15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield 1 and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 2
15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, 3 what will you give me since 4 I continue to be 5 childless, and my heir 6 is 7 Eliezer of Damascus?” 8
18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why 14 did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really 15 have a child when I am old?’
4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, 18 has discovered regarding this matter? 19 4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous 20 by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God. 4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited 21 to him as righteousness.” 22 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 23 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, 24 his faith is credited as righteousness.
4:23 But the statement it was credited to him 42 was not written only for Abraham’s 43 sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
1 sn The noun “shield” recalls the words of Melchizedek in 14:20. If God is the shield, then God will deliver. Abram need not fear reprisals from those he has fought.
2 tn Heb “your reward [in] great abundance.” When the phrase הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ (harbeh mÿod) follows a noun it invariably modifies the noun and carries the nuance “very great” or “in great abundance.” (See its use in Gen 41:49; Deut 3:5; Josh 22:8; 2 Sam 8:8; 12:2; 1 Kgs 4:29; 10:10-11; 2 Chr 14:13; 32:27; Jer 40:12.) Here the noun “reward” is in apposition to “shield” and refers by metonymy to God as the source of the reward. Some translate here “your reward will be very great” (cf. NASB, NRSV), taking the statement as an independent clause and understanding the Hiphil infinitive absolute as a substitute for a finite verb. However, the construction הַרְבּה מְאֹדֵ is never used this way elsewhere, where it either modifies a noun (see the texts listed above) or serves as an adverb in relation to a finite verb (see Josh 13:1; 1 Sam 26:21; 2 Sam 12:30; 2 Kgs 21:16; 1 Chr 20:2; Neh 2:2).
3 tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master,
4 tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.
5 tn Heb “I am going.”
6 tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”
7 tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).
8 sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.
9 tn Heb “days.”
10 tn Heb “it had ceased to be for Sarah [after] a way like women.”
11 tn Heb “saying.”
12 tn It has been suggested that this word should be translated “conception,” not “pleasure.” See A. A. McIntosh, “A Third Root ‘adah in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 24 (1974): 454-73.
13 tn The word “too” has been added in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 tn Heb “Why, this?” The demonstrative pronoun following the interrogative pronoun is enclitic, emphasizing the
15 tn The Hebrew construction uses both הַאַף (ha’af) and אֻמְנָם (’umnam): “Indeed, truly, will I have a child?”
16 tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Or “through.”
18 tn Or “according to natural descent” (BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4).
19 tn Grk “has found?”
20 tn Or “was justified.”
21 tn The term λογίζομαι (logizomai) occurs 11 times in this chapter (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). In secular usage it could (a) refer to deliberations of some sort, or (b) in commercial dealings (as virtually a technical term) to “reckoning” or “charging up a debt.” See H. W. Heidland, TDNT 4:284, 290-92.
22 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
23 tn Grk “not according to grace but according to obligation.”
24 tn Or “who justifies the ungodly.”
25 tn Grk “that it might be according to grace.”
26 tn Grk “those who are of the faith of Abraham.”
27 tn Verses 16-17 comprise one sentence in Greek, but this has been divided into two sentences due to English requirements.
28 tn The words “He is our father” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to show that they resume Paul’s argument from 16b. (It is also possible to supply “Abraham had faith” here [so REB], taking the relative clause [“who is the father of us all”] as part of the parenthesis, and making the connection back to “the faith of Abraham,” but such an option is not as likely [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:243].)
29 tn “The God” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
30 tn Or “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The translation of ὡς ὄντα (Jw" onta) allows for two different interpretations. If it has the force of result, then creatio ex nihilo is in view and the variant rendering is to be accepted (so C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:244). A problem with this view is the scarcity of ὡς plus participle to indicate result (though for the telic idea with ὡς plus participle, cf. Rom 15:15; 1 Thess 2:4). If it has a comparative force, then the translation given in the text is to be accepted: “this interpretation fits the immediate context better than a reference to God’s creative power, for it explains the assurance with which God can speak of the ‘many nations’ that will be descended from Abraham” (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 282; so also W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans [ICC], 113). Further, this view is in line with a Pauline idiom, viz., verb followed by ὡς plus participle (of the same verb or, in certain contexts, its antonym) to compare present reality with what is not a present reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:7; 5:3; 7:29, 30 (three times), 31; Col 2:20 [similarly, 2 Cor 6:9, 10]).
31 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
33 sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.
34 tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”
35 sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.
36 tc Most
37 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A C D Ψ 33 Ï bo) have ἤδη (hdh, “already”) at this point in v. 19. But B F G 630 1739 1881 pc lat sa lack it. Since it appears to heighten the style of the narrative and since there is no easy accounting for an accidental omission, it is best to regard the shorter text as original. NA27 includes the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.
38 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here.
39 tn Grk “and being.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
40 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
43 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.