Euangelion
I’m thinking of reviving an old commentary practice of translation, notes, and paraphrase. Something you can find from John Locke to J.B. Lightfoot. For those interested, I’ve tried to do a literal translation designed to de-familiarize the NT, followed up with a creative paraphrase as a feat of initial interpretation, then added some exegetical notes for readers.
Translation in Red, Paraphrase in Green, Notes in Black!
Paul Introduces Himself to the Romans (Rom 1:1-7)
Paulos, a slave of the Anointed Iēsous, called to be a sacred emissary and consecrated for the joyous proclamation of God. 2 A message which God pre-promised through his prophets in the sacred scrolls, 3 concerning his Son, who was born from the seed of Dauid’s line according to the flesh, 4 who was installed as the Son of God in power through the resurrection of the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness. Iēsous the Anointed One, our master. 5 Through him we have received divine favor and a divine commission for the purpose of bringing all the Gentiles to reciprocate this divine favor by exercising the allegiance of faith and by living for the sake of his name. 6 And you are among these Gentiles as you are also called by Iēsous the Anointed One. 7 To those in Rome, who are beloved by God and called to be God’s holy people. Divine favour to you and peace from God our Father and the master Iēsous the Anointed One.
A letter from Paul, a slave of Messiah Jesus, called to be his special envoy, and specially commissioned for purpose of announcing the good news of victory that is both from God and about God. God had already promised this good news to the people long ago through his prophets in the holy texts. A message which focuses on God’s Son, who in his human ancestry was born from David’s family, and who was declared to be the powerful Son of God by the Holy Spirit through the incipient arrival of the day of resurrection which was ushered in through him: Jesus the Messiah, our Lord. It is through Jesus that we have received the favored office of being a special divine envoy. Our aim is to bring about a faithful obedience among all of the Gentiles as a response to his kindness and for the benefit and the betterment of the name of Jesus in our world. What is more, you share in Messiah Jesus because you were called by him. So to all of the believers in Rome who are embraced by God’s love and called to a life of holiness, unmerited and unrepayable kindness, peace to you from God our Father and from Lord Jesus the Messiah.
1. Paul identifies as Christ’s doulos, which denotes a “slave”; if Paul wanted to indicate a generic “servant” he would have used diakonos (servant), oiketēs (house servant), or paidos (boy servant).
3. The phrase “born from the seed of David” (tou genomenou ek spermatos Dauid) is an idiomatic reference to descent from the Davidic lineage.
4. The participle horisthentos, from horizō, is ordinarily translated as “appointed” (NIV) or “declared” (NRSV) to avoid the connotation that Jesus was made/installed/chosen to be Son of God only after his resurrection. However, usage of horizō in the NT refers to something concretely determined, appointed, fixed, or set (BDAG). Even so, the point here is not Jesus getting adopted as God’s Son at his resurrection. To the contrary, Jesus is already the Son of God by virtue of being the Son of David/Davidic Messiah in v. 3 and such a figure was widely regarded as a royal Son of God (see e.g. Ps 2:7). The point is that Jesus’s divine sonship is expressed in a new way, “in power,” as God’s vice-regent in his exalted state. In other words, divine sonship is transformed rather than triggered by the event of resurrection.
4. Many translations (e.g. NIV, CEB, ESV) add a personal pronoun “his” so that Jesus is installed as the Son of God by “his” resurrection, even though no such pronoun is in the Greek text. Most likely, ex anastaseōs nekrōn (“from/by the resurrection of the dead ones”) is a generalizing plural and signifies that Jesus’s resurrection marks out the incipient beginning of the corporate resurrection of the last day (see Jn 11:24, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day”).
5. Gk. charis kai apostolyn is usually translated as “grace and apostleship” but could be a hendiadys, i.e. “grace-driven-apostleship.” In any case, grace and the apostolic office are brought close together.
4. Gk. hypakoēn pisteōs is literally the “obedience of faith” and could designate “obedience to the faith” (objective genitive), the “obedience faith requires” (subjective genitive), the “obedience that comes from faith” (genitive of result), the “obedience which consists of faith” (genitive of apposition), or “believing obedience” (attributive genitive). The words pistis and hypakoē are not synonyms but belong to the same conceptual domain of fidelity and compliance. This is why I’ve rendered it as “allegiance of faith” and “faithful obedience” respectively. Importantly, Romans is bracketed in 1:5 and 16:26 with hypakoēn pisteōs, it is a major theme of the letter.
5. The word ethnē/ethnos can be translated in an ethnic sense as “Gentile,” a religious sense as “pagan”, or a territorial sense as “nation.”
