Romans 4:17

4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). ¹  He is our father ²  in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who ³  makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. ⁴ 

Romans 14:9

14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Hebrews 11:13-16

11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ⁵  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ⁶  on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, ⁷  they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

[4:17]  ¹ tn Verses 16-17 comprise one sentence in Greek, but this has been divided into two sentences due to English requirements.

[4:17]  ² tn The words “He is our father” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to show that they resume Paul’s argument from 16b. (It is also possible to supply “Abraham had faith” here [so REB], taking the relative clause [“who is the father of us all”] as part of the parenthesis, and making the connection back to “the faith of Abraham,” but such an option is not as likely [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:243].)

[4:17]  ³ tn “The God” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[4:17]  ⁴ tn Or “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The translation of ὡς ὄντα (Jw" onta) allows for two different interpretations. If it has the force of result, then creatio ex nihilo is in view and the variant rendering is to be accepted (so C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:244). A problem with this view is the scarcity of ὡς plus participle to indicate result (though for the telic idea with ὡς plus participle, cf. Rom 15:15; 1 Thess 2:4). If it has a comparative force, then the translation given in the text is to be accepted: “this interpretation fits the immediate context better than a reference to God’s creative power, for it explains the assurance with which God can speak of the ‘many nations’ that will be descended from Abraham” (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 282; so also W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans [ICC], 113). Further, this view is in line with a Pauline idiom, viz., verb followed by ὡς plus participle (of the same verb or, in certain contexts, its antonym) to compare present reality with what is not a present reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:7; 5:3; 7:29, 30 (three times), 31; Col 2:20 [similarly, 2 Cor 6:9, 10]).

[11:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

[11:13]  ⁶ tn Or “sojourners.”

[11:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “now.”