Romans 4

Chapter of the New Testament

Romans 4

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Fragment c to h containing parts of the Epistle to the Romans in Papyrus 40, written about AD 250.

Book| Epistle to the Romans
Category| Pauline epistles
Christian Bible part| New Testament
Order in the Christian part| 6

Romans 4 is the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD,[1] with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22.[2] The focus of this chapter is on Abraham, whose faith "was accounted (or imputed) to him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). The Geneva Bible's chapter summary states that "ten times in the chapter [Paul] beateth upon this word, Imputation.[3]

## Text

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The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 25 verses.

### Textual witnesses

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Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

* Papyrus 40 (~AD 250; extant verses 1–8)
* Codex Vaticanus (325–350)
* Codex Sinaiticus (330–360)
* Codex Alexandrinus (400–440)
* Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; complete)

### Old Testament references

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* Romans 4:3 references Genesis 15:6
* Romans 4:7–8 references Psalm 32:1–2[4]
* Romans 4:17 references Genesis 17:5[5]
* Romans 4:18 references Genesis 15:5 [6]
* Romans 4:22 references Genesis 15:6

## Abraham's faith

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### Verse 3

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> For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

> — Romans 4:3, English Standard Version[7]

Heinrich Meyer explains that the citation from Genesis 15:6[8] ("he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness") is quoted according to the Septuagint (LXX), which renders the active וְיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ, wa-yaḥ-shə-ḇe-hā, 'and he counted it'[9][10] by the passive και ελογισθη, kai elogisthe, 'and it was accounted'.[11] Paul quotes the same verse in the same way in Galatians 3:6. Meyer also disputes the charge from theologian Leopold Immanuel Rückert [de] that Paul "made an unwarrantable use of the passage for his purpose",[12] because here Paul definitely understood δικαιοσύνη[13] "in the dogmatic sense", justifiable in doing so, since "the imputation of faith as צְדָקָה, tsə-ḏā-qāh, 'for righteousness',[10] was essentially the same judicial act which takes place at the justification of Christians".[11]

### Verse 18

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Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.[14]

Hope in nature (as far as nature could give hope) is contrasted with hope in God (that God could do what nature could not). The hope that Abraham might become the father of many nations is "most properly taken" as expressing the divine purpose in regard to Abraham and his destiny.[6]

## See also

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* Abraham
* David
* Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 22, Psalm 32, Isaiah 53, Galatians 3, and Hebrews 11

## References

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1. ^ Hill 2007, p. 1084.
2. ^ Donaldson, Terence L. (2007). "63. Introduction to the Pauline Corpus". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1077\. ISBN 978-0199277186.
3. ^ Geneva Bible, Romans 4, Introduction
4. ^ Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1901). The Book of Psalms: with Introduction and Notes. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Vol. Book IV and V: Psalms XC-CL. Cambridge: At the University Press. p. 838. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
5. ^ "Biblical concordances of Romans 4 in the 1611 King James Bible".
6. ^ a b Nicoll, W. R. (1897ff), Expositor's Greek Testament on Romans 4, accessed 9 June 2024
7. ^ Romans 4:3: ESV
8. ^ Genesis 15:6
9. ^ Genesis 15:6 Mechon-Mamre version
10. ^ a b Hebrew Text Analysis: Genesis 15:6. Biblehub
11. ^ a b Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm (1880). Commentary on the New Testament. Romans 4. Translation by Peter Christie from Meyer's sixth edition. Accessed February 14, 2019.
12. ^ Rückert, L. I., Commentary on Romans, 1831, referred to by Meyer in his NT Commentary on Romans 4, accessed 10 September 2016
13. ^ Greek Text Analysis: Romans 4:3. Biblehub
14. ^ Romans 4:18: King James Version

## Bibliography

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* Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.
* Hill, Craig C. (2007). "64. Romans". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1083–1108. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.

## External links

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* Romans 4 King James Bible - Wikisource
* English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
* Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
* Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

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Epistle to the Romans

Bible chapters|

* One
* Two
* Three
* Four
* Five
* Six
* Seven
* Eight
* Nine
* Ten
* Eleven
* Twelve
* Thirteen
* Fourteen
* Fifteen
* Sixteen

People|

* Abraham
* Ampliatus
* Andronicus
* Apelles
* Asyncritus
* David
* Elijah
* Erastus
* Esau
* Gaius
* Hermas
* Hosea
* Jesse
* Isaac
* Isaiah
* Israel
* Jacob
* Jason
* Jesus Christ
* Junias
* Lucius
* Mary of Rome
* Moses
* Narcissus
* Nereus
* Olympas
* Paul
* Phoebe
* Phlegon
* Priscilla
* Quartus
* Rebecca
* Rufus
* Sarah
* Sosipater
* Tertius
* Timothy
* Tryphena

Manuscripts|

* Papyrus 10
* 26
* 27
* 31
* 40
* 46
* 61
* 94
* 99
* 113
* 118
* Uncial 0172
* 0219
* 0220
* 0221
* 0311

Analysis|

* Textual variants
* Pelagius' commentary
* The Epistle to the Romans (Barth)
* Origen and the History of Justification

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