8:39 They answered him, 18 “Abraham is our father!” 19 Jesus replied, 20 “If you are 21 Abraham’s children, you would be doing 22 the deeds of Abraham. 8:40 But now you are trying 23 to kill me, a man who has told you 24 the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! 25 8:41 You people 26 are doing the deeds of your father.”
Then 27 they said to Jesus, 28 “We were not born as a result of immorality! 29 We have only one Father, God himself.” 8:42 Jesus replied, 30 “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. 31 I 32 have not come on my own initiative, 33 but he 34 sent me. 8:43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept 35 my teaching. 36 8:44 You people 37 are from 38 your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. 39 He 40 was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, 41 because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, 42 he speaks according to his own nature, 43 because he is a liar and the father of lies. 44
4:13 For the promise 47 to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
9:6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, 56 9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 57 9:8 This means 58 it is not the children of the flesh 59 who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
3:19 Why then was the law given? 60 It was added 61 because of transgressions, 62 until the arrival of the descendant 63 to whom the promise had been made. It was administered 64 through angels by an intermediary. 65
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; 70
break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,
because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than those of the woman who has a husband.” 71
4:28 But you, 72 brothers and sisters, 73 are children of the promise like Isaac. 4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent 74 persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, 75 so it is now. 4:30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son” 76 of the free woman. 4:31 Therefore, brothers and sisters, 77 we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
1 tn Grk “We are the seed” (an idiom).
2 tn Grk “They answered to him.”
3 tn Or “How is it that you say.”
4 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
5 tn Or “who commits.” This could simply be translated, “everyone who sins,” but the Greek is more emphatic, using the participle ποιῶν (poiwn) in a construction with πᾶς (pas), a typical Johannine construction. Here repeated, continuous action is in view. The one whose lifestyle is characterized by repeated, continuous sin is a slave to sin. That one is not free; sin has enslaved him. To break free from this bondage requires outside (divine) intervention. Although the statement is true at the general level (the person who continually practices a lifestyle of sin is enslaved to sin) the particular sin of the Jewish authorities, repeatedly emphasized in the Fourth Gospel, is the sin of unbelief. The present tense in this instance looks at the continuing refusal on the part of the Jewish leaders to acknowledge who Jesus is, in spite of mounting evidence.
6 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
7 tn Or “household.” The Greek work οἰκία (oikia) can denote the family as consisting of relatives by both descent and marriage, as well as slaves and servants, living in the same house (more the concept of an “extended family”).
8 sn Jesus’ point is that while a slave may be part of a family or household, the slave is not guaranteed a permanent place there, while a son, as a descendant or blood relative, will always be guaranteed a place in the family (remains forever).
9 tn Or “Son.” The question is whether “son” is to be understood as a direct reference to Jesus himself, or as an indirect reference (a continuation of the generic illustration begun in the previous verse).
10 tn Grk “seed” (an idiom).
11 tn Grk “you are seeking.”
12 tn Grk “my word.”
13 tn Or “finds no place in you.” The basic idea seems to be something (in this case Jesus’ teaching) making headway or progress where resistance is involved. See BDAG 1094 s.v. χωρέω 2.
14 tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of
15 tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”
16 tn Grk “and you.”
17 tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these
18 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”
19 tn Or “Our father is Abraham.”
20 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
21 tc Although most
22 tc Some important
23 tn Grk “seeking.”
24 tn Grk “has spoken to you.”
25 tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.
26 tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.
27 tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sys,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë13 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA27 has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
28 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.
29 sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.
30 tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”
31 tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”
32 tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
33 tn Grk “from myself.”
34 tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).
35 tn Grk “you cannot hear,” but this is not a reference to deafness, but rather hearing in the sense of listening to something and responding to it.
36 tn Grk “my word.”
37 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
38 tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).
39 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
40 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
41 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
42 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
43 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
44 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
45 tn Grk “the father of circumcision.”
46 tn Grk “the ‘in-uncircumcision faith’ of our father Abraham.”
