(Old Testament quotations/allusions are underlined. [Brackets] indicate a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability. "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love". However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior. It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings. (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".) Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé". Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing. It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)
Peace with God
(Parallel teachings: Colossians 1:19-23; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)
- 1 Therefore, having been made righteous by faith, we [should]fn“should” There is a textual variant on this verse which centers on the verb; some manuscripts read “we have peace” (Indicative, a statement of fact), and some read “we should have peace” (a hortatory subjunctive, indicating what we should do). The difference between the two is only a single letter in Greek (“ο” vs. “ω”) and they were pronounced similarly at the time, likely leading to the variant. The manuscript evidence clearly and strongly favors “we should have peace”, with its evidence being both early and widespread (including א* A B* C D K L 33 and others). The early Greek church fathers predominantly treated the verse as an exhortation, supporting the “should” reading, as did many ancient translations (e.g. Old Latin, Vulgate, some Syriac, Coptic, etc.). Conversely, the “we have peace” reading has its strongest support from later corrections to early manuscripts (e.g., א¹ B²), and many later manuscripts as well. Modern textual critics favor “we have peace” on contextual grounds. They judge it to fit the logical flow of Paul’s argument significantly more naturally, while they believe “should” would disrupt it and be out of place. The majority of textual critics and modern translations take this position. Ultimately, the choice depends on how you weigh the manuscript evidence versus the internal evidence. have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus the Anointed,
- 2 through whom we also *have access by faith into this grace in which we *stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
- 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in tribulations, *knowing that tribulation produces endurance,
- 4 and endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
- 5 And hope doesn’t make us ashamedfnquotation/allusion to Psalm 25:2-3; Psalm 31:1; and Isaiah 49:23 because the ^love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, the One who was given to us. CFParallel teachings: James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7
- 6 For with us still being weak, the Anointed died for the sake of the ungodly at the opportune time.
- 7 For rarely will someone die for the sake of a righteous man, though for the sake of a good man perhaps someone might even dare to die.
- 8 But God is proving His own ^love for us, because with us still being sinners, the Anointed died for our sake.
- 9 Therefore, having now been made righteous by His blood, much more will we be saved from wrath through Him!
- 10 For if we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son while being enemies, then having been reconciled, much more will we be saved by His life!
- 11 And not only this, but we’re also rejoicing in God through our Lord, Jesus the Anointed, through whom we now received reconciliation.
Death through Adam’s sin, life through Jesus’ righteousness
(Parallel teachings: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 45-49)
- 12 Because of this, just as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin, so also, death spread to all men, becausefn“because” is two words in Greek and isn’t a usual way to say “because”. Thus, its meaning has been hotly debated by scholars. The phrase is “ἐφ’ ᾧ” (eph hō), with “hō” being a relative pronoun (who, which) that is either masculine or neuter in form. (They are identical in this particular form.) The three major understandings are: (1) “hō” is masculine and refers to Adam, making it: “death spread to all men, in whom (Adam) all sinned.” This understanding is favored by scholars who believe that all mankind became guilty when Adam sinned, and that we are guilty at conception because of Adam’s sin. (Compare with Ezekiel 18, especially v20.) This view has difficulty because there are three other options for the antecedent between “hō” and “one man” (Adam); specifically, “world” once and “death” twice. (2) “hō” is masculine and refers to death, making it: “death spread to all men, on account of which, all sinned”. This understands “death” to mean corruption inherited from Adam, with the meaning that we all sin because we inherited death/corruption from Adam. (3) “hō” is neuter and refers to the preceding clause (“death spread to all men”) with causative force, making it: “death spread to all men, because all sinned”. This would mean that the reason men die is that we sin. (Compare with James 1:15) all sinned.
- 13 For sin was in the world until the law, but sin isn’t charged to an account when there isn’t a law.
- 14 But regardless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over the men who didn’t sin in the likeness of the deliberate sinfn“deliberate sin” is one word in Greek. It denotes an intentional stepping over a known boundary, not an accidental violation of that boundary. In this context, it’s deliberately violating God’s commands in the Law; see also Numbers 15:30-31 of Adam, who is a type of the One about to come.
- 15 But the gift of grace isn’t like the misstep.fn“misstep”. The Greek word used here doesn’t quite mean “sin”. It’s the word “παράπτωμα” (paraptóma) and carries the connotation of a “slip-up” or a “false step” with the implication – but not certainty – that it was unintentional. For if the many died by the one man’s misstep, so also the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the One man – Jesus the Anointed – overflowed much more to the many.
- 16 And the gift isn’t like what came through the one who sinned. For indeed, the judgement from one led to a guilty verdict,fn“guilty verdict” could also be translated “condemnation” in the sense of someone accused of a crime being condemned as guilty of the crime. but the gift of grace from many missteps led to us being made righteous.
- 17 For if death reigned through the one misstep of the one, much more will the men receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus the Anointed!
- 18 So therefore, just as a guilty verdictfn“guilty verdict” could also be translated “condemnation” in the sense of someone accused of a crime being condemned as guilty of the crime. came to all men through one misstep, so also, life from being made righteous came to all men through one righteous deed.
- 19 For just as the many were caused to be sinnersfn“sinners” this Greek word refers to: “one who violates God’s will or law” (Mounce). In this specific context, it means that because of Adam’s sin, the many will “violate God’s will or law”. through the disobedience of one man, so also, the many will be caused to be righteousfn“righteous” this Greek word is defined by various lexicons as: (1) “a person in accord with God’s standards, in proper relationship with God” (Mounce), (2) “conforming to the laws of God and man; applied to model citizens in the Graeco-Roman world” (BDAG), and (3) “observing divine and human laws; one who is such as he ought to be” (Thayer’s). Generally, the core idea is that of being in a proper relationship with God, man, and the law, which is how a man ought to be. In this context, and much of the Bible, the focus is vertical on being in proper relationship with God and approved by Him. through the obedience of One man.
- 20 And the law entered so that the misstep might abound. But where sin abounded, grace super-abounded,
- 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to the life of agesfn“life of ages” is literal, and captures the duration as well as the quality of the life, which the traditional interpretation of “eternal life” doesn’t. The word translated “ages” (αἰώνιον) is the adjective form of the Greek word “αἰών” (aion), which is used – for example – in Matthew 24:3 “what are the signs of your coming and the end of the age?” through Jesus the Anointed our Lord.
Next: Romans chapter 6
Previous: Romans chapter 4
Up: BOS Bible Index
Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.
Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.