Old/New Testament
Psalm 60[a]
For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a prayer[c] of David written to instruct others.[d] It was written when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab turned back and struck down[e] 12,000 Edomites[f] in the Valley of Salt.[g]
60 O God, you have rejected us.[h]
You suddenly turned on us in your anger.[i]
Please restore us![j]
2 You made the earth quake; you split it open.[k]
Repair its breaches, for it is ready to fall.[l]
3 You have made your people experience hard times;[m]
you have made us drink intoxicating wine.[n]
4 You have given your loyal followers[o] a rallying flag,
so that they might seek safety from the bow.[p] (Selah)
5 Deliver by your power[q] and answer me,[r]
so that the ones you love may be safe.[s]
6 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[t]
“I will triumph. I will parcel out Shechem;
the Valley of Sukkoth I will measure off.[u]
7 Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh.[v]
Ephraim is my helmet,[w]
Judah my royal scepter.[x]
8 Moab is my washbasin.[y]
I will make Edom serve me.[z]
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”[aa]
9 Who will lead me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me to Edom?[ab]
10 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
11 Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.[ac]
12 By God’s power we will conquer;[ad]
he will trample down[ae] our enemies.
Psalm 61[af]
For the music director, to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.
61 O God, hear my cry for help.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the remotest place on earth[ag]
I call out to you in my despair.[ah]
Lead me[ai] up to a rocky summit where I can be safe.[aj]
3 Indeed,[ak] you are[al] my shelter,
a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.[am]
4 I will be a permanent guest in your home;[an]
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings.[ao] (Selah)
5 For you, O God, hear my vows;
you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers.[ap]
6 Give the king long life.
Make his lifetime span several generations.[aq]
7 May he reign[ar] forever before God.
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him.[as]
8 Then I will sing praises to your name continually,[at]
as I fulfill[au] my vows day after day.
Psalm 62[av]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
62 For God alone I patiently wait;[aw]
he is the one who delivers me.[ax]
2 He alone is my protector[ay] and deliverer.
He is my refuge;[az] I will not be upended.[ba]
3 How long will you threaten[bb] a man like me?
All of you are murderers,[bc]
as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence.[bd]
4 They[be] spend all their time planning how to bring their victim[bf] down.[bg]
They love to use deceit;[bh]
they pronounce blessings with their mouths,
but inwardly they utter curses.[bi] (Selah)
5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul![bj]
For he is the one who gives me hope.[bk]
6 He alone is my protector[bl] and deliverer.
He is my refuge;[bm] I will not be shaken.
7 God delivers me and exalts me;
God is my strong protector and my shelter.[bn]
8 Trust in him at all times, you people!
Pour out your hearts before him.[bo]
God is our shelter. (Selah)
9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;
human beings are unreliable.[bp]
When they are weighed in the scales,
all of them together are lighter than air.[bq]
10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression.[br]
Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery.[bs]
If wealth increases, do not become attached to it.[bt]
11 God has declared one principle;
two principles I have heard:[bu]
God is strong,[bv]
12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love.[bw]
For you repay men for what they do.[bx]
Footnotes
- Psalm 60:1 sn Psalm 60. The psalmist grieves over Israel’s humiliation, but in response to God’s assuring word, he asks for divine help in battle and expresses his confidence in victory.
- Psalm 60:1 tn The Hebrew expression means “lily of the testimony.” It may refer to a particular music style or to a tune title.
- Psalm 60:1 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew word מִכְתָּם (miktam), which also appears in the heading to Pss 16, 56-59, is uncertain. HALOT 582-83 s.v. defines it as “inscription.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “to teach.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn In Josh 8:21 and Judg 20:48 the two verbs “turn back” and “strike down” are also juxtaposed. There they refer to a military counter-attack.
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “12,000 of Edom.” Perhaps one should read אֲרַם (’aram, “Aram”) here rather than אֱדוֹם (’edom, “Edom”).
- Psalm 60:1 sn The heading apparently refers to the military campaign recorded in 2 Sam 10 and 1 Chr 19.
- Psalm 60:1 sn You have rejected us. See Pss 43:2; 44:9, 23.