47 sn Although a singular noun, the promise is collective and does not refer only to Gen 12:7, but as D. Moo (Romans 1-8 [WEC], 279) points out, refers to multiple aspects of the promise to Abraham: multiplied descendants (Gen 12:2), possession of the land (Gen 13:15-17), and his becoming the vehicle of blessing to all people (Gen 12:13).
48 tn Grk “of whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
49 tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”
50 tn Or “cultic service.”
51 tn Grk “of whom are the fathers.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
52 tn Grk “from whom.” Here the relative pronoun has been replaced by a personal pronoun.
53 tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
54 tn Or “Messiah.” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed.”)
55 tn Or “the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever,” or “the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever!” or “the Messiah who is over all. God be blessed forever!” The translational difficulty here is not text-critical in nature, but is a problem of punctuation. Since the genre of these opening verses of Romans 9 is a lament, it is probably best to take this as an affirmation of Christ’s deity (as the text renders it). Although the other renderings are possible, to see a note of praise to God at the end of this section seems strangely out of place. But for Paul to bring his lament to a crescendo (that is to say, his kinsmen had rejected God come in the flesh), thereby deepening his anguish, is wholly appropriate. This is also supported grammatically and stylistically: The phrase ὁ ὢν (Jo wn, “the one who is”) is most naturally taken as a phrase which modifies something in the preceding context, and Paul’s doxologies are always closely tied to the preceding context. For a detailed examination of this verse, see B. M. Metzger, “The Punctuation of Rom. 9:5,” Christ and the Spirit in the New Testament, 95-112; and M. J. Harris, Jesus as God, 144-72.
56 tn Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”
57 tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.
58 tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
59 tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.
60 tn Grk “Why then the law?”
61 tc For προσετέθη (proseteqh) several Western
62 tc παραδόσεων (paradosewn; “traditions, commandments”) is read by D*, while the vast majority of witnesses read παραβάσεων (parabasewn, “transgressions”). D’s reading makes little sense in this context. πράξεων (praxewn, “of deeds”) replaces παραβάσεων in Ì46 F G it Irlat Ambst Spec. The wording is best taken as going with νόμος (nomo"; “Why then the law of deeds?”), as is evident by the consistent punctuation in the later witnesses. But such an expression is unpauline and superfluous; it was almost certainly added by some early scribe(s) to soften the blow of Paul’s statement.
63 tn Grk “the seed.” See the note on the first occurrence of the word “descendant” in 3:16.
64 tn Or “was ordered.” L&N 31.22 has “was put into effect” here.
65 tn Many modern translations (NASB, NIV, NRSV) render this word (μεσίτης, mesith"; here and in v. 20) as “mediator,” but this conveys a wrong impression in contemporary English. If this is referring to Moses, he certainly did not “mediate” between God and Israel but was an intermediary on God’s behalf. Moses was not a mediator, for example, who worked for compromise between opposing parties. He instead was God’s representative to his people who enabled them to have a relationship, but entirely on God’s terms.
66 tn Paul’s use of the Greek article here and before the phrase “free woman” presumes that both these characters are well known to the recipients of his letter. This verse is given as an example of the category called “well-known (‘celebrity’ or ‘familiar’) article” by ExSyn 225.
67 tn Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός children by natural descent Ro 9:8 (opp. τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας). ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται Gal 4:23; cp. vs. 29.”
68 tn Grk “which things are spoken about allegorically.” Paul is not saying the OT account is an allegory, but rather that he is constructing an allegory based on the OT account.
69 sn The meaning of the statement the Jerusalem above is free is that the other woman represents the second covenant (cf. v. 24); she corresponds to the Jerusalem above that is free. Paul’s argument is very condensed at this point.
70 tn The direct object “children” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for clarity. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
71 tn Grk “because more are the children of the barren one than of the one having a husband.”
72 tc Most
73 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.
74 tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.
75 tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”
76 sn A quotation from Gen 21:10. The phrase of the free woman does not occur in Gen 21:10.
77 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.