Matthew 5:3

5:3 “Blessed ¹  are the poor in spirit, ²  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ³  to them.

Matthew 25:34

25:34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

Luke 12:32

12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is well pleased ⁴  to give you the kingdom.

Luke 22:29

22:29 Thus ⁵  I grant ⁶  to you a kingdom, ⁷  just as my Father granted to me,

Romans 8:17

8:17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ) ⁸  – if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Romans 8:1

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ⁹ 

Romans 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹⁰  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:2

2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ¹¹  against those who practice such things.

Romans 1:5

1:5 Through him ¹²  we have received grace and our apostleship ¹³  to bring about the obedience ¹⁴  of faith ¹⁵  among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name.

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ¹⁶  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 4:8

4:8 blessed is the one ¹⁷  against whom the Lord will never count ¹⁸  sin.” ¹⁹ 

Romans 4:18

4:18 Against hope Abraham ²⁰  believed ²¹  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ²²  according to the pronouncement, ²³  “so will your descendants be.” ²⁴ 

Romans 4:1

The Illustration of Justification

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, ²⁵  has discovered regarding this matter? ²⁶ 

Romans 1:4

1:4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power ²⁷  according to the Holy Spirit ²⁸  by the resurrection ²⁹  from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ³⁰  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 1:11

1:11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift ³¹  to strengthen you,

[5:3]  ¹ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[5:3]  ² sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[5:3]  ³ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.

[12:32]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “your Father chooses.”

[22:29]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ perseverance with Jesus.

[22:29]  ⁶ sn With the statement “I grant to you a kingdom” Jesus gave the disciples authority over the kingdom, as God had given him such authority. The present tense looks at authority given presently, though the major manifestation of its presence is yet to come as the next verse shows.

[22:29]  ⁷ tn Or “I give you the right to rule” (cf. CEV). For this translation of διατίθεμαι βασιλείαν (diatiqemai basileian) see L&N 37.105.

[8:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “on the one hand, heirs of God; on the other hand, fellow heirs with Christ.” Some prefer to render v. 17 as follows: “And if children, then heirs – that is, heirs of God. Also fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.” Such a translation suggests two distinct inheritances, one coming to all of God’s children, the other coming only to those who suffer with Christ. The difficulty of this view, however, is that it ignores the correlative conjunctions μέν…δέ (men…de, “on the one hand…on the other hand”): The construction strongly suggests that the inheritances cannot be separated since both explain “then heirs.” For this reason, the preferred translation puts this explanation in parentheses.

[8:1]  ⁹ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[2:12]  ¹⁰ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “based on truth.”

[1:5]  ¹² tn Grk “through whom.”

[1:5]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and apostleship for obedience.”

[1:5]  ¹⁵ 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.

[1:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[4:8]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 32:1-2.

[4:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:18]  ²¹ 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.

[4:18]  ²² sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

[4:18]  ²³ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

[4:18]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.

[4:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “according to natural descent” (BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4).

[4:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “has found?”

[1:4]  ²⁷ sn Appointed the Son-of-God-in-power. Most translations render the Greek participle ὁρισθέντος (Jorisqentos, from ὁρίζω, Jorizw) “declared” or “designated” in order to avoid the possible interpretation that Jesus was appointed the Son of God by the resurrection. However, the Greek term ὁρίζω is used eight times in the NT, and it always has the meaning “to determine, appoint.” Paul is not saying that Jesus was appointed the “Son of God by the resurrection” but “Son-of-God-in-power by the resurrection,” as indicated by the hyphenation. He was born in weakness in human flesh (with respect to the flesh, v. 3) and he was raised with power. This is similar to Matt 28:18 where Jesus told his disciples after the resurrection, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

[1:4]  ²⁸ tn Grk “spirit of holiness.” Some interpreters take the phrase to refer to Christ’s own inner spirit, which was characterized by holiness.

[1:4]  ²⁹ tn Or “by his resurrection.” Most interpreters see this as a reference to Jesus’ own resurrection, although some take it to refer to the general resurrection at the end of the age, of which Jesus’ resurrection is the first installment (cf. 1 Cor 15:23).

[1:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the gospel of God, which he promised.” Because of the length and complexity of this sentence in Greek, it was divided into shorter English sentences in keeping with contemporary English style. To indicate the referent of the relative pronoun (“which”), the word “gospel” was repeated at the beginning of v. 2.

[1:11]  ³¹ sn Paul does not mean here that he is going to bestow upon the Roman believers what is commonly known as a “spiritual gift,” that is, a special enabling for service given to believers by the Holy Spirit. Instead, this is either a metonymy of cause for effect (Paul will use his own spiritual gifts to edify the Romans), or it simply means something akin to a blessing or benefit in the spiritual realm. It is possible that Paul uses this phrase to connote specifically the broader purpose of his letter, which is for the Romans to understand his gospel, but this seems less likely.