- Psalm 60:1 tn Heb “you broke out upon us, you were angry.”
- Psalm 60:1 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
- Psalm 60:2 tn The verb פָּצַם (patsam, “split open”) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “crack,” and an Aramaic cognate is used in Tg. Jer 22:14 with the meaning “break open, frame.” See BDB 822 s.v. and Jastrow 1205 s.v. פְּצַם.sn You made the earth quake; you split it open. The psalmist uses the imagery of an earthquake to describe the nation’s defeat.
- Psalm 60:2 sn It is ready to fall. The earth is compared to a wall that has been broken by the force of the earthquake (note the preceding line) and is ready to collapse.
- Psalm 60:3 tn Heb “you have caused your people to see [what is] hard.”
- Psalm 60:3 tn Heb “wine of staggering,” that is, intoxicating wine that makes one stagger in drunkenness. Intoxicating wine is here an image of divine judgment that makes its victims stagger like drunkards. See Isa 51:17-23.
- Psalm 60:4 tn Heb “those who fear you.”
- Psalm 60:4 tn There is a ray of hope in that God has allowed his loyal followers to rally under a battle flag. The translation assumes the verb is from the root נוּס (nus, “flee”) used here in the Hitpolel in the sense of “find safety for oneself” (HALOT 681 s.v. נוס) or “take flight for oneself” (BDB 630-31 s.v. נוּס). Another option is to take the verb as a denominative from נֵס (nes, “flag”) and translate “that it may be displayed” (BDB 651 s.v. II נסס) or “that they may assemble under the banner” (HALOT 704 s.v. II נסס). Here קֹשֶׁט (qoshet) is taken as an Aramaized form of קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”; BDB 905-6 s.v. קֶשֶׁת), though some understand the homonymic קֹשְׁטְ (qoshet, “truth”) here (see Prov 22:21; cf. NASB). If one follows the latter interpretation, the line may be translated, “so that they might assemble under the banner for the sake of truth.”
- Psalm 60:5 tn Heb “right hand.”
- Psalm 60:5 tn The Qere (marginal reading) has “me,” while the Kethib (consonantal text) has “us.”
- Psalm 60:5 tn Or “may be rescued.” The lines are actually reversed in the Hebrew text, “So that the ones you love may be rescued, deliver by your power and answer me.”
- Psalm 60:6 tn Heb “in his holy place.”
- Psalm 60:6 sn Shechem stands for the territory west of the Jordan, the Valley of Sukkoth for the region east of the Jordan.
- Psalm 60:7 sn Gilead was located east of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.
- Psalm 60:7 tn Heb “the protection of my head.”sn Ephraim, named after one of Joseph’s sons, was one of two major tribes located west of the Jordan. By comparing Ephraim to a helmet, the Lord suggests that the Ephraimites played a primary role in the defense of his land.
- Psalm 60:7 sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.
- Psalm 60:8 sn The metaphor of the washbasin, used to rinse one’s hands and feet, suggests that Moab, in contrast to Israel’s elevated position (vv. 6-7), would be reduced to the status of a servant.
- Psalm 60:8 tn Heb “over Edom I will throw my sandal.” The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. Some interpret this as idiomatic for “taking possession of,” i.e., “I will take possession of Edom.” Others translate עַל (ʿal) as “to” and understand this as referring to a master throwing his dirty sandal to a servant so that the latter might dust it off.
- Psalm 60:8 tc Heb “over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph.” The translation follows the text of Ps 108:9. When the initial עֲלֵיוֹ (ʿaleyo, “over”) was misread as עָלַי (ʿalay, “over me”), the first person verb form was probably altered to an imperative to provide better sense to the line.
- Psalm 60:9 sn In v. 9 the psalmist speaks again and acknowledges his need for help in battle. He hopes God will volunteer, based on the affirmation of sovereignty over Edom in v. 8, but he is also aware that God has seemingly rejected the nation (v. 10, see also v. 1).
- Psalm 60:11 tn Heb “and futile [is] the deliverance of man.”
- Psalm 60:12 tn Heb “in God we will accomplish strength.” The statement refers here to military success (see Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:48; Pss 108:13; 118:15-16).
