Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
Mark D. Nanos
1
Paul, a servant
*
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2
which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,
3
the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4
and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit
*
of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5
through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name,
6
including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
FAITH (1.8)
Paul uses the word
pistis
and cognates throughout the letter. It is usually translated “faith,” but the alternative “faithfulness” is a better translation for the Pauline epistles. In 3.3, the NRSV recognizes that
pistis tou theou
is not “faith of God” but “faithfulness of God”; cf. 1 Thess 1.8–9.
Pistis
does not signify mere acknowledgment of a truth claim, or stand, in contrast to works. Rather, like Heb ’
emunah
, it signifies loyalty and trust, which include appropriate behavior; hence, faithfulness. Where Paul contrasts faithfulness to deeds, he is actually contrasting two different propositions for two different groups (non-Jews or Jews), and thus two different ways of being faithful (by non-Jews, apart from circumcision and thus not under Mosaic covenant obligations because they do not become Jews/Israelites; by Jews, including circumcision and concomitant Mosaic covenant obligations). Paul opposes the idea that the faithfulness of Christ-following Gentiles should be measured by the obligation of faithfulness to proselyte conversion, which he indicates generally by reference to “circumcision” or “works of law.” Later, in the argument of Romans, especially chs 6–8; 11–15, Paul defines the faithful lifestyle expected of Gentiles.
7
To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world.
9
For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel
*
of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers,
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asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you.
11
For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
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or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13
I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
*
that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.
14
I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish
15
—hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
*
18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.
19
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20
Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse;
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for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.
22
Claiming to be wise, they became fools;
23
and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
24
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their bodies among themselves,
25
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26
For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural,
27
and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.
DIATRIBE
(2.1)
Paul employs the rhetorical technique of diatribe here and throughout Romans. Like character portrayals in a drama, diatribe, which is speech-in-character, creates attitudes to which the audience is expected to relate, whether positively or negatively. Changes of voice from singular to plural and first to second or third person are regular characteristics. Thus, Paul may be asking the questions, or putting them in the mouth of the interlocutor (or interlocutors), or some of each. The diatribe form presents the interpreter with several problems, including separating Paul’s views from those he attributes to his interlocutors. The original letter was probably delivered by a letter carrier (Phoebe; cf. 16.1) in a way that included acting out the parts.
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And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done.
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They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips,
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slanderers, God-haters,
*
insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents,
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foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32
They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.
2
Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.
2
You say,
*
“We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth.”
3
Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God?
4
Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
5
But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6
For he will repay according to each one’s deeds:
7
to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
8
while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.
9
There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
10
but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
11
For God shows no partiality.
LAW (2.12)
Nomos
is usually translated “law” and often understood to mean Torah, “Teaching/Instruction.” (See “The Law,” p.
515
.) But in many cases, Paul may be referring to the law of a particular people, whether Jewish, Roman, Greek, etc. In some cases, such as in ch 4, Paul uses
nomos
to refer to circumcision, but not to Torah more broadly. He also uses
nomos
in chs 7 and 8 to refer to the bond of marriage and of sin and death as well as of faith, life, and Christ.
12
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
13
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
14
When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves.
15
They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them
16
on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.
17
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God
18
and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law,
19
and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
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a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth,
21
you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
22
You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23
You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
24
For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
25
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26
So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
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Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law.
28
For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.
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Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.