Romans 5:9

5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous ¹  by his blood, ²  we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. ³ 

Romans 5:1

The Expectation of Justification

5:1 ⁴ Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have ⁵  peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 1:10

1:10 and I always ask ⁶  in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. ⁷ 

Romans 1:2

1:2 This gospel ⁸  he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

Romans 1:9-10

1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel ⁹  of his Son, is my witness that ¹⁰  I continually remember you 1:10 and I always ask ¹¹  in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. ¹² 

Hebrews 6:18

6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹³  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

Revelation 6:16-17

6:16 They ¹⁴  said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, ¹⁵  6:17 because the great day of their ¹⁶  wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?” ¹⁷ 

[5:9]  ¹ tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[5:9]  ² tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

[5:9]  ³ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

[5:1]  ⁴ sn Many interpreters see Rom 5:1 as beginning the second major division of the letter.

[5:1]  ⁵ tc A number of important witnesses have the subjunctive ἔχωμεν (ecwmen, “let us have”) instead of ἔχομεν (ecomen, “we have”) in v. 1. Included in the subjunctive’s support are א* A B* C D K L 33 81 630 1175 1739* pm lat bo. But the indicative is not without its supporters: א¹ B² F G P Ψ 0220^vid 104 365 1241 1505 1506 1739^c 1881 2464 pm. If the problem were to be solved on an external basis only, the subjunctive would be preferred. Because of this, the “A” rating on behalf of the indicative in the UBS⁴ appears overly confident. Nevertheless, the indicative is probably correct. First, the earliest witness to Rom 5:1 has the indicative (0220^vid, third century). Second, the first set of correctors is sometimes, if not often, of equal importance with the original hand. Hence, א¹ might be given equal value with א*. Third, there is a good cross-section of witnesses for the indicative: Alexandrian (in 0220^vid, probably א¹ 1241 1506 1881 al), Western (in F G), and Byzantine (noted in NA²⁷ as pm). Thus, although the external evidence is strongly in favor of the subjunctive, the indicative is represented well enough that its ancestry could easily go back to the original. Turning to the internal evidence, the indicative gains much ground. (1) The variant may have been produced via an error of hearing (since omicron and omega were pronounced alike in ancient Greek). This, of course, does not indicate which reading was original – just that an error of hearing may have produced one of them. In light of the indecisiveness of the transcriptional evidence, intrinsic evidence could play a much larger role. This is indeed the case here. (2) The indicative fits well with the overall argument of the book to this point. Up until now, Paul has been establishing the “indicatives of the faith.” There is only one imperative (used rhetorically) and only one hortatory subjunctive (and this in a quotation within a diatribe) up till this point, while from ch. 6 on there are sixty-one imperatives and seven hortatory subjunctives. Clearly, an exhortation would be out of place in ch. 5. (3) Paul presupposes that the audience has peace with God (via reconciliation) in 5:10. This seems to assume the indicative in v. 1. (4) As C. E. B. Cranfield notes, “it would surely be strange for Paul, in such a carefully argued writing as this, to exhort his readers to enjoy or to guard a peace which he has not yet explicitly shown to be possessed by them” (Romans [ICC], 1:257). (5) The notion that εἰρήνην ἔχωμεν (eirhnhn ecwmen) can even naturally mean “enjoy peace” is problematic (ExSyn 464), yet those who embrace the subjunctive have to give the verb some such force. Thus, although the external evidence is stronger in support of the subjunctive, the internal evidence points to the indicative. Although a decision is difficult, ἔχομεν appears to be the authentic reading.

[1:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”

[1:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”

[1:2]  ⁸ 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.

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

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “as.”

[1:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”

[1:10]  ¹² tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”

[6:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.

[6:16]  ¹⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[6:16]  ¹⁵ tn It is difficult to say where this quotation ends. The translation ends it after “withstand it” at the end of v. 17, but it is possible that it should end here, after “Lamb” at the end of v. 16. If it ends after “Lamb,” v. 17 is a parenthetical explanation by the author.

[6:17]  ¹⁶ tc Most mss (A Ï bo) change the pronoun “their” to “his” (αὐτοῦ, autou) in order to bring the text in line with the mention of the one seated on the throne in the immediately preceding verse, and to remove the ambiguity about whose wrath is in view here. The reading αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”) is well supported by א C 1611 1854 2053 2329 2344 pc latt sy. On both internal and external grounds, it should be regarded as original.

[6:17]  ¹⁷ tn The translation “to withstand (it)” for ἵστημι (Jisthmi) is based on the imagery of holding one’s ground in a military campaign or an attack (BDAG 482 s.v. B.4).