- Psalm 60:12 sn Trample down. On this expression see Ps 44:5.
- Psalm 61:1 sn Psalm 61. The psalmist cries out for help and expresses his confidence that God will protect him.
- Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).
- Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “while my heart faints.”
- Psalm 61:2 tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.
- Psalm 61:2 tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”
- Psalm 61:3 tn Or “for.”
- Psalm 61:3 tn Or “have been.”
- Psalm 61:3 tn Heb “a strong tower from the face of an enemy.”
- Psalm 61:4 tn Heb “I will live as a resident foreigner in your tent permanently.” The cohortative is understood here as indicating resolve. Another option is to take it as expressing a request, “please let me live” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
- Psalm 61:4 sn I will find shelter in the protection of your wings. The metaphor compares God to a protective mother bird.
- Psalm 61:5 tn Heb “you grant the inheritance of those who fear your name.” “Inheritance” is normally used of land which is granted as an inheritance; here it refers metaphorically to the blessings granted God’s loyal followers. To “fear” God’s name means to have a healthy respect for his revealed reputation which in turn motivates one to obey God’s commands (see Ps 86:11).
- Psalm 61:6 tn Heb “days upon days of the king add, his years like generation and generation.”sn It is not certain if the (royal) psalmist is referring to himself in the third person in this verse, or if an exile is praying on behalf of the king.
- Psalm 61:7 tn Heb “sit [enthroned].” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive here, expressing the psalmist’s prayer.
- Psalm 61:7 tn Heb “loyal love and faithfulness appoint, let them protect him.”
- Psalm 61:8 tn Or “forever.”
- Psalm 61:8 tn Or perhaps, “and thereby fulfill.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
- Psalm 62:1 sn Psalm 62. The psalmist expresses his unwavering confidence in God’s justice and in his ability to protect his people.
- Psalm 62:1 tn Heb “only for God [is] there silence [to] my soul.”
- Psalm 62:1 tn Heb “from him [is] my deliverance.”
- Psalm 62:2 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
- Psalm 62:2 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
- Psalm 62:2 tn The Hebrew text adds רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) at the end of the line. It is unusual for this adverb to follow a negated verb. Some see this as qualifying the assertion to some degree, but this would water down the affirmation too much (see v. 6b, where the adverb is omitted). If the adverb has a qualifying function, it would suggest that the psalmist might be shaken, though not severely. This is inconsistent with the confident mood of the psalm. The adverb probably has an emphatic force here, “I will not be greatly shaken” meaning “I will not be upended.”
- Psalm 62:3 tn The verb form is plural; the psalmist addresses his enemies. The verb הוּת (hut) occurs only here in the OT. An Arabic cognate means “shout at.” Here “man” is a generic reference to the victim of the psalmist’s enemies, but in context it ultimately refers to the psalmist himself. To clarify this, the words “like me” have been supplied in the translation.
- Psalm 62:3 tn The Hebrew text has a Pual (passive) form, but the verb form should be vocalized as a Piel (active) form. See BDB 953-54 s.v. רָצַח.
- Psalm 62:3 tn Heb “like a bent wall and a broken fence.” The point of the comparison is not entirely clear. Perhaps the enemies are depicted as dangerous, like a leaning wall or broken fence that is in danger of falling on someone (see C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms [ICC], 2:69).
- Psalm 62:4 tn That is, the psalmist’s enemies addressed in the previous verse.
- Psalm 62:4 tn That is, the generic “man” referred to in the previous verse. The words “their victim” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
- Psalm 62:4 tn Heb “only from his lofty place [or perhaps, “dignity”] they plan to drive [him] away.”
- Psalm 62:4 tn Heb “they delight [in] a lie.”
- Psalm 62:4 sn The enemies use deceit to bring down their victim. They make him think they are his friends by pronouncing blessings upon him, but inwardly they desire his demise.
- Psalm 62:5 tn Heb “only for God be silent, my soul.” The wording is similar to that of v. 1a. Here an imperatival form, דּוֹמִּי (dommi, “be silent”), appears instead of the noun דּוּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”). The psalmist is encouraging himself to maintain his trust in God.
- Psalm 62:5 tn Heb “for from him [is] my hope.”
