Book Epistle to the Romans Order in the Bible part 6 | Bible part New Testament Category Pauline epistles | |
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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, but written by an amanuensis, Tertius of Iconium, while Paul was in Corinth, in winter of AD 57-58. Paul wrote to the Roman Christians in order to give them a substantial resume of his theology. The focus of this chapter is on Abraham, whose faith "was accounted (or imputed) to him for righteousness". The Geneva Bible's chapter summary states that "ten times in the chapter [Paul] beateth upon this word, Imputation.
Contents
Text
Structure
The New King James Version organises this chapter as follows:
The New International Version has a single sub-heading for the whole chapter: "Abraham Justified by Faith"
Theologian Heinrich Meyer argues that this chapter should have begun with Romans 3:31 "since that verse contains the theme of the following discussion".
Abraham's Faith
New King James Version
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”Heinrich Meyer explains that "the passage quoted is Genesis 15:6, according to the Septuagint (LXX), which renders the active Hebrew: וְיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ (he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness) by the passive Greek: και ελογισθη, kai elogisthe). Paul quotes the same verse in Galatians 3:6. Protestant theologian Leopold Immanuel Rückert argued that Paul "made an unwarrantable use of the passage for his purpose".