translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: ROM

label: NET translator note

text: Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”


text: Grk “grant you to think the same among one another.”


text: Grk “of the circumcision”; that is, the Jews.


text: Or “to the patriarchs.”


text: There are two major syntactical alternatives which are both awkward: (1) One could make “glorify” dependent on “Christ has become a minister” and coordinate with “to confirm” and the result would be rendered “Christ has become a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises…and so that the Gentiles might glorify God.” (2) One could make “glorify” dependent on “I tell you” and coordinate with “Christ has become a minister” and the result would be rendered “I tell you that Christ has become a minister of circumcision…and that the Gentiles glorify God.” The second rendering is preferred.


text: Grk “in the believing” or “as [you] believe,” with the object “him” supplied from the context. The referent could be God ( 15:13 a) or Christ ( 15:12 ).


text: Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13 .


text: Grk “serving.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in the Greek text, but in keeping with contemporary English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.


text: The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ ( to euangelion tou qeou , “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek , §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.


text: Grk “so that the offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable.” This could be understood to refer to an offering belonging to the Gentiles (a possessive genitive) or made by the Gentiles (subjective genitive), but more likely the phrase should be understood as an appositive genitive, with the Gentiles themselves consisting of the offering (so J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC 38], 2:860). The latter view is reflected in the translation “so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering.”


text: puts the article in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity. Grk “Therefore I have a boast.”


text: Grk “unto obedience.”


text: Grk “now no longer having a place…I have.”


text: Grk “but having a desire…for many years.”


text: Grk “and to be helped by you.” The passive construction was changed to an active one in the translation.


text: Grk “to them”; the referent (the Jerusalem saints) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Grk “have sealed this fruit to them.”


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


text: ) also inserting 16:25-27 at this point. See the tc note at 16:25 for more information.