- Psalm 62:6 tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”
- Psalm 62:6 tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).
- Psalm 62:7 tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”
- Psalm 62:8 tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).
- Psalm 62:9 tn Heb “only a breath [are] the sons of mankind, a lie [are] the sons of man.” The phrases “sons of mankind” and “sons of man” also appear together in Ps 49:2. Because of the parallel line there, where “rich and poor” are mentioned, a number of interpreters and translators treat these expressions as polar opposites, בְּנֵי אָדָם (bene ʾadam) referring to the lower classes and בְּנֵי אִישׁ (bene ʾish) to higher classes. But usage does not support such a view. The rare phrase בְּנֵי אִישׁ (“sons of man”) appears to refer to human beings in general in its other uses (see Pss 4:2; Lam 3:33). It is better to understand the phrases as synonymous expressions.
- Psalm 62:9 tn The noun הֶבֶל (hevel), translated “a breath” earlier in the verse, appears again here.
- Psalm 62:10 tn Heb “do not trust in oppression.” Here “oppression” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by oppressive measures, as the final line of the verse indicates.
- Psalm 62:10 tn Heb “and in robbery do not place vain hope.” Here “robbery” stands by metonymy for the riches that can be gained by theft, as the next line of the verse indicates.
- Psalm 62:10 tn Heb “[as for] wealth, when it bears fruit, do not set [your] heart [on it].”
- Psalm 62:11 tn Heb “one God spoke, two which I heard.” This is a numerical saying utilizing the “x” followed by “x + 1” pattern to facilitate poetic parallelism. (See W. M. W. Roth, Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament [VTSup], 55-56.) As is typical in such sayings, a list corresponding to the second number (in this case “two”) follows. Another option is to translate, “God has spoken once, twice [he has spoken] that which I have heard.” The terms אַחַת (ʾakhat, “one; once”) and שְׁתַיִם (shetayim, “two; twice”) are also juxtaposed in 2 Kgs 6:10 (where they refer to an action that was done more than “once or twice”) and in Job 33:14 (where they refer to God speaking “one way” and then in “another manner”).
- Psalm 62:11 tn Heb “that strength [belongs] to God.”
- Psalm 62:12 tn Heb “and to you, O Master, [is] loyal love.”
- Psalm 62:12 tn Heb “for you pay back to a man according to his deed.” Another option is to understand vv. 11b and 12a as the first principle and v. 12b as the second. In this case one might translate, “God has declared one principle, two principles I have heard, namely, that God is strong, and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love, and that you repay men for what they do.”sn You repay men for what they do. The psalmist views God’s justice as a demonstration of both his power (see v. 11c) and his loyal love (see v. 12a). When God judges evildoers, he demonstrates loyal love to his people.
The Expectation of Justification
5 [a] Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have[b] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access[c] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice[d] in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not[e] only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God[f] has been poured out[g] in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)[h] 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous[i] by his blood,[j] we will be saved through him from God’s wrath.[k] 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not[l] only this, but we also rejoice[m] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
The Amplification of Justification
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people[n] because[o] all sinned— 13 for before the law was given,[p] sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin[q] when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type[r] of the coming one) transgressed.[s] 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression.[t] For if the many died through the transgression of the one man,[u] how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned.[v] For judgment, resulting from the one transgression,[w] led to condemnation, but[x] the gracious gift from the many failures[y] led to justification. 17 For if, by the transgression of the one man,[z] death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently,[aa] just as condemnation[ab] for all people[ac] came[ad] through one transgression,[ae] so too through the one righteous act[af] came righteousness leading to life[ag] for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man[ah] many[ai] were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man[aj] many[ak] will be constituted righteous. 20 Now the law came in[al] so that the transgression[am] may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Footnotes
- Romans 5:1 sn Many interpreters see Rom 5:1 as beginning the second major division of the letter.
- Romans 5:1 tc A number of significant witnesses have the subjunctive ἔχωμεν (echōmen, “let us have”) instead of ἔχομεν (echomen, “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 0220vid 104 365 1241 1505 1506 1739c 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 UBS5 appears overly confident. Nevertheless, the indicative is probably correct. First, the earliest witness to Rom 5:1 has the indicative (0220vid, 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 0220vid, probably א1 1241 1506 1881 al), Western (in F G), and Byzantine (noted in NA28 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 autograph. 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 the initial text—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 (eirēnēn echōmen) 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.
