Romans 1:8-9

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

1:8 First of all, ¹  I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ²  of his Son, is my witness that ³  I continually remember you

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁴  a slave ⁵  of Christ Jesus, ⁶  called to be an apostle, ⁷  set apart for the gospel of God. ⁸ 

Romans 7:8

7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. ⁹  For apart from the law, sin is dead.

Romans 12:1

Consecration of the Believer’s Life

12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹⁰  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ¹¹  – which is your reasonable service.

Philippians 1:3-4

Prayer for the Church

1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. ¹²  1:4 I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹³  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ¹⁵  in him.

Colossians 1:2-3

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁶  brothers and sisters ¹⁷  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁸  from God our Father! ¹⁹ 

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²⁰  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

¹ tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”

² tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

³ tn Grk “as.”

⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

⁶ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (̲⁶ א A G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (̹⁰ B 81 pc). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred as slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus,” especially in certain letters such as Romans, Galatians, and Philippians. As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. A decision is difficult, but “Christ Jesus” is slightly preferred.

⁷ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

⁸ tn The genitive in the phrase εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ (euangelion qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as (1) a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or (2) an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself. However, in view of God’s action in v. 2 concerning this gospel, a subjective genitive notion (“the gospel which God brings”) is slightly preferred.

⁹ tn Or “covetousness.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

¹¹ tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.

¹² tn This could also be translated “for your every remembrance of me.” See discussion below.

¹³ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

¹⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

¹⁵ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

¹⁶ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

¹⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

¹⁸ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

¹⁹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

²⁰ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).