373).
RSV The Revised Standard Version
39 ἄρα οὖν, for which see the note on 5:18. οὖν is absent from some MSS, as is τῷ θεῷ at the end of the verse, but Wilckens argues that the shorter text may be secondary. Metzger’s committee found reasons for and against τῷ θεῷ and accordingly included the words in the text but put them in square brackets.
40 Cf. Barrett, “The strong, then, is right; but if he boasts of his superiority he instantly becomes as wrong as the man he despises. The weak is mistaken, yet accepted; and he must not put himself in God’s place, and judge the strong.” Godet makes an interesting practical point: earlier Paul has argued in effect, “Judge not thy brother, for God will judge him”; now he is saying, “Judge thyself, for God will judge thee.”
41 οὖν.
42 μηχέτι.
43 Barrett holds that the tense also “supports the view that Paul is addressing a real, not a hypothetical, situation”.
44 ἀλλά, which NIV renders Instead. It is reinforced by μᾶλλον.
45 The verb χρίνω is used in two senses here. The first time it carries the notion of passing an adverse judgment on other believers; the second time it points rather to a decision that will determine one’s own line of conduct (NIV, make up your mind). The aorist tense points to a firm decision.
46 τὸ μὴ τιθέναι. BDF comment on the nominative and accusative of the substantivized infinitive that “its reference to something previously mentioned or otherwise well known, is more or less evident” (399 [3]). TH remarks that the implied subject of this infinitive is “you”, so that it should not be given an impersonal construction as in NEB’s “that no obstacle or stumbling-block be placed in a brother’s way.”
47 The stumbling block (πρόσχομμα) is an obstacle in the way; when the foot strikes it the person stumbles. The obstacle (σχάνδαλον) refers strictly to the bait stick of a trap; when an animal or bird strikes it this triggers off the mechanism that produces entrapment. Many think that the two words are practically synonyms here, but Leenhardt holds that the former word points to something that is “met with by chance” and the latter to “the result of an intention”. It is, however, difficult to think that a strong Christian would intend to trap a weak brother, so some such translation as NIV is in order. The two words occur in 9:33.
LB The Living Bible
48 χοινός means “common”, “communal” (as distinct from ἴδιος, “one’s own”). It may also be used of “that which comes into contact w. anything and everything, and is therefore common, ordinary, profane…. Of that which is ceremonially impure” (BAGD), “Of itself” διʼ ἑαυτοῦ, is the reading of א B C2 etc., while A C* D F G etc. have διʼ αὐτοῦ, “through him”, i.e., “nothing is impure through Christ” (for he did away with such distinctions). Most agree that the former reading is to be preferred.
49 εἰ μή often means “except”, and some so translate it here. But after a negative joined to a noun it may used in such a way that it refers to the negative alone; then it may be seen as adversative and thus equivalent to ἀλλά (BDF 448[8]; so Shedd). Lenski renders “only”.
50 γάρ.
51 εἰ with the indicative may be understood in the sense “if, as is the case….” Paul is putting it strongly.
52 σου drives it home to the individual. Luther asks, “Why, then, should he be more concerned about his belly and gullet, which are bound to perish, than about his brother who will live for ever?” Brunner warns against “a devout carelessness in doing what one has recognized as right for oneself but which can ruin one’s neighbor.”
53 λυπεῖται.
54 περιπατεῖς, which NIV renders you are … acting.
55 Cf. Burton H. Throckmorton, “Paul is consistent in his criterion: one is free to love; one is not free not to love” (Adopted in Love [New York, 1978], p. 104).
56 μὴ τῷ βρώματί σου. Turner takes this as a dative of cause and says, “This dat. is extraordinary” (M, III, p. 242). Moule sees it as instrumental (IBNTG, p. 44).
57 ἐχεῖνον.
58 The bearing of this on the final perseverance of the saints is differently understood. Hodge says, “They are saved only, if they continue steadfast unto the end. If they apostasize, they perish…. Saints are preserved, not in despite of apostacy, but from apostacy.” Hendriksen understands the passage to mean “you, by means of your unbrotherly conduct, are treating him in a manner which, were it not for God’s irresistible grace, would destroy him.” Murray points out that “All sin is destructive” and that the sin of the weak “if not repaired, would lead to perdition.” The strong must consider this “and not take refuge behind the security of the believer and the final perseverance of the saints.” Whichever way we understand it, the strong are being given a serious warning.
59 οὖν, “therefore”.
SH William Sanday and Arthur C. Headlam: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh, 1907)
Lenski R. C. H. Lenski: The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Minneapolis, n.d.)
60 On this whole subject Barclay remarks, “A new age would dawn in the Church if we remembered that our rights are far less important than our obligations”.
61 Earthly kingdoms do not give us the pattern for the kingdom of God: “Those kingdoms make their kings, who are nothing without them; here the King makes the kingdom, which is nothing without him” (Lenski).
62 Strictly βρῶσις and πόσις (both here only in Romans) denote the acts of eating and drinking, though both can signify the appropriate concrete, i.e., food and drink, and some see this meaning here. But NIV is probably correct. For a similar view about food cf. 1 Cor. 8:8. There is a rabbinic saying: “In the future world there is no eating or drinking nor propagation nor business nor jealousy nor hatred nor competition, but the righteous sit with crowns on their heads feasting on the brightness of the divine presence” (Ber. 17a). But Paul is talking about the kingdom now, and the rabbis about the world to come.
63 ἀλλά.
Denney James Denney: "St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans" in The Expositor’s Greek Testament, II (Grand Rapids, 1979 repr.)
64 Cf. Conzelmann, “The addition ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ characterises righteousness, peace and joy as blessings of eschatological salvation; there is no reason to relate it to joy alone” (TDNT, IX, p. 369 n. 90; he also says, “the eschaton determines the present”). BDF 272, however, affirm the link with χαρά and also find this unusual, for “Prepositional attributives going with anarthrous substantives are usually avoided for the sake of clarity.” Turner comments on the rarity (M, III, p. 221), but he also finds a reason for the anarthrous noun here in that it comes at the end of a list of anarthrous nouns (p. 176). Lenski sees the anarthrous noun as a proper name “which needs no article.”
65 γάρ, which NIV this time renders because.
66 The verb δουλεύω means “serve as a slave”. This indicates that the servant in question belongs entirely to Christ.
67 A number of MSS have the plural, but the reading seems secondary and most accept the singular.
CBSC The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
68 δόχιμος.
69 Lenski holds that the dative should be understood not as “approved of men” but “approved for men”; those approved are approved by God and thus are valuable for men. This is true, but it does not appear to be what Paul is saying.
70 ἄρα οὖν, for which see the note on 5:10.
71 διώχωμεν is read by C D Ψ etc. while διώχομεν has the support of אA B Ggr etc. Metzger’s committee found it “extremely difficult to answer” the question of which reading is to be preferred. The attestation of the indicative is better, but the context favors exhortation. Indeed, so strong is this consideration that W. Foerster speaks of the indicative here as “impossible” (TDNT, II, p. 416). In ancient MSS ω and ο are often confused. This, taken with intrinsic probability and the fact that an exhortation seems required, convinces Cranfield that we should accept the subjunctive. This seems the best course.
72 οἰχοδομή.
73 χαταλύω means to “loose down”. It may be used of loosing the clothing, harness, etc. when the traveller halts for the night (Luke 9:12), or for a more radical loosing like the demolition of the temple (Mark 14:58; 15:29).
74 χαχόν.
75 διὰ προσχόμματος has caused discussion. διά is used “to denote manner”, here “with offence” (BDF 223[3]; so M, III, p. 267). This may mean that the offence is with the weak who eats with a guilty conscience (Hodge, Murray) or with the strong whose eating brings trouble to others (RSV, GNB, SH).
76 The word for meat is χρέας, “flesh meat”, here and in 1 Cor. 8:13 only in the New Testament.
77 “It is good not to eat meat for once (in a specific instance) if it might cause offense; it is not a question of continuous abstention”(BDF 338[1]). Turner comments that τό + infinitive (as in v. 13) is rare in the Ptolemaic papyri and in the New Testament outside Paul (M, III, p. 140).
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner: A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, trans. and rev. R. W. Funk (Chicago, 1961)
78 He simply says μηδὲ ἐν ᾧ, where Turner discerns a causal use of ἐν. Käsemann speaks of a “remarkable relative distraction” (p. 378; what is the antecedent?).
