Romans 3:4-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “every man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.
2. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.
3. Romans 3:4 tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.
4. Romans 3:4 tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.
5. Romans 3:5 tn Or “shows clearly.”
6. Romans 3:5 sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.
7. Romans 3:7 tn Grk “abounded unto.”
8. Romans 3:8 tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”
9. Romans 3:8 tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.
10. Romans 3:12 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.
11. Romans 3:13 tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”
12. Romans 3:13 sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.
13. Romans 3:14 tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
14. Romans 3:14 sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.
15. Romans 3:17 sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.
16. Romans 3:18 sn A quotation from Ps 36:1.
17. Romans 3:19 tn Grk “in,” “in connection with.”
18. Romans 3:20 sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.
19. Romans 3:20 tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.
20. Romans 3:20 tn Grk “is.”