Matthew 7:12

7:12 In ¹  everything, treat others as you would want them ²  to treat you, ³  for this fulfills ⁴  the law and the prophets.

John 1:17

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but ⁵  grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:19-21

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ⁶  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ⁷  by the works of the law, ⁸  for through the law comes ⁹  the knowledge of sin. 3:21 But now ¹⁰  apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) ¹¹  has been disclosed –

Romans 13:9

13:9 For the commandments, ¹²  “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” ¹³  (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁴ 

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ¹⁵  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

Romans 1:5

1:5 Through him ¹⁶  we have received grace and our apostleship ¹⁷  to bring about the obedience ¹⁸  of faith ¹⁹  among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

Romans 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁰  a slave ²¹  of Christ Jesus, ²²  called to be an apostle, ²³  set apart for the gospel of God. ²⁴ 

Romans 4:7-11

4:7 “Blessed ²⁵  are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

4:8 blessed is the one ²⁶  against whom the Lord will never count ²⁷  sin.” ²⁸ 

4:9 Is this blessedness ²⁹  then for ³⁰  the circumcision ³¹  or also for ³²  the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ³³  4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, ³⁴  so that he would become ³⁵  the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, ³⁶  that they too could have righteousness credited to them.

Romans 4:19-21

4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered ³⁷  his own body as dead ³⁸  (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 4:20 He ³⁹  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was ⁴⁰  fully convinced that what God ⁴¹  promised he was also able to do.

James 2:8

2:8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, ⁴²  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” ⁴³  you are doing well.

[7:12]  ¹ tn Grk “Therefore in.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:12]  ² tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[7:12]  ³ sn Jesus’ teaching as reflected in the phrase treat others as you would want them to treat you, known generally as the Golden Rule, is not completely unique in the ancient world, but here it is stated in its most emphatic, selfless form.

[7:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “is.”

[1:17]  ⁵ tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[3:20]  ⁷ sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

[3:20]  ⁸ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

[3:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “is.”

[3:21]  ¹⁰ tn Νυνὶ δέ (Nuni de, “But now”) could be understood as either (1) logical or (2) temporal in force, but most recent interpreters take it as temporal, referring to a new phase in salvation history.

[3:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “being witnessed by the law and the prophets,” a remark which is virtually parenthetical to Paul’s argument.

[13:9]  ¹² tn Grk “For the…” (with the word “commandments” supplied for clarity). The Greek article (“the”) is used here as a substantiver to introduce the commands that are quoted from the second half of the Decalogue (ExSyn 238).

[13:9]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13-15, 17; Deut 5:17-19, 21.

[13:9]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[13:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “by God.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “through whom.”

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn Some interpreters understand the phrase “grace and apostleship” as a hendiadys, translating “grace [i.e., gift] of apostleship.” The pronoun “our” is supplied in the translation to clarify the sense of the statement.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase ὑπακοὴν πίστεως has been variously understood as (1) an objective genitive (a reference to the Christian faith, “obedience to [the] faith”); (2) a subjective genitive (“the obedience faith produces [or requires]”); (3) an attributive genitive (“believing obedience”); or (4) as a genitive of apposition (“obedience, [namely] faith”) in which “faith” further defines “obedience.” These options are discussed by C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 1:66. Others take the phrase as deliberately ambiguous; see D. B. Garlington, “The Obedience of Faith in the Letter to the Romans: Part I: The Meaning of ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (Rom 1:5; 16:26),” WTJ 52 (1990): 201-24.

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²¹ 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.

[1:1]  ²² 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.

[1:1]  ²³ tn Grk “a called apostle.”

[1:1]  ²⁴ 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.

[4:7]  ²⁵ tn Or “Happy.”

[4:8]  ²⁶ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

[4:8]  ²⁷ tn The verb translated “count” here is λογίζομαι (logizomai). It occurs eight times in Rom 4:1-12, including here, each time with the sense of “place on someone’s account.” By itself the word is neutral, but in particular contexts it can take on a positive or negative connotation. The other occurrences of the verb have been translated using a form of the English verb “credit” because they refer to a positive event: the application of righteousness to the individual believer. The use here in v. 8 is negative: the application of sin. A form of the verb “credit” was not used here because of the positive connotations associated with that English word, but it is important to recognize that the same concept is used here as in the other occurrences.

[4:8]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 32:1-2.

[4:9]  ²⁹ tn Or “happiness.”

[4:9]  ³⁰ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ³¹ sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.

[4:9]  ³² tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ³³ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “of the faith, the one [existing] in uncircumcision.”

[4:11]  ³⁵ tn Grk “that he might be,” giving the purpose of v. 11a.

[4:11]  ³⁶ tn Grk “through uncircumcision.”

[4:19]  ³⁷ tc Most mss (D F G Ψ 33 1881 Ï it) read “he did not consider” by including the negative particle (οὐ, ou), but others (א A B C 6 81 365 1506 1739 pc co) lack οὐ. The reading which includes the negative particle probably represents a scribal attempt to exalt the faith of Abraham by making it appear that his faith was so strong that he did not even consider the physical facts. But “here Paul does not wish to imply that faith means closing one’s eyes to reality, but that Abraham was so strong in faith as to be undaunted by every consideration” (TCGNT 451). Both on external and internal grounds, the reading without the negative particle is preferred.

[4:19]  ³⁸ 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.

[4:20]  ³⁹ 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.

[4:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and being.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:21]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:8]  ⁴² tn Grk “according to the scripture.”

[2:8]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).