79 The majority of the MSS (including some good ones such as D G P) omit the relative ἥν, and Godet, e.g., rejects it accordingly. Its occurrence in א A B C etc. may have been due to a desire to remove a certain abruptness (Metzger), or its omission may have been accidental. Without it the text might be a statement (“You have faith. Keep it to yourself before God”) or a question (“Do you have faith? Keep it…”). The probability is that it was original.
80 Cf. Barrett, “True faith is an invisible relation between man and God, a confidence in God so complete that the man who has it knows that no religious scrupulosity can add to the security of his relation with God. But the moment ‘faith’ begins to parade itself as a visible thing which can be demonstrated by such acts as eating flesh and drinking wine, it ceases to be faith and becomes weakness.” Cf. also Parry, “the doubter must not claim the freedom he does not feel” (CGT).
81 μαχάριος.
82 Denney comments, “It is a rare felicity … to have a conscience untroubled by scruples … he who has this felicity should ask no more.”
83 See the note on διαχρίνω in 4:20.
84 The aorist φάγῃ points to a single action rather than the continuing practice.
85 χαταχέχριται. BDF 344 note that the perfect in general assertions or imaginary examples is rarely used in the New Testament, as in classical, and that this example is “entirely in conformity with classical usage.”
86 The Greek is very concise: ὅτι οὐχ ἐχ πίστεως, where ἐχ seems to denote origin; cf. Phillips, “his action does not spring from his faith”. That kind of action necessarily means condemnation.
87 Paul’s πᾶν is a comprehensive neuter; it is quite general.
88 The words attributed to Jesus in the addition to Luke 6:4 in Codex Bezae are often cited. To a man working on the Sabbath Jesus is reputed to have said, “Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed; but if you do not know, you are accursed and a transgressor of the law” (cited from Metzger on Luke 6:5).
89 A number of MSS have the doxology at this point, and there is evidence that at one time the epistle ended here. For a discussion of these questions see the Introduction, pp. 21ff.; see also Metzger, pp. 533–36.
a 3 Psalm 69:9
b 8 Greek circumcision
c 9 2 Samuel 22:50; Psalm 18:49
d 10 Deut. 32:43
e 11 Psalm 117:1
f 12 Isaiah 11:10
1 This section is linked to the previous with δέ, which most translations simply ignore, though LB has “Even if”.
2 ἡμεῖς. Wilckens comments on this.
3 οἱ δυνατοί and οἱ ἀδύνατοι. The former term is used of the chief men in Acts 25:5 (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26), but here it is rather Christians who are “firm in conviction and faith” (GT; cf. 2 Cor. 12:10; 13:9). ἀδύνατος may be used of what is “impossible” (8:3), but here it means those who are impotent, without power (as in Acts 14:8).
4 He uses the verb ὀφείλομεν, “we owe it”. It is a strong word and makes clear that Paul does not think the strong have a choice in the matter. In another letter he asks “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7), and something like that is also true of his view of the strong; they are not the naturally powerful but those to whom God has given ability.
5 Cf. H. Moule, “A dominant school, in any age or region, too easily comes to talk and act as if all decided expression on the other side were an instance of ‘intolerance,’ while yet it allows itself insufficiently severe and censorious courses of its own” (pp. 393–94).
6 τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν. The verb βαστάζειν is used for carrying literal burdens (Mark 14:13); interestingly it is used for carrying the cross physically (John 19:17) and spiritually (Luke 14:27). ἀσθένημα is used only here in the New Testament; it means “weakness”, here “of conscientious scruples caused by weakness of faith” (BAGD).
GNB Good News Bible (Today’s English Version)
Moffatt James Moffatt: The New Testament: A New Translation
7 Though the verb there in LXX is φέρω. But in Matt. 8:17 it is quoted in a form that employs βαστάζω.
8 Gore thinks that “probably in part … we have ceased to think of the real fellowship of the naturally unlike—fellowship in all that makes up human life—as a necessary part of the Christian religion. But to St. Paul there was no Christianity without the reality of catholic brotherhood.” The “fellowship of the naturally unlike” is a very real part of being Christian.
9 “The originality of Christianity is here brilliantly manifested. The Greek sage aimed at an ideal of autarchy; the voice of conscience was sufficient for him and he despised the opinion of others”(Leenhardt, who further comments, “love gives birth to humility”).
10 “Il faut sortir de soi”(Lagrange).
11 MM find the idea of service underlying ἀρέσχω in this and some other New Testament passages; Abbott-Smith sees this meaning in the inscriptions and accepts it here. That service is involved is implied throughout the passage, but “please” seems to be the meaning of the verb.
12 There is also the point made so well by Harrisville: “I am not summoned to abandon my own appetite conceived as a criterion for my behavior, in order to embrace as a criterion the appetite of my neighbor.”
13 πρὸς οἰχοδομήν. Moule classifies πρός under “transferred senses … tending towards, leading to, concerning, against, in view of”, here “making for upbuilding” (IBNTG, p. 53). GT thinks it denotes “an intended end or purpose”.
14 χαὶ γάρ may mean “for also”, but it is more likely that χαί here means “even” (as NIV). Christ has the article, “the” Christ, and it is possible that we should understand it to be a title accordingly. But Paul does not seem to use the word in this way (see the note on 1:1). We need not doubt that he well knew that the word was a title, nor that on occasion what the title signified was present to his mind, but we cannot press it.
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner: A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, trans. and rev. R. W. Funk (Chicago, 1961)
15 Notice the ἀλλά with which he introduces his quotation: Christ did not please himself but, on the contrary…. Paul goes on to quote from Ps. 69:9 (LXX 68:10), exactly as LXX. Other verses of this Psalm are cited also in 11:9–10; John 2:17; 15:25. Clearly the first Christians saw it as an important part of Scripture for understanding what the Christ came to do.
16 ὀνειδίζω means “reproach, revile, heap insults upon” (BAGD); ὀνειδισμός is the corresponding noun.
17 “Man’s enmity against God was pure evil, pure absurdity, the totally irrational and inane…” (Cranfield, who also points out that the wrath of God was the most terrible part of what Christ had to suffer, but it was not irrational).
18 Murray points out that Paul “adduces the example of Christ in his most transcendent accomplishments in order to commend the most practical duties”.
19 ὅσα, “whatever things”; NIV is not an exact translation but gives the sense of it. Notice that προεγράφη is followed up by ἐγράφη, “a classical idiom by which the preposition in a compound is omitted, without weakening the sense, when the verb is repeated” (M, I, p. 115). προεγράφω is used in a different sense in Gal. 3:1.
20 εἰς conveys the thought of purpose, “with a view to”.
21 This is Paul’s one use of ἡμέτερος in Romans (it is found once each in 2 Timothy and Titus, and eight times in all in the New Testament). His “our” refers to the Christians, which leads to the conclusion, “This statement is a bold generalization expropriating all Scriptures for the infant church” (Denis Farkasfalvy in William R. Farmer and Denis M. Farkasfalvy, The Formation of the New Testament Canon [New York, 1983], p. 105).
22 διδασχαλία may be used in the active sense, “instruction”, or in the passive, “that which is taught”; here it is the active (BAGD). The word occurs 15 times in the Pastorals, and 19 times in the Pauline corpus out of 21 times in the New Testament.
23 ἵνα.
24 Cf. William Watty, “May I therefore suggest that this is our unique contribution to the world of to-day? It is to offer the Biblical message of hope from the God of hope to a world of shattered hopes” (ET, LXXXVII [1975–76], p. 50).
25 Paul has διά before τῆς ὑπομονῆς and another διά before τῆς παραχλήσεως. It is this repetition of the preposition that seems to show that the two are separated. If he were saying that both qualities are derived from Scripture we would expect only one διά. Käsemann says that the first διά “denotes an accompanying circumstance, the second is causal …. Scripture gives comfort and leads to patience” (p. 383). NEB has “that through the encouragement they give us we may maintain our hope with fortitude”, but there seems no reason for linking “hope” with “fortitude”.
26 ὑπομονή is found in Paul in exactly half its New Testament occurrences (16 out of 32; six in Romans); see the note on 2:7. It is often taken to mean “patience”, but this is too negative a virtue for this word. It is rather “fortitude” or endurance. Griffith Thomas quotes A. Beet on the importance of this word in the present context: “Our Christian character is seldom so severely tried as when we are put to inconvenience by the spiritual childishness of members of the Church.”