7. Some mss omit “in Rome” probably in an attempt to make it a truly catholic letter.
Paul Explains Why He Hasn’t Visited and the Purpose of His Ministry (Rom 1:8-15)
8 First, I offer thanksgiving to my God through Iēsous the Anointed One concerning all of you because your faithfulness is announced to the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the joyful proclamation of his Son, is my witness to how unceasingly I remember you, 10 constantly in my praying and entreating, if perhaps somehow, sooner or later, I may finally succeed by the will of God to visit you. 11 For I long to see you, in order that I might bestow some spiritual gift upon you in order to strengthen you, 12 and through this reciprocal exchange with you, we may mutually benefit by one another’s stewardship in faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters that I often planned to come to you (and was hindered until the present time), so that I may reap some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor to the Hellenes and to the barbarians, both to the wise as well as to the foolish. 15 For such reasons, I am eager to be of service and to preach the joyful proclamation to you who are in Rome.
First, I give thanks to my God through Jesus the Messiah for all of you Roman believers because the news about your faith has been reported all over the world. The God, whom I serve with all my spiritual ability in the proclamation of the good news, is my witness, and he knows how I never fail to mention you in my prayers. And I pray that now, someway, God willing, that I might finally succeed in coming to visit you. For I earnestly desire to see you face to face so that I, as a specially chosen envoy, can share with you some spiritual gift that will make you firm and strong in your faith. That way we might work to build each other up in our common bond of faith. Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to have the wrong idea about me. I want you to know that – despite what some might think –I have genuinely tried on several occasions to come and visit you, but I have been hindered until now. I’ve always wanted to visit the city of Rome so that I could hopefully have a fruitful ministry among you just as I have had in the other Gentile cities where I have worked. You see, as part of my ministry, I’m under certain obligations, to minister to the cultured Greeks as much as to the inhospitable Barbarians, to the wise as well as to the unlearned. That is why I am as eager as a monkey at a fruit-market to come and preach the good news to you folks in Rome.
8. “First”. Paul never gets around to a further enumerated point.
9. Gk. charisma hymin pneumatikon refers to a spiritual gift of some kind, not merely a general blessing or benefit by his presence.
12. Gk. symparakaleō is normally translated as “mutually encourage” or “mutually comfort,” however, given Greco-Roman customs pertaining to gift-giving, there is an unstated reciprocal exchange probably going on here. Paul wants to bless the Roman churches with this letter and his presence and he hopes in return that they will reciprocate by sending him on his way to Spain with material and personnel support.
12. Gk. pisits, normally translated as “faith” or “faithfulness,” but one meaning for pistis is “pledge,” “oath,” or “stewardship” (see Rom 12.3; Acts 17.31; 2 Tim 4.7). Paul has in mind that they will assist each other out of the faithful stewardship of their gifts, resources, and abilities.
Paul’s Central Thesis (Rom 1:16-17)
16 For I am not dishonored by the joyful proclamation, for it is God’s power for the deliverance of everyone who believes, to the Judaean first and also to the Hellene. 17 For in the joyous proclamation, God’s righteousness is unveiled, from faith to faith, just as it has been written, “The righteous will live by faith.”
I am not embarrassed by the good news, in fact, I am rather proud of it and I’ll tell you why. It is because the good news is the power of God for the rescue of everyone who believes, first for the Jews, and second for the Greeks. For in the good news, God’s plan to put the world to right is decisively revealed, his right-making power is manifested, and it is completely and comprehensively by way of faith and only faith, just as someone wrote: “The righteous people are those who will escape the Babylonian crisis with their lives because of their faith in God’s very own faithfulness.”
16. Gk. epaischunomai means to experience shame, loss of honor or reputation, so as to be ashamed of some event or action.
17. The “gospel” or “joyful proclamation” is implied by in auto (lit. “in it”) as the vehicle by which God’s righteousness is revealed.
17. Gk. dikaiosynē theou is “God’s righteousness” or “righteousness of God” and should be understood as a subjective genitive, God’s saving action, the rescue of creation and his covenant faithfulness to Israel (e.g. Ps 98.1-3). It refers principally to God’s saving righteousness for Israel (e.g. Isa 51:4-5) even as it acquits the individual transgressor (Ps 51:15). In sum, “God’s righteousness” signifies the uprightness of God’s character and how he demonstrates his character as the judge of all the earth and in his faithfulness towards Israel in Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God then is the character of God embodied and enacted in his saving actions which means vindication for his people and condemnation for the wicked.
17. “From faith to faith.” There are many proposals for the intended meaning. From God’s faithfulness to human faith. From Jewish faith to Gentile faith. From Christ’s faithfulness to human faith. More likely it is simply being emphatic that faith is the instrument for experiencing God’s righteousness.
17. The quotation is from Hab 2.4, the problem is that the Hebrew, Greek, and NT citation of this verse exhibit elasticity in the wording by adding or subtracting pronouns:
MT/DSS the righteous one by his faith will live
LXX (some mss) the righteous one by my faithfulness will live
LXX (some mss) my righteous one by faith will live
Rom 1.17/Gal 3.11 the righteous one by faith will live
Heb 10.38 my righteous one by faith will live
In Paul’s version it can be translated differently: (1) The righteous one by (on the basis of) faith will live; or (2) The righteous one will live (a life characterized) by faith.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In