Genesis 44:17

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ¹  you may go back ²  to your father in peace.”

Luke 20:16

20:16 He will come and destroy ³  those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ⁴  When the people ⁵  heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” ⁶ 

Romans 3:3-4

3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being ⁷  shown up as a liar, ⁸  just as it is written: “so that you will be justified ⁹  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” ¹⁰ 

Romans 3:6

3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

Romans 3:31

3:31 Do we then nullify ¹¹  the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead ¹²  we uphold the law.

Romans 6:2

6:2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:15

The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness

6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

Romans 7:7

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ¹³  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ¹⁴  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ¹⁵ 

Romans 7:13

7:13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Galatians 2:17

2:17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages ¹⁶  sin? Absolutely not!

Galatians 3:21

3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? ¹⁷  Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. ¹⁸ 

Galatians 6:14

6:14 But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which ¹⁹  the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

[44:17]  ¹ tn The words “the rest of” have been supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[44:17]  ² tn Heb “up” (reflecting directions from their point of view – “up” to Canaan; “down” to Egypt).

[20:16]  ³ sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.

[20:16]  ⁴ sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.

[20:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people addressed in v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:16]  ⁶ sn May this never happen! Jesus’ audience got the point and did not want to consider a story where the nation would suffer judgment.

[3:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.

[3:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

[3:4]  ⁹ tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.

[3:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.

[3:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “render inoperative.”

[3:31]  ¹² tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).

[7:7]  ¹³ sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).

[7:7]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.

[2:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “does Christ serve the interests of sin?”; or “is Christ an agent for sin?” See BDAG 230-31 s.v. διάκονος 2.

[3:21]  ¹⁷ tc The reading τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “of God”) is well attested in א A C D (F G read θεοῦ without the article) Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy co. However, Ì⁴⁶ B d Ambst lack the words. Ì⁴⁶ and B perhaps should not to be given as much weight as they normally are, since the combination of these two witnesses often produces a secondary shorter reading against all others. In addition, one might expect that if the shorter reading were original other variants would have crept into the textual tradition early on. But 104 (a.d. 1087) virtually stands alone with the variant τοῦ Χριστοῦ (tou Cristou, “of Christ”). Nevertheless, if τοῦ θεοῦ were not part of the original text, it is the kind of variant that would be expected to show up early and often, especially in light of Paul’s usage elsewhere (Rom 4:20; 2 Cor 1:20). A slight preference should be given to the τοῦ θεοῦ over the omission. NA²⁷ rightly places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[3:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “have been based on the law.”

[6:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or perhaps, “through whom,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than the cross.