- Romans 5:2 tc ‡ There is some dispute over whether τῇ πίστει is here or not. Several decent witnesses lack the words (B D F G 0220 sa Ambst) while they are found (with ἐν preceding the article in some) in other witnesses, some of which are very good (א [+ ἐν in א1; lacking in א*, omitted in אc] A [also with ἐν] C Ψ 33 1739 1881 lat). On balance, the shorter reading has stronger external witnesses. As well, (ἐν) τῇ πίστει strikes the reader as mildly redundant and certainly as a clarification. As such, it seems to be a motivated reading. It is thus best to delete the words from the text.
- Romans 5:2 tn Or “exult, boast.”
- Romans 5:3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- Romans 5:5 tn The phrase ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ (hē agapē tou theou, “the love of God”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“our love for God”), subjective genitive (“God’s love for us”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). The immediate context, which discusses what God has done for believers, favors a subjective genitive, but the fact that this love is poured out within the hearts of believers implies that it may be the source for believers’ love for God; consequently an objective genitive cannot be ruled out. It is possible that both these ideas are meant in the text and that this is a plenary genitive: “The love that comes from God and that produces our love for God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (ExSyn 121).
- Romans 5:5 sn On the OT background of the Spirit being poured out, see Isa 32:15; Joel 2:28-29.
- Romans 5:7 sn Verse 7 forms something of a parenthetical comment in Paul’s argument.
- Romans 5:9 tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiōthentes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
- Romans 5:9 tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”
- Romans 5:9 tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.
- Romans 5:11 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
- Romans 5:11 tn Or “exult, boast.”
- Romans 5:12 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anthrōpous) has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
- Romans 5:12 tn The translation of the phrase ἐφ᾿ ᾧ (eph hō) has been heavily debated. For a discussion of all the possibilities, see C. E. B. Cranfield, “On Some of the Problems in the Interpretation of Romans 5.12,” SJT 22 (1969): 324-41. Only a few of the major options can be mentioned here: (1) the phrase can be taken as a relative clause in which the pronoun refers to Adam, “death spread to all people in whom [Adam] all sinned.” (2) The phrase can be taken with consecutive (resultative) force, meaning “death spread to all people with the result that all sinned.” (3) Others take the phrase as causal in force: “death spread to all people because all sinned.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Grk “for before the law.”
- Romans 5:13 tn Or “sin is not reckoned.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “pattern.”
- Romans 5:14 tn Or “disobeyed”; Grk “in the likeness of Adam’s transgression.”
- Romans 5:15 tn Grk “but not as the transgression, so also [is] the gracious gift.”
- Romans 5:15 sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).
- Romans 5:16 tn Grk “and not as through the one who sinned [is] the gift.”
- Romans 5:16 tn The word “transgression” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.
- Romans 5:16 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.
- Romans 5:16 tn Or “falls, trespasses,” the same word used in vv. 15, 17, 18, 20.
- Romans 5:17 sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).
- Romans 5:18 tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
- Romans 5:18 tn Grk “[it is] unto condemnation for all people.”
- Romans 5:18 tn Here ἀνθρώπους (anthrōpous) has been translated as a generic (“people”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.
- Romans 5:18 tn There are no verbs in the Greek text of v. 18, forcing translators to supply phrases like “came through one transgression,” “resulted from one transgression,” etc.
- Romans 5:18 sn One transgression refers to the sin of Adam in Gen 3:1-24.
- Romans 5:18 sn The one righteous act refers to Jesus’ death on the cross.
- Romans 5:18 tn Grk “righteousness of life.”
- Romans 5:19 sn Here the one man refers to Adam (cf. 5:14).
- Romans 5:19 tn Grk “the many.”
- Romans 5:19 sn One man refers here to Jesus Christ.
- Romans 5:19 tn Grk “the many.”
- Romans 5:20 tn Grk “slipped in.”
- Romans 5:20 tn Or “trespass.”
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