Romans 4:3-6

4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited ¹  to him as righteousness.” ²  4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. ³  4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, ⁴  his faith is credited as righteousness.

4:6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

Romans 4:9

4:9 Is this blessedness ⁵  then for ⁶  the circumcision ⁷  or also for ⁸  the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ⁹ 

Romans 4:20-25

4:20 He ¹⁰  did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was ¹¹  fully convinced that what God ¹²  promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham ¹³  as righteousness.

4:23 But the statement it was credited to him ¹⁴  was not written only for Abraham’s ¹⁵  sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 4:25 He ¹⁶  was given over ¹⁷  because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of ¹⁸  our justification. ¹⁹ 

[4:3]  ¹ tn The term λογίζομαι (logizomai) occurs 11 times in this chapter (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). In secular usage it could (a) refer to deliberations of some sort, or (b) in commercial dealings (as virtually a technical term) to “reckoning” or “charging up a debt.” See H. W. Heidland, TDNT 4:284, 290-92.

[4:3]  ² sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:4]  ³ tn Grk “not according to grace but according to obligation.”

[4:5]  ⁴ tn Or “who justifies the ungodly.”

[4:9]  ⁵ tn Or “happiness.”

[4:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “upon.”

[4:9]  ⁷ sn See the note on “circumcision” in 2:25.

[4:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “upon.”

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

[4:20]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:22]  ¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:23]  ¹⁴ tn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:25]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “who,” referring to Jesus. 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.

[4:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “handed over.”

[4:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “because of.” However, in light of the unsatisfactory sense that a causal nuance would here suggest, it has been argued that the second διά (dia) is prospective rather than retrospective (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 288-89). The difficulty of this interpretation is the structural balance that both διά phrases provide (“given over because of our transgressions…raised because of our justification”). However the poetic structure of this verse strengthens the likelihood that the clauses each have a different force.

[4:25]  ¹⁹ sn Many scholars regard Rom 4:25 to be poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage.