Proverbs 12:21

12:21 The righteous do not encounter ¹  any harm, ² 

but the wicked are filled with calamity. ³ 

Romans 8:28

8:28 And we know that all things work together ⁴  for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ⁵  in Christ Jesus has set you ⁶  free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 4:18

4:18 Against hope Abraham ⁷  believed ⁸  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ⁹  according to the pronouncement, ¹⁰  “so will your descendants be.” ¹¹ 

¹ tn Heb “is not allowed to meet to the righteous.”

² tn Heb “all calamity.” The proper nuance of אָוֶן (’aven) is debated. It is normally understood metonymically (effect) as “harm; trouble,” that is, the result/effect of wickedness (e.g., Gen 50:20). Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, took it as “wickedness,” its primary meaning; “the righteous will not be caught up in wickedness.”

³ tn The expression רָע מָלְאוּ (malÿ’u ra’, “to be full of evil”) means (1) the wicked do much evil or (2) the wicked experience much calamity (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁴ tc ὁ θεός (Jo qeos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 by Ì⁴⁶ A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).

⁵ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

⁶ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ 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.

⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

¹⁰ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

¹¹ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.