27 παράχλησις is found in Paul 20 times out of 29 in the New Testament, three being in Romans. See the note on the corresponding verb in 12:1. It is often understood of comfort (as KJV), and it can refer to exhortation, but encouragement seems right in this place.
28 δῴη is the optative, which Burton finds 35 times in the New Testament, mostly in prayer as here (MT, 176).
NIV New International Version
29 Cf. G. Bertram, “The fundamental demand of Pauline exhortation is a uniform direction, a common mind, and unity of thought and will” (TDNT, IX, p. 233). The same expression is found in 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 2:2; 4:2 (some MSS of Phil. 3:16), but the addition ἐν ἀλλήλοις is found only here. Notice the change to the second person plural. Paul has been linking himself with his correspondents in the first person plural, but from here on he addresses them as “you”.
30 χατὰ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, where χατά “can also stand simply w. the acc. of the pers. according to whose will, pleasure, or manner someth. occurs” (BAGD II.5.a.α). W. Michaelis says that the expression “means according to the will rather than the example” (TDNT, IV, p. 669 n. 18).
31 As the use of ἵνα shows.
32 ὁμοθυμαδόν, a term used ten times in Acts and elsewhere in the New Testament only in this passage. H. W. Heidland notes that it derives from ὁμό-θυμος, “with the same emotion”, “with the same mind”. As used in secular Greek it is often used of political unity, and this not as based on “a similarity of inclination or disposition but upon an event which comes on a group from without” (such as the hostility of one who might attack). Christian unity “is not the expression of a religious disposition of man; it is the response to God’s action for the world and the community in Christ” (TDNT, V, p. 186).
33 ἐν ἑνὶ στόματι, where ἐν may be instrumental or locative “since words are certainly formed here” (M, III, p. 252).
34 Boylan points to an ambiguity in that the words might mean “be of the same mind in order to praise with one accord” or “be of one mind when according to Christ Jesus it unites to praise God.” Whichever way we take it, Paul is emphasizing that believers are to be united, and to be united in praising God.
35 τὸν θεὸν χαὶ πατέρα τοῦ χυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. The question is whether χαί is to be taken as “and” or “even”. Grammatically either is possible, which means that our decision has to be taken in the general sense.
O’Neill J. C. O’Neill: Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Harmondsworth, 1975)
Käsemann Ernst Käsemann: Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids, 1980)
36 προσλαμβάνω has the notion of warm welcome about it (cf. its use in 14:1, 3; Philem. 17).
37 ET, LXXIV (1962–63), pp. 375–77.
38 χαθὼς χαί is seen by Turner as “adverbial or epexegetical χαί (that is, even)” (M, III, p. 335). Cranfield argues that it is causal, giving the reason for accepting one another, rather than comparative, following the example of Christ.
39 ὑμᾶς is read by א A C Db.c G etc., and ἡμᾶς by B D* P 048 etc.
Leenhardt Franz J. Leenhardt: The Epistle to the Romans (London, 1961)
40 There is another uncertainty here, namely whether we should take “to the glory of God” as qualifying “accept one another” (as Cranfield, Hodge, etc.) or “Christ received you” (Murray, Lenski, and others). Certainly both are true, and it is not impossible that Paul takes the words as applying to both (cf. Hendriksen, Barrett).
41 λέγω γάρ. The point could have been made without using this verb, so clearly Paul means it to have some emphasis. Cranfield objects to NEB’s “I mean” as being “too weak”; he prefers “I declare”.
42 γεγενῆσθαι is read by א A C2 D1 etc., while the aorist γενέσθαι has the respectable support of B C* D* G and others. But it seems much more likely that scribes would alter the perfect to the aorist than the reverse, so the perfect is generally accepted.
43 διάχονον περιτομῆς.
44 Cf. Smart, “just as Christ by humbling himself to be the servant of his Jewish people made possible the fulfillment of the promise of the Old Testament—that Gentiles and Jews would one day be united in the service of the one true God—so now an imitation of his humility by Christians could dissolve the lesser barriers between the strong and the weak in the church at Rome.” Barrett suggests that the Jews “especially when described as the ‘circumcision’, may be regarded as the most awkward and irritating of scrupulous persons. He thus provides an example for all strong Christians (cf. v. 3).”
45 ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας θεοῦ.
BAGD Walter Bauer: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and aug. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from the 5th edn. (Chicago, 1979)
46 For εἰς τό with the infinitive see the note on 1:20; the construction generally denotes purpose, and this gives good sense here (though result is not impossible, as CGT). βεβαιόω means “make firm, establish” and thus here “prove the promises reliable, fulfill (them)” (BAGD).
47 The genitive τῶν πατέρων means the promises belonging to and thus made to (not made by) the patriarchs.
48 There seem to be two possibilities. One is to take δοξάσαι as dependent on γεγενῆσθαι and coordinate with βεβαιῶσαι· “Christ became a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises and so that the Gentiles might glorify….” The other is to see δοξάσαι as dependent on λέγω and coordinate with γεγενῆσθαι: “I say that Christ became a minister of circumcision … and that the Gentiles might glorify….” Both are awkward, for in each case there is a change of subject. Either is possible, but perhaps the decisive consideration is that “the statement about Christ controls the sentence”. This leads Barrett to favor the first solution.
CGT Cambridge Greek Testament
49 The Gentiles praise God ὑπὲρ ἐλέους, where ὑπέρ is used “to denote the moving cause or the reason” (BAGD 1d).
50 ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι. The verb is used of confessing, e.g., confessing sins (Acts 19:18), from which there arose the idea of acknowledging (Phil. 2:11). This in turn led to the idea of praising, and the word is used in LXX of praising God, especially in the worship of the temple.
51 ψάλλω referred originally to plucking the strings of a musical instrument; later it appears to have been used of singing with accompaniment and then simply of singing. There is nothing in the Greek to correspond to NIV’s hymns; the translators have assumed (not unreasonably) that it is hymns that would be sung to God. See the notes in BAGD sub ψάλλω and the article by G. Delling, TDNT, VIII, pp. 489–503.
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, a translation by Geoffrey W. Bromiley of Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Grand Rapids, 1964–76)
52 He introduces it with λέγει, which may mean “it (Scripture) says” or “he (God) says” or “he (Moses) says”. But since Paul sees God as the author of Scripture and the inspirer of Moses, the difference is not material.
53 εὐφραίνω is a general word for rejoicing; it may be used, e.g., for festive meals (Luke 12:19; 15:24). But it may also be used of holy joy, as in rejoicing at God’s final victory (Rev. 12:12).
54 The words for praise are αἰνέω and ἐπαινέω. The other two words are ἔθνη and λαοί.
55 C. Maurer comments on Isa. 11:10, “From the pitiable remnant of the house of Jesse there will come forth, as from the remaining stump of a tree, a new shoot which will establish the coming kingdom of peace and righteousness” (TDNT, VI, p. 986; he also speaks of “the idea that the root as pars pro toto includes the shoot”). In both Isa. 11:10 and here he takes the genitive as one of derivation (p. 989 n. 24).
56 ἀνίστημι is used transitively in the sense “raise up” (as in Acts 9:41); the intransitive tenses (as here) have the meaning “arise”.
57 ἔθνη lacks the article, but this word “is especially liable to be anarthrous” (M, III, p. 181). NIV translates the term once as “nations” and once as “Gentiles”, but there is no difference in meaning.
58 δέ.
59 And which we all too often miss. Thus Hunter speaks of hope as “the modern Cinderella in Paul’s triad of Christian graces”.
60 πληρώσαι is another optative (see the note on v. 5), which is very appropriate in prayer. Paul looks for no niggardly supply but for God to fill his correspondents with these Christian virtues.
61 Conzelmann points out that in Paul “χαρά is never a profane mood. In Paul it is bound up with his work as an apostle…. Joy is the actualisation of freedom, which takes concrete form in fellowship” (TDNT, IX, p. 369).
62 ἐν τῷ πιστεύειν. For the construction see the note on 3:4. It is not common in the New Testament outside Luke; it occurs four times in Paul (M, III, p. 145, where the meaning here is seen as causal, “because you believe”). The words are viewed by Michel as a gloss (they are lacking in a small group of MSS headed by D F G), but Black dissents strongly: “so far from these words being a gloss … they recall the central theme of the Epistle. Faith is the way into the kingdom of joy and peace.”
