Romans 1:9

1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ¹  of his Son, is my witness that ²  I continually remember you

Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ³ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ⁴  in the Holy Spirit –

Galatians 1:20

1:20 I assure you ⁵  that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you! ⁶ 

Galatians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ⁷  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Galatians 2:5

2:5 But ⁸  we did not surrender to them ⁹  even for a moment, ¹⁰  in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. ¹¹ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn Grk “whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel.”

[1:9]  ² tn Grk “as.”

[9:1]  ³ sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

[1:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “What things I am writing to you, behold, before God [that] I am not lying.”

[1:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[2:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “slaves, nor did we…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, οὐδέ (oude) was translated as “But…even” and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 5.

[2:5]  ⁹ tn Or “we did not cave in to their demands.”

[2:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “even for an hour” (an idiom for a very short period of time).

[2:5]  ¹¹ sn In order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. Paul evidently viewed the demands of the so-called “false brothers” as a departure from the truth contained in the gospel he preached. This was a very serious charge (see Gal 1:8).