Romans 3:8

3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. ¹  (Their ²  condemnation is deserved!)

Romans 3:19

3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under ³  the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Romans 6:19

6:19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) ⁴  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 7:7

7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I ⁵  would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else ⁶  if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” ⁷ 

Romans 9:17

9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ⁸  “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ⁹ 

Romans 10:8

10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” ¹⁰  (that is, the word of faith that we preach),

Romans 10:18

10:18 But I ask, have they ¹¹  not heard? ¹²  Yes, they have: ¹³  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ¹⁴ 

Romans 11:2

11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Romans 12:3

Conduct in Humility

12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you ¹⁵  a measure of faith. ¹⁶ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”

[3:8]  ² tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.

[3:19]  ³ tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”

[6:19]  ⁵ tn Or “because of your natural limitations” (NRSV).

[7:7]  ⁷ sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).

[7:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”

[7:7]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.

[9:17]  ⁹ sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.

[9:17]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.

[10:8]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.

[10:18]  ¹³ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ¹⁵ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.

[12:3]  ¹⁵ tn The words “of you” have been supplied for clarity.

[12:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “to each as God has distributed a measure of faith.”