63 See the note on 1:20 for the construction εἰς τό with the infinitive. Cf. Turner, in Paul this “expresses hardly anything but purpose” (M, III, p. 143).
a 21 Isaiah 52:15
64 πέπεισμαι. The verb means “convince, persuade”, and this perfect passive shows that Paul is completely convinced. There are no lingering doubts.
65 After saying “Now I am persuaded, my brothers,” he adds χαὶ αὐτὸς ἐγώ. It is possible to see adversative force in δέ (which NIV omits) as if to say, “I have admonished you strongly, but —”. More probably it is transitional; it is hard to see a contrast with the immediately preceding.
66 Thus Knox can write, “the ‘thanksgiving’ in every Pauline letter is a model of courtesy and charm”.
67 ἀγαθωσύνη is not a classical word but one found only in LXX, the Pauline writings, and later ecclesiastical writers (so Leenhardt). It points to “moral excellence as well as goodness…. Its possession constitutes the content of the life of the Christian” (W. Grundmann, TDNT, I, p. 18; he goes on to speak of its use as “controlled by … the Christian’s radically new possibility of life”). Cf. the description of Barnabas (Acts 11:24).
68 μεστοί and πεπληρωμένοι. The perfect participle gives the thought of a completed action (MT, 154), but the adjective means much the same. We should probably see a stylistic variant.
69 δυνάμενοι.
70 νουθετεῖν “describes an effect on the will and disposition, and it presupposes an opposition which has to be overcome. It seeks to correct the mind, to put right what is wrong, to improve the spiritual attitude” (J. Behm, TDNT, IV, p. 1019). In the New Testament the verb is found only in the Pauline writings and in a speech of Paul in Acts 20:31.
71 ἔγραψα means “earlier in this letter”; Turner points out that in the New Testament we get ἔπεμψα as an epistolary aorist, but that ἔγραψα is probably not used in the same way; as here, it means earlier in the letter (M, III, pp. 72–73; so also BDF 334).
72 τολμηρός means “bold, daring, audacious” (BAGD). The comparative here may mean “very boldly” or “the more boldly” (Turner takes it as the “Comparative for Positive”; M, III, p. 30). δέ may be adversative (Shedd), introducing a contrast with the preceding and thus something of an apology, or it may introduce an explanation and mean “and now” (Harrisville).
Hodge Charles Hodge: A Commentary on Romans (London, 1972 repr. of 1864 edn.)
73 The Greek is ἀπὸ μέρους, “in part”; NIV’s on some points is a trifle too definite (Murray regards this view as “scarcely warranted”, preferring “boldly in some measure”. While some such understanding is often held, the other ways of taking the Greek are both possible.
74 ἐπαναμιμνῄσχω is found only here in the New Testament. SH comment on it, “The ἐπί seems to soften the expression ‘suggesting to your memory.’ ” Chrysostom thought the word “means putting you in mind in a quiet way”, while Gifford sees it “used with a delicate courtesy”.
75 That seems to be the significance of εἰς τό with the infinitive (see the note on 1:20). Lenski takes it as result, but there seems no valid reason for denying purpose, the usual meaning of this construction.
76 λειτουργός originally meant someone who does public service at his own expense, but in Christian literature it came to be used of the service of God (cf. the related word in 13:6).
77 ἱερουργέω means “to act as a priest”; MM see that service in this passage as “sacrifice”. GT defines the term as “to perform sacred rites” and says it is “used esp. of persons sacrificing … trans. to minister in the manner of a priest, minister in priestly service”.
78 Calvin speaks of “consecrating the gospel”, but this does not seem to be the thought. It is not that Paul “consecrates” the gospel, sets it apart to be holy, but rather that it is already holy, holy in itself, so that his proclaiming of it is a sacred act.
79 Turner takes it as “subjective gen. of origin or cause” (M, III, p. 211).
80 ἵνα with the subjunctive.
81 προσφορά.
82 Cf. Leenhardt, “the priesthood is assumed by the apostle not because he sacrifices at a new altar to offer a new sacrifice, but because he proclaims the gospel and becomes the instrument by which the Holy Spirit associates believers with the sacrifice of the cross.” Most see Isa. 66:20 as referring to Gentiles who escort Jews from the Dispersion back to Judea, but Edward J. Young, e.g., sees “your brothers” as Gentile converts and explains the passage as meaning “None of the elect, whether from the Jews according to the flesh or from among the Gentiles, will be left behind” (The Book of Isaiah, III [Grand Rapids, 1981], p. 534).
83 εὐπρόσδεχτος, from εὐ + πρός + δέχτος, “well received” and thus “acceptable”.
84 Paul says ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ, the point at issue being the meaning of ἐν.
85 οὖν.
86 χαύχησις can have either meaning. Paul uses it of his own activity, but this is not quite boasting as we use the term, for he boasts always in what God has done, not in his human achievement. Bultmann speaks of the apostle as developing “more radically the OT paradox that man can truly boast only when he looks away from himself to God’s acts” (TDNT, III, p. 650). See further the note on 2:17.
87 There is a difficult textual question here. τήν is read before χαύχησιν by B C D E F G, but it is not found in א A L. If we read it, the article will be a demonstrative, pointing back to v. 16 and yielding the meaning “I have this boast”; if we do not read it, the sense is “I have a boast in Christ”. We should probably take the article as original, for the reading without it looks like “a simplification which can hardly be original” (Käsemann, p. 393).
88 τὰ πρὸς τὸν θεόν (cf. Heb. 2:17; 5:1). BDF 160 take this as an adverbial accusative, though the same expression is accusative of respect in Heb. 2:17; so also M, III, p. 221. It means “with reference to what concerns God” (BAGD sub πρός III.5b).
89 γάρ.
90 NIV has venture, but the verb is cognate with “boldly” in v. 15 (τολμήσω and τολμηρότερον). We should not miss the point that there were some things Paul dared to communicate and some he did not.
Cranfield C. E. B. Cranfield: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh, I [1975]; II [1979])
91 Accomplished translates χατειργάσατο (see the note on 1:27). This verb takes the accusative of the thing done, so ὧν is evidently attracted into the case of its omitted antecedent.
92 διʼ ἐμοῦ directs attention to Paul’s work rather than that of others, but also makes it clear that it was not done “by” him but “through” him.
93 εἰς ὑπαχοὴν ἐθνῶν. εἰς introduces purpose, and ἐθνῶν is a subjective genitive. What was done was done with a view to producing obedience from Gentiles (cf. 1:5, where see note).
94 Brown takes it of the Gentiles: true conversion is “ ‘in word,’ that is, manifested in profession; ‘in deed,’ that is, proved by conduct corresponding to the profession” (p. 569). This is true, but it is not what Paul is saying.
95 A few MSS read αὐτοῦ (P46 D* G), “in his power”, and Barrett regards this respectfully. It is, of course, Christ’s power, but we should probably not accept this reading. The note of power is stressed here with the repetition of ἐν δυνάμει. Paul is sure that the divine power was at work in his ministry.
96 σημείων χαὶ τεράτων. NIV’s miracles for the second term is misleading, for both terms mean miracles. σημεῖον points to the miracle as significant or meaningful, while τέρας concentrates on the wonder. The miracles are often called “signs”, but the term “wonder” is never in the New Testament used of them by itself; it is always in combination with “sign”.
97 ἐν may be taken to mean “in” the Spirit’s power (cf. v. 16).
98 Cf. Leenhardt, “it is Christ who is the hidden Author of the ‘signs and wonders’ and it is Christ who gives the Holy Spirit by whose power testimony is given to the Lord.”
99 ὥστε.
100 μέχρι (μέχρις is never used in the New Testament before a consonant, though μέχρι sometimes precedes a vowel) signifies “as far as” and may be used of time or place or measure or degree. Moule says that in the New Testament it is not found in a purely adverbial sense, but always as a preposition meaning “up to, as far as” (IBNTG, p. 85). χύχλῳ strictly means “in a circle”, “round about”, but does Paul mean “from Jerusalem and a circle round about it” or “from Jerusalem round to Illyricum”? An objection to the former suggestion is the lack of an article with χύχλῳ. In any case, the general probabilities favor the second view. Knox suggests that Paul has in mind the circle of “the nations around the Mediterranean Sea” with the thought that part of the circle (from Jerusalem to Illyricum) has been completed (JBL, LXXXIII [1964], p. 11). But Paul never mentions north Africa, not even Egypt, so this is unlikely. A. S. Geyser argues that the expression is not meant to be taken historically or geographically; it is Paul’s way of authenticating his apostolate; like Acts 1:8 it is a way of referring to preaching to the ends of the earth (NTS, VI [1959–60], pp. 156–59). But this ignores the fact that in the context Paul is referring to real places like Rome, Spain, and Jerusalem. It seems a most unlikely solution.
