Romans 1:8

Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome

1:8 First of all, ¹  I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

Romans 1:10

1:10 and I always ask ²  in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. ³ 

Romans 2:16

2:16 on the day when God will judge ⁴  the secrets of human hearts, ⁵  according to my gospel ⁶  through Christ Jesus.

Romans 9:26

9:26 “And in the very place ⁷  where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” ⁸ 

Romans 10:21

10:21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!” ⁹ 

Romans 11:3

11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” ¹⁰ 

Romans 11:13

11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

Romans 15:31

15:31 Pray ¹¹  that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my ministry in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

Romans 16:4-5

16:4 who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 16:5 Also greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, ¹²  who was the first convert ¹³  to Christ in the province of Asia. ¹⁴ 

Romans 16:23

16:23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus the city treasurer and our brother Quartus greet you.

Romans 16:25

16:25 ¹⁵ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that had been kept secret for long ages,

[1:8]  ¹ tn Grk “First.” Paul never mentions a second point, so J. B. Phillips translated “I must begin by telling you….”

[1:10]  ² tn Grk “remember you, always asking.”

[1:10]  ³ tn Grk “succeed in coming to you in the will of God.”

[2:16]  ³ tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.

[2:16]  ⁴ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ⁵ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.

[9:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “And it will be in the very place.”

[9:26]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Hos 1:10.

[10:21]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.

[11:3]  ⁶ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.

[15:31]  ⁷ tn Verses 30-31 form one long sentence in the Greek but have been divided into two distinct sentences for clarity in English.

[16:5]  ⁸ sn The spelling Epenetus is also used by NIV, NLT; the name is alternately spelled Epaenetus (NASB, NKJV, NRSV).

[16:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “first fruit.” This is a figurative use referring to Epenetus as the first Christian convert in the region.

[16:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[16:25]  ⁹ tc There is a considerable degree of difference among the mss regarding the presence and position of the doxology of 16:25-27. Five situations present themselves from the ms tradition. The doxology is found in the ancient witnesses in three separate locations: (1) here after 16:23 (Ì⁶¹ א B C D 81 365 630 1739 2464 al co), (2) after 14:23 (Ψ 0209^vid Ï), or (3) after 15:33 (Ì⁴⁶). The situation is further complicated in that some of the mss have these verses in two places: (4) after 14:23 and after 16:23 (A P 33 104 2805 pc); or (5) after 14:23 and after 15:33 (1506). The uncertain position of the doxology might suggest that it was added by later scribes. But since the mss containing the doxology are so early and widespread, it almost certainly belongs in Romans; it is only a question of where. Further, the witnesses that omit the doxology are few: F G 629 Hier^mss. (And of these, G has a blank space of several lines large enough for the doxology to belong there.) Only two positions (after chapter 14 only and at the end of the letter only) deserve particular notice because the situation of the mss showing the doxology in two places dates back to the 5th century. Later copyists, faced with the doxology in two different places in the mss they knew, may have decided to copy the doxology in both places, since they were unwilling to consciously omit any text. Because the textual disruption of the doxology is so early, TCGNT 472 suggests two possibilities: either (1) that Paul may have sent two different copies of Romans – a copy lacking chapter 16 and a copy with the full text of the epistle as we now have it, or (2) Marcion or some of his followers circulated a shortened form of the epistle that lacked chapters 15 and 16. Those mss that lacked chapters 15-16 would naturally conclude with some kind of doxology after chapter 14. On the other hand, H. Gamble (The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans [SD], 123-32) argues for the position of the doxology at 14:23, since to put the doxology at 16:25 would violate Paul’s normal pattern of a grace-benediction at the close of the letter. Gamble further argues for the inclusion of 16:24, since the mss that put the doxology after chapter 14 almost always present 16:24 as the letter’s closing, whereas most of the mss that put the doxology at its traditional position drop 16:24, perhaps because it would be redundant before 16:25-27. A decision is difficult, but the weight of external evidence, since it is both early and geographically widespread, suggests that the doxology belongs here after 16:23. For a full discussion, see TCGNT 470-73.