101 His verb is πεπληρωχέναι. BAGD class this use of the verb under “bring someth. to completion, finish someth. already begun”. Cf. the similar use of the verb in Col. 1:25. R. Jewett remarks that this is “the kind of thing an ambassador would claim in completing the visits on the route to the ultimate goal” (Interpretation, 36 [1982], p. 17).
102 Griffith Thomas comments that the method “might almost warrant the assertion of the principle, ‘Take care of the cities and the villages will take care of themselves.’ ”
103 οὕτως δέ. οὕτως here seems to refer to what follows (cf. BAGD 2), while δέ is adversative, “But in this manner….”
104 The verb is φιλοτιμέομαι, meaning strictly “to love honor” and thus “be ambitious”, but also used in the sense “to strive eagerly” (see LSJ).
105 ὠνομάσθη.
106 ἵνα.
107 ἀλλότριος means “belonging to another”; as such it is opposed to ἴδιος, “one’s own”.
108 This is the last of 64 quotations from Scripture in Romans in the list given in the UBS Greek New Testament. We cannot take this list as the last word on the subject, for the boundary between a free quotation and the expression of one’s thoughts in scriptural language is not easy to pin down; others would perhaps give somewhat different lists. But no one will question the fact that Romans is exceedingly rich in quotations from Scripture. In this list it has more quotations than any other New Testament book (next is the much longer Matthew, which has 61).
109 ἀναγγέλλω means “announce”, “make known”. It has no special connection with the gospel (though cf. 1 Pet. 1:12), but it certainly is applicable to evangelization.
110 συνήσουσιν, a verb which means “bring together” and so “understand”.
111 διό.
112 τὰ πόλλα. Käsemann comments, “Common in Greek but singular in the NT, τὰ πόλλα means ‘frequently’ and almost ‘regularly’ ” (p. 397). Moule wonders whether the meaning is “those many times (of which you are all aware), or the majority of occasions, more often than not” (IBNTG, p. 108). He gives no answer and perhaps none can be given. Cf. πολλάχις (1:13).
113 ἐνεχοπτόμην. The verb means “to cut into” and thus “to impede by cutting off the road”; it is used for hindering in any way. Burton remarks, “When an Imperfect refers to an action not separated from the time of speaking by a recognized interval, it is best translated into English by the Perfect” (MT, 28). Wuest sees the tense as implying a succession of hindrances.
114 τοῦ ἐλθεῖν is the genitive following verbs meaning “to hinder” (cf. Hodge). BDF 400(4) comment on the absence of μή after this verb, “so that the dependence on the verb is clear”.
115 τόπος means “place” in the sense of locality, but it came to be used to mean “opportunity”, as here.
116 χλίμα means a “district” or “region”, but precisely what kind of region is unclear. W. M. Ramsay examined the term and concluded that it signifies “a comparatively small geographical division” (A Historical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians [Minneapolis reprint, 1978], pp. 279–80).
117 ἐπιποθία means a strong desire; it occurs here only in the New Testament (and as a variant reading at 2 Cor. 7:11). It is cited only here in LSJ, and SH say it occurs nowhere else. It is certainly a rare word. τοῦ ἐλθεῖν is epexegetic (M, III, p. 141). ἀπό is used of separation in time as well as in space (cf. Luke 8:43; Acts 15:7).
118 ὡς ἄν, “w. the subjunctive of the time of an event in the future, when, as soon as” (BAGD IV.c); “on my imminent journey to Spain” (BDF 455[2]). Moulton remarks, “ ‘when I am on my way’ (durative) transfers into the subjunctive the familiar use of present for future” (M, I, p. 167).
119 Paul’s word is Σπανία, though the more common Greek is Ἱσπανία (the Greeks also called it “Iberia”). The Latin form was Hispania. It denoted the whole of the peninsula south of the Pyrenees. Did Paul ever get to Spain? That depends on whether he was released from his Roman prison and able to implement his plan for evangelism in that land. Toward the end of the first century Clement of Rome speaks of Paul as having reached “the limits of the west” (τὸ τέρμα τῆς δύσεωσ; v. 7), which to a Roman would probably have meant Spain. There is also a reference in the Muratorian Canon to “the departure of Paul from the City on his journey to Spain” (cited from J. Stevenson, ed., A New Eusebius [London, 1963], p. 145; “the City” means Rome). These are interesting references, but they fall short of proof.
120 διαπορεύομαι has the meaning “pass through”; here it is used absolutely.
121 This is an unusual use of the verb θεάομαι, which is normally employed in the sense “see”.
122 His verb is προπέμπω, which BAGD define as “help on one’s journey with food, money, by arranging for companions, means of travel, etc.”
123 Paul combines ἀπὸ μέρους, “in part”, with ἐμπλήσθω, “be filled”; the verb means “to fill full” (Moule sees the preposition as denoting intensification [IBNTG, p. 88]); “to be filled in part” indicates his conviction that he would never reach satiety no matter how long he enjoyed the company of the Romans. Cf. Chrysostom, “That is, no length of time can fill me or create in me a satiety of your company.”
124 νυνὶ δέ, which is probably not a resumption of the νυνὶ δέ of v. 23 but a new beginning.
125 The participle διαχονῶν. Cranfield regards this as expressing purpose rather than being durative as Michel holds.
126 Paul says simply τοῖς ἁγίοις (NIV has inserted there). Some hold that “the saints” means Christians in Jerusalem or Jewish Christians, but this is not borne out by use (cf. 16:2; 1 Cor. 6:1, etc.). It refers to believers generally, wherever they may be, though in this case, of course, it is those in Jerusalem who are in mind.
127 See his New Zealand Tyndale Lecture for 1966, published in Tyndale Bulletin 19 (1968), pp. 3–25. The quotations are from pp. 23 and 24.
128 εὐδοχέω is somtimes used in the sense “decide” (as JB), but here it surely conveys more than that. The verb means “be well pleased” (BAGD). Cf. the cognate noun in 10:1.
129 χοινωνία, “communion”, “fellowship”. BAGD give meanings like these and go on to “3. abstr. for concr. sign of fellowship, proof of brotherly unity, even gift, contribution….” The word “even” is significant.
130 “Paul had had differences with the Jerusalem church. He had not been willing to alter his gospel in the light of these differences, but neither would he consent to a divided church. There could be differences of opinion, but there could be only one church” (Burton H. Throckmorton, Jr., Adopted in Love [New York, 1978], p. 109).
131 The genitive τῶν ἁγίων is partitive (cf. IBNTG, p. 43).
132 H. E. Dana and J. R. Mantey maintain that the translation “for” for γάρ “has been greatly overworked.” They hold that in this passage “it is properly translated as emphatic” in RV (RV has “Yea”). On this view the conjunction is giving emphasis to the thought (DM, p. 243). Cf. BDF 452(2).
133 “Charity is an obligation but it is not a tax” (Murray).
134 NIV renders χαί with and indeed (as do RSV, NEB); GNB has “but, as a matter of fact”. These are all ways of bringing out the truth that “The force of ‘and’ in this context is emphatic” (TH).
135 ὀφειλέται, a term used of those who owe money but also of those bound by some obligation or duty.
136 εἰ with the aorist indicative.
137 The verb is χοινωνέω, cognate with χοινωνία rendered “contribution” in the previous verse. Paul is bringing out the fitness of the contribution the Gentiles were asked to make. The verb may be used either of the giver or the recipient.
138 NIV reads to share, the translation just used for χοινωνέω, but the verb here is λειτουργέω, a verb whose original use was for “the direct discharge of specific services to the body politic. Citizens with an income above a fixed level had by law to accept these at their own expense, or else they could do so voluntarily, whether for motives of patriotism or vainglory or both” (TDNT, IV, p. 216). The word was used of the service of God in LXX, a usage that the New Testament writers took over. Here the form the service of God takes is the service of his people. Paul has used the cognate noun in 13:6; 15:16.
139 ἐν τοῖς σαρχιχοῖς. Adjectives in -ιχός signify “-like”; this one means “belonging to σάρξ, of the nature of σάρξ” (BDF 113[2]; cf. M, III, p. 378). It can signify “carnal” and is sometimes used in a derogatory fashion in Christian writings. But here the meaning is “things pertaining to this life” or the like. It is not pejorative.
140 His verb is ἐπιτελέω, meaning “bring to an end”, “complete”. It can be used of completing almost anything, but BAGD note that it is used “Esp. of the performance of rituals and ceremonies” (2). SH also notice this use and hold that, combined with the use of λειτουργέω, it suggests that Paul sees in the collection “a solemn religious offering”.
141 Moule classes this use of διά under the heading “extension through” and sees the meaning as “via” (IBNTG, p. 55).
142 Moule points out that the participle might mean “when I come” or “if I come” (IBNTG, p. 134), but the sense of the passage makes “when” much more likely than “if”.
143 πλήρωμα signifies “fulness”, “full measure”. G. Delling takes it here as “almost adjectival: with the ‘full’ blessing.” He goes on, “The noun, however, underlines the overflowing wealth (Vg abundantia) of the blessing with which Christ accompanies His apostle” (TDNT, VI, p. 302).
144 D. M. Baillie chooses this text for a sermon on “The importance of a complete Christianity” (ET, LXVII [1955–56], pp. 121–22).
NEB The New English Bible
145 BDF class this use of διά as “Idiomatically with urgent questions = ‘by’ ” (223 [4]). It is the use we have in 12:1.
Barrett C. K. Barrett: A Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (London,1957)
146 συναγωνίσασθαι is a strong term meaning “fight along with”; it points to serious involvement. Cf. Minear, “He appealed with great urgency for supporting prayers from the Roman brothers. To those who discount the significance of intercessory prayers this may seem a negligible motive; but not to the apostle. He believed that such prayers could be of great effect” (p. 4).
147 ἵνα might be used in the sense of purpose, “in order that I may be delivered”, but more probably it signifies the content of the desired prayer. NIV inserts Pray, but this is not in the Greek; the sentence carries on from the previous verse with “that”.
148 ῥυσθῶ is perhaps better rendered “delivered from”, “preserved from”; Paul is asking that he not fall into the hands of his opponents, not that he may be rescued after they have taken him. The verb may be followed by ἐχ (7:24) or ἀπό (as here).
149 For the verb ἀπειθέω see the note on 2:8. The participle may be taken to mean the “disobedient” here (as Goodspeed), but this is one of the passages where BAGD think the meaning “be an unbeliever” “seems most probable”; the disobedience of the people in question consisted in their refusal to believe.
150 Service is διαχονία (see the note on 11:13); while the term is a general one, Paul clearly is referring to the collection taken up to serve the need of the saints. εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ means “to the saints in Jerusalem”, not to the inhabitants generally.
151 γένηται, “become”, has the force of “prove to be”.
152 Achtemeier comments that acceptance of the money “would be an acknowledgment that just as they have rightfully received a share of the material blessing of the gentiles so the gentiles rightfully received a share of the spiritual blessings of Israel…. More than that, the acceptance of such an offering would be a clear acknowledgment that Paul’s apostolic mandate is valid”.
153 ἵνα could be taken as introducing a further part of the prayer, but, as Denney puts it, this ἵνα “seems to be subordinate to, not co-ordinate with the preceding one.”
154 συναναπαύομαι is found here only in the New Testament. It usually has a meaning like “lie down together with” and is often used of married couples (BAGD). But here it clearly means rest in general.
155 Manson holds that this was the original end to the letter. It would certainly form a suitable ending, though we should notice that none of Paul’s accepted letters ends in this way. It is better to take the verse as a prayer wish inserted into the letter as Paul moved on.
1 Barth comments that the letter “would be altogether incomplete if it did not itself make clear that it was addressed to particular men possessed of human names and bearing a human countenance.”
a 1 Or deaconess
2 We see the kind of thing that had to be guarded against in Lucian’s story (somewhat later than this) of a certain Peregrinus, a swindler and a cheat, who discovered the Christians, and found out that “if any charlatan and trickster, able to profit by occasion, comes among them, he quickly acquires wealth by imposing upon simple folk” (Lucian, Peregrinus 13; cited from Loeb edition, V, p. 15). Letters of commendation were some sort of guard against this sort of thing.
3 The conjunction δέ (which NIV omits) may introduce a contrast (“but”) or mark a transition (“and”), but we do not expect it at the opening of a letter. This does not of course prove that chapter 16 always followed chapter 15, but it is a point against chapter 16 ever having existed by itself. A few MSS omit δέ (principally D* F G), but it should be read. Cf. Käsemann, “The δέ, which is certainly original (Michel), undoubtedly implies continuation (Ridderbos) and is thus the introduction to a new section” (p. 410).
4 συνίστημι, which MM say “is very common in the papyri, and is used with a great variety of meanings.” The first they select is “From its original meaning ‘set together,’ ‘combine,’ συνίστημι passes into the sense of ‘bring together as friends,’ ‘introduce,’ ‘recommend’ ”. GNB here translates “recommend”, and Moffatt “introduce”. BDF 93 note this as one of the few “certain examples of the -μι conjugation” in the active and regard it as “a polite social formula”.
5 It is the feminine form of φοῖβος, a name given to the god Apollo, “the Bright One” (LSJ). Such names were often given to slaves, who of course retained them if they were set free. Phoebe may have been a freedwoman.
6 Interestingly, this is Paul’s first use of ἐχχλησία in Romans; he uses it five times in this chapter.
RSV The Revised Standard Version
NEB The New English Bible
7 διαχόνισσα. This is implied by Pliny’s reference to ministrae whom he had tortured (Epp. x.96.8). Deaconesses are mentioned in The Apostolic Constitutions, where they are admitted to communion ahead of the virgins and the widows.
8 διάχονος. οὖσαν indicates her current position.
9 Barrett holds that the distinction between “the ‘part-time helper’ and the minister set apart to the service of the Church was not as sharply drawn as it is today, and it may therefore be that the question whether Phoebe was a ‘deaconess’ or a valued church worker is wrongly put.” There may be something in this, but even in the first century there appears to have been a distinction between those who held official positions and those who did not. Gore cites Origen, “Here we learn that female ministers are recognized in the Church.” Wilckens similarly sees here “one of the earliest witnesses to the formation of the diaconate”, and A. Oepke thinks that this description of Phoebe “indicates the point where the original charisma is becoming an office” (TDNT, I, p. 787; in a footnote he adds, “Esp. if χαί … is genuine”, as it surely is). Cranfield regards it as “virtually certain that Phoebe is being described as ‘a’ (or possibly ‘the’) deacon of the church in question”, and that this passage is to be classed with Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:8, 12.
10 ἵνα is telic. Moule discusses it under imperatival ἵνα and includes it with those which “can plausibly be explained by an antecedent verb, stated or implied, of saying, wishing, etc., and therefore permit the ἵνα to be more or less consciously final” (IBNTG, p. 145).
11 The verb is προσδέχομαι, which carries the notion of welcome. BAGD see “welcome someone in the Lord” as meaning welcome “as a Christian brother or sister”.
12 The verb παρίστημι in its intransitive uses means “stand beside” and so “stand by to help”.
13 πρᾶγμα means “that which is done, deed, thing…” (BAGD). It may be used in the sense “undertaking”, and sometimes even of a specific undertaking like a lawsuit (1 Cor. 6:1). Moule comments on the grammatical problem of ἐν ὧ... πράγματι that the omission of the antecedent “is common enough” and that “where necessary, the relevant noun is then placed after the relative pronoun” (IBNTG, p. 130).
14 Marcus Loane mentions the possibility that the reason for the journey was “no more than a change of residence.” He goes on, “The terms of his introduction seem to imply that a graver cause was at stake, perhaps a law-suit with regard to her property” (God’s Mere Mercy [Blackwood, South Australia, 1986], p. 118).
15 Howard notes this as one of the passages where a change of accent means a change of meaning (αὐτή might be read as αὕτη; M, II, p. 60). But the evidence for αὕτη is not weighty enough to carry conviction. Cranfield agrees that we must accept αὐτή “in its emphatic sense” with the meaning “she herself” (cf. BDF 277[3]).
16 προστάτις.
SH William Sanday and Arthur C. Headlam: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans (Edinburgh, 1907)
a 3 Greek Prisca, a variant of Priscilla
17 Prisca, Mary, Junia, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, the mother of Rufus, Julia, the sister of Nereus.
NIV New International Version
18 In some passages there are MSS that read Priscilla but in every case it seems that Prisca is correct. Bengel comments on Paul’s usage, “in the Church the name, Prisca, is more dignified.” For some reason NIV always conforms Paul to Luke’s usage.
19 συνεργός.
20 οἵτινες, the relative of quality. It often does not differ significantly from οἵ, but here, where Paul is pointing to the outstanding qualities of his friends, it may have its original force. BDF hold that in vv. 3ff. ὅς and ὅστις vary “according to whether a simple assertion is made (ὅς) or a characteristic (ὅστις) given” (293 [4]).
21 τὸν ἑαυτῶν τράχηλον ὑπέθηχαν. The singular here may favor the view that the usage is metaphorical (Gifford). ὑποτίθημι means “put under”, pointing to the metaphor of putting the neck on the block under the threatening axe.
22 τὴν χατʼ οἶχον αὐτῶν ἐχχλησίαν. BAGD see this use of χατά as that which “serves to isolate or separate by” as in 14:22 or Paul’s living in a private dwelling (Acts 28:16).
23 See further Robert Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community (Sydney, 1979).
24 τὸν ἀγαπητόν μου.
25 ἀπαρχὴ τῆς Ἀσίας εἰς Χριστόν. Some MSS have Ἀχαίας instead of Ἀσίας, but there is no doubt that Ἀσίας is the correct reading.
26 The MSS vary between Μαρίαν and Μαριάμ; the former could be Latin (the feminine of Marius) or Jewish, whereas the latter is clearly the equivalent of Miriam and is Jewish.
27 Ἰουνιᾶν could be a contraction of the masculine Junianus, but no other example of this contraction is known. It is more likely that it is the accusative of the feminine Ἰουνία. Ray R. Schulz, in an article entitled “Romans 16:7: Junia or Junias”, argues strongly for the feminine form (ET, 98 [1986-87], pp.108–10).
28 Thus BDF 125(2), “the ancients understood a married couple like Aquila and Priscilla”.
29 συναιχμάλωτος (again in Col. 4:10; Philem. 23) strictly means a fellow prisoner of war. Paul may be indicating that they were engaged together in a grim warfare against evil.
30 ἐπίσημοι ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις. σῆμα denotes a mark or sign, so these are “marked” or “notable” people. I have discussed the meaning of apostle in Ministers of God (London, 1964), pp. 39–61.
Harrison Everett F. Harrison: “Romans” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 10 (Grand Rapids, 1976)
31 SH say it was apparently taken “by all patristic commentators” in the sense distinguished as apostles. They further think that the presence of these apostles in Rome may suggest “perhaps one of the methods by which the city had been evangelized.”
32 Cranfield comments on Paul’s view of women: “That Paul should not only include a woman (on the view taken above) among the apostles but actually describe her, together with Andronicus, as outstanding among them, is highly significant evidence (along with the importance he accords in this chapter to Phoebe, Prisca, Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, the mother of Rufus, Julia and the sister of Nereus) of the falsity of the widespread and stubbornly persistent notion that Paul had a low view of women and something to which the Church as a whole has not yet paid sufficient attention.”
33 The relative this time is οἵ; earlier in the verse it was οἵτινες, but there seems no difference in meaning.
34 The verb γέγοναν is listed by Moulton as tolerating “the company of adjuncts that fasten attention on the initial point” (M, I, p. 144). The perfect also indicates the continuing state.
35 George Ogg dates the crucifixion as A.D. 33 and Paul’s conversion as A.D. 34 or 35 (The Chronology of the Life of Paul [London, 1968], p. 200). Martin Hengel likewise dates his conversion as A.D. 32–34 (Between Jesus and Paul [Philadelphia, 1983], p. 11), and N. A. Dahl puts it “only a couple of years after Christ’s death” (Studies in Paul [Minneapolis, 1977], p. 2).
36 J. B. Lightfoot has an important excursus on “Caesar’s Household” in his Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians (London, 1908), pp. 171ff. in which he comments on several names in this list. Those on Amplias come on p. 174.
Lightfoot J. B. Lightfoot: Notes on Epistles of St Paul (London, 1904)
37 τὸν δόχιμον. In 1:28 we read of “a reprobate mind”, ἀδόχιμον νοῦν; here we have the very opposite. Cf. Jas. 1:12.
38 οἱ ἐχ τῶν Ἀριστοβούλου. Turner says of this genitive of proper names: “The possession of slaves by a family may be indicated by this construction” (M, III, p. 169; so also BDF 162[5]). See Lightfoot’s note, pp. 174–75.
39 The verb χοπιάω is used to mean “labor to the point of weariness”; thus hard work is ascribed to all three of these women. In the case of Persis Paul inserts πολλά, but he gives us no indication of the distinction he makes between hard work and very hard work.
40 τὸν ἐχλεχτὸν ἐν χυρίῳ.
41 On ἐμοῦ here BDF 284(2) note that “Emphatic ἐμοῦ does not appear in the NT except in combination with another gen.”
42 J. I. H. McDonald quotes a third-century letter in which Aurelius Dius writes “to Aurelius Horion, my very dear father”. He sends his greetings to a number of people including several brothers and sisters, but also “to my mother Tamiea…. I greet my father Melanus and my mother Timpesouris and her son…” (NTS, XVI [1969–70], p. 370). He thus greets two fathers and two mothers.
43 Ἀσύγχριτον is from alpha-privative and συγχρίνω, “compare”, while φλέγω means “to burn”. Whether such names had any particular significance is not known.
Lagrange M.-J. Lagrange: Saint Paul Épitre aux Romains (Paris, 1922)
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner: A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, trans. and rev. R. W. Funk (Chicago, 1961)
M, J. H. Moulton: II, Accidence and Word-Formation, ed. W. F. Howard (Edinburgh, 1919)
44 Moule sees in τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς πάντας ἁγίους “a striking exception” to the rule that when πᾶς means “all” it is “not enclosed within the article-noun unit”, for here the expression “surely = πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς” (IBNTG, p. 93 n. 3).
45 This is attested by Justin, I Apol. 65: “Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss”, and by other ancient writers; in the Apostolic Constitutions it is given its place in the liturgy after the prayers: “And let the clergy salute the bishop, and the laymen the laymen, and the women the women” (R. H. Cresswell, ed., The Liturgy of “The Apostolic Constitutions” [London, 1900], p. 51).
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, a translation by Geoffrey W. Bromiley of Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Grand Rapids, 1964–76)
Gamble Harry Gamble, Jr.: The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans (Grand Rapids, 1977)
46 Barth speaks of this section as “A last urgent appeal, which is, however, no foreign element in the Epistle.” See further my discussion in the Introduction, pp. 27–28.
47 παραχαλῶ as in 12:1 (where see note); 15:30.
48 σχοπεῖν.
49 διχοστασία means “a standing aside” and thus apart from others (it is one of “the works of the flesh” in Gal. 5:20). σχάνδαλον is the bait stick of a trap, and then trouble generally (see the note on 9:33).
50 ἐχχλίνω may be used of turning away from good (3:12) or from evil (1 Pet. 3:11). The MSS are divided here, some reading the aorist (which would point to a decisive turning), others the present (which indicates the continuing attitude). Most scholars favor the present, but not a great deal turns on the decision.
51 δουλεύω means “be a slave to” (this is more than διαχονέω); the people in question were slaves, but not slaves to Christ. This leads some to the view that they were libertines.
52 Denney detects an allusion to “a self-seeking spirit, rather than an allusion to any particular cast of doctrine.”
53 Cf. Michel, who regards it as equivalent to “flesh”. Goodspeed renders “base passions”. Parry comments, “He does not say ἑαυτοῖς because they are not even serving their own true interests.”
BAGD Walter Bauer: A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, rev. and aug. by F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker from the 5th edn. (Chicago, 1979)
54 χρηστολογία. BAGD cite a Latin saying (found in several commentaries) that the word refers to one who “speaks well and does ill”. It is “the language of a good man hypocritically used by a bad man” (Shedd).
55 εὐλογία (which gives us our word “eulogy”). In the New Testament it generally means “praise” or “blessing”.
56 ἐξαπατέω is a strengthened form of ἀπατέω; it is used in 7:11 of sin’s deceit of Paul and in 2 Cor. 11:3 of the serpent’s deceit of Eve.
57 γάρ.
Godet F. Godet: Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1895)
58 ἀφιχνέομαι means “arrive at, reach”. When Paul says that their obedience has reached “to all”, he means that the report of their obedience has been very widespread (cf. 1:8).
59 οὖν.
60 A number of MSS read μέν after σοφούς; BDF comment on such readings, “the inclusion of μέν throws the emphasis on the second member (indicated by δέ); therefore, where the emphasis is on the first part and the second is only an appendage, μέν is not to be read” (447 [5]). Clearly the emphasis here is on the second member, so the tendency of scribes would be to insert the word. It should be rejected.
61 ἀχέραιος means “unmixed” (alpha-privative + χεράννυμι) and thus “pure”, metaphorically “simple”, “guileless”; Trench sees the “fundamental notion” in the word as “the absence of foreign admixture” (Synonyms, p. 206).
62 ἐν τάχει. This may well mean soon, but Lenski argues that it signifies “swiftly”, not “shortly”; Godet also denies that the word and its derivatives denote imminence (which is rather εὐθύς), and holds that what is in mind is not so much the nearness of the event as “the celerity with which it is accomplished.”
Käsemann Ernst Käsemann: Commentary on Romans (Grand Rapids, 1980)
63 Deissmann draws attention to a letter dated A.D. 50 in which the body is in one hand and the conclusion in another (LAE, pp. 170ff.). Nothing in the wording shows that two people were occupied in the writing; had the letter not survived we would not know. It is fair to conclude from such evidence that this was a recognized way of authenticating letters written to dictation.
a 23 Some manuscripts their greetings. 24May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.
64 ὁ συνεργός μου. BDF 268[1] see the article here as having the force “my well-known co-laborer”.
65 This man is Λούχιος; the other Λουχᾶς, which Paul uses of “the beloved physician” each time he mentions him (Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11; Philem. 24). Deissmann argues for the possibility that the two are the same man (LAE, pp. 437–38), but not many have been persuaded.
66 ὁ γράψας τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐν χυρίῳ. The article τήν, of course, means “this”.
67 Gordon J. Bahr connects “write” with “in the Lord”, but takes the Lord here as Paul, not as Christ. He then sees the meaning as “I, Tertius, who write the letter in the service of (my) master [Paul], greet you” (CBQ, XXVIII [1966], p. 465). But in a chapter where “in Christ” and “in the Lord” occur so often it is very unlikely that on this one occasion the Lord should be Paul.
68 ξένος. The word means “strange, foreign”, and this appears to be the only New Testament passage where it does not have this meaning. But there can be no doubt that here it means giving help to strangers, i.e., being host. The word is discussed in TDNT, V, pp. 1–36.
69 Lagrange favors travelling Christians, as does Parry, who dismisses the idea that the church met in Gaius’s home on the grounds that “It is not probable that they had only one such place.” This may well be the case, though we should bear in mind that we have no actual information on where the first-century church met for worship.
70 οἰχονόμος, “the city treasurer” (BAGD). An inscription has been found in Corinth which reads “Erastus in return for his aedileship laid (the pavement) at his own expense” (J. Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth [Wilmington, 1983], p. 37). The pavement in question is first-century, and this may be our Erastus. The office of aedile was such that its holder might well be deemed “Director of Public Works”, but he was not treasurer. Of course it is quite possible that the one man held both offices at different times. Haldane comments, “It shows that Christians may hold offices even under heathen governments, and that to serve Christ we are not to be abstracted from worldly business.”
71 Gerd Theissen discusses the problem and favors the view that the Christian Erastus was first treasurer and later aedile in Corinth. He points out that the name “is not otherwise attested for Corinth, by inscriptions or literature” (The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity [Philadelphia, 1982], p. 83).
72 Gamble argues that this verse is authentic. He is able to cite letters which have parallels to the doubling of the final benediction, and he shows that this verse tends to be absent when the doxology is found at the end of this chapter, but not when it is found elsewhere (pp. 88, 129–32). It thus formed the end of the letter but was readily deleted when the doxology was added. T. Zahn also argues strongly for the genuineness of this verse (Introduction to the New Testament, I [Edinburgh, 1909], pp. 408–10).
† Cf. Kümmel, “we need not doubt that Paul himself with this extensive, argumentative, and transcending representation gives an account of his gospel which he previously preached and which he is now bringing to the far West” (Introduction, p. 222); “Romans is the theological self-confession of Paul, which arose out of a concrete necessity of his missionary work” (ibid., p. 221). Cf. James P. Martin, “Missionary vision for the whole world dominates Paul’s description of his situation and hope at the time he wrote Romans” (Interpretation, XXV [1971], p. 303).
73 The New Testament as Canon: An Introduction (London, 1984), p. 254. O’Neill speaks of it as “a splendid liturgical doxology”.
74 Parry thinks that the doxology “sums up, tersely but completely, the main conception of the Epistle, and reproduces its most significant language.” Similarly Shedd thinks that it “is strikingly Pauline in its elements.”
75 στηρίξαι, “set up, fix (firmly), establish” (BAGD); cf. its use in 1:11.
76 χήρυγμα means the content of the Christian message generally. Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ is an objective genitive, “the preaching about Jesus Christ”. Moule sees the possibility of a subjective genitive, “preaching which he Himself delivers”. This would be understood either of the teaching of Jesus or of Jesus as preaching through the apostles (CBSC). But an objective genitive has much more support.
77 σιγάω. This is the one transitive use of the verb in the New Testament.
78 NTS, XIV (1967–68), p. 115. He has argued that God’s silence is no more only the absence of speech “than health is only the absence of sickness, or peace the absence of war” (p. 112). Harrisville similarly comments: “The silence thus does not signify privation, absence, but plenitude, something into which a word may enter, but without putting an end to the silence…. God remains hidden, even for those to whom he makes himself known.”
79 BDF 201 note that the temporal dative is contrary to classical usage and that “Its position is secure … only with transitive verbs along with scattered examples with the passive, while the accusative is retained with intransitives” (cf. M, III, p. 243).
80 δέ is adversative, marking the contrast between the time of revelation and all that preceded it.
81 The adjective προφητιχός is found again in the New Testament only in 2 Pet. 1:19.
82 Cf. SH, “The unity of the Old and New Testaments, the fact that Christ had come in accordance with the Scriptures (Rom. i.1, 2), that the new method of salvation although apart from law, was witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets (… Rom. iii.21), the constant allusion esp. in chaps. ix-xi to the Old Testament Scriptures; all these are summed up in the phrase διὰ γραφῶν προφητιχῶν. ”
83 ἐπιταγή occurs seven times in Paul and nowhere else in the New Testament (here only in Romans).
84 εἰς ὑπαχοὴν πίστεως, as in 1:5 (where see note). εἰς denotes purpose.
85 εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη may mean “among all the Gentiles”, but more probably εἰς means “as far as” the Gentiles; i.e., it reaches throughout the world.
86 τε is probably meant to connect the two participles.
GNB Good News Bible (Today’s English Version)
87 μόνῳ σοφῷ θεῷ, where the question is whether Paul means “the only God” and “the wise God” or “the only wise” God. BDF 243 speak of the adjective μόνος and the adverb μόνον as “occasionally confused”, and to take this as one of those occasions gives us justification for the sense of NIV.
88 NIV gets rid of a difficulty by giving no equivalent of ᾧ. But the MS evidence for it (with the meaning “through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory”, NEB mg.) is very strong and cannot be dismissed on purely textual grounds. This reading ascribes glory to Christ and leaves the sentence unfinished, but most commentators agree that in this doxology glory is being ascribed to the Father and further that it is unlikely that the book should close with an unfinished sentence. We could, however, take ᾧ as “resumptive” (so Robertson, p. 437) with a meaning like “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him, I say, be glory for ever” (Hodge). But to most commentators the difficulties seem too great. The ᾧ is regarded as an error which may have been introduced because in doxologies it so often comes in at just this point, or perhaps Tertius slipped it in from force of habit. BDF, with the support of B, think it should be deleted “not only because of anacoluthon, but especially in order to connect διὰ Ἰ. Χρ.” (467).