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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Rom C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Rom 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25
OET (OET-LV) Who contrary_to hope, in hope believed, in_order that to_become him the_father of_many nations, according_to the message having_been_spoken:
Thus will_be the descendants of_you.
OET (OET-RV) Without any other evidence, he believed in hope itself and thus he became the father of many nations according to what he had been told: ‘Your descendants will be like the sand and the stars.’
In this section, Paul showed that God’s promise of blessing to Abraham and his descendants was made because Abraham believed God. God did not promise blessing because Abraham obeyed the law of Moses. Paul then described how Abraham believed and why God called him righteous. Paul then explained that God also calls the people who believe in God (and his Messiah, Jesus) righteous.
Here are other possible headings for this section:
God counts people as righteous through faith, not through the Law Of Moses
God also called us(incl) righteous because we believe
The lesson/model of God calling Abraham righteous applies to us/believers
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed
¶ With hope in God but without hope in himself he believed.
¶ He had no hope in his own ability/power but believed with hope in God’s ability/power,
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed: The Greek is literally “who contrary to hope on/in hope believed.” It implies that Abraham had no hope for a child from any human or natural power, but hoped/expected God to fulfill his promise to enable he and Sarah to have a child of their own. And he believed that God would do that.
In some languages that implied information will be clear. But in many languages it will not. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Make some or all of the implied information explicit. For example:
In hope he believed beyond human hope
Without hope in himself he believed with hope in God
He had no hope in his own ability to fulfill the promise but believed with hope in God’s ability to fulfill it
Translate the literal meaning and explain it in a footnote. For example:
This clause implies that Abraham had no hope for a child from any human or natural power, but hoped/expected God to fulfill his promise to enable he and Sarah to have a child of their own. And he believed that God would do that.
hope: This word refers to wanting something to happen or even confident expectation that something will happen. The hope in the phrase “in hope” refers to Abraham confidently expecting God to fulfill his promise. The hope in the phrase “against hope” refers to Abraham wanting children very much but after so many years of not being able to have children, he did not expect to suddenly begin by their own power. Consider how to translate this word in both places here.
and so became the father of many nations,
Consequently, he did become like the father/ancestor of many people-groups,
and so God made him the father of many culture/language groups.
and so became the father of many nations: The phrase and so introduces a consequence or result of Abraham believing in God’s promise to him.Moo (on TW) and Morris (on TW). It could also introduce God’s purpose based on Abraham’s faith.Nicoll (page 620) and Hodge (page 197). It probably does not introduce what Abraham believed.Alford (page 353) says, “To…connect it with (believe)…is against Paul’s usage, who never connects (it) with a neuter infinitive,—and not justified by Phil. 1.23 (or) 1 Thes. 3.10.” Here are other ways to translate this clause:
As a result, he became a father of many nations (GW)
and he became the parent of many-nations/tribesYakan Back Translation on TW.
and so God caused him to become the father of many nations
just as he had been told,
just as it had been said to him, (NIV)
It happened as what God had said to him when he said this:
just as he had been told: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause here. For example:
God had told him
“So shall your offspring be.”
“Likewise, your(sing) children/descendants will be many.”
“Your descendants will be like that.”
“So shall your offspring be”: Paul did not quote the first part of what God said to Abraham in Genesis 15:5: “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Together with the clause So shall your offspring be, God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
So numerous shall your descendants be (NRSV)
The number of your descendants will be like that number
Paul expected his readers to understand that the clause here refers to that promise. In some languages readers will not clearly understand that the clause here refers to that promise. If that is true in your language, you may want to translate the literal meaning of the clause and explain it in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
This saying refers to Genesis 15:5 where God promised Abraham that his descendants would be a numerous as the stars.
So: The Greek word that the BSB translates as So means “in this way” or “like that.” It does not mean “therefore” here. Consider how to translate that meaning in your language.
offspring: Here the word offspring refers to descendants.
These words are a quote of part of Genesis 15:5. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
ὃς & αὐτὸν & σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
The pronouns who and he and your refer to Abraham, not God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ὃς παρ’ ἐλπίδα, ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
Here, against hope is an idiom meaning “despite what seemed hopeless.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [although it seemed hopeless, he believed on the basis of hope]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ὃς παρ’ ἐλπίδα, ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of hope, you could express the same idea with a different form. Alternate translation: [who hopefully believed although it seemed hopeless]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ἐπίστευσεν
believed
Paul is leaving out some of the words that a clause would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. Alternate translation: [believed in God] or [believed what God had promised]
Note 5 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν
in_order (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
Here, so that indicates that this is a purpose clause. Paul is stating the result of Abraham believing on the basis of hope. Use a natural way in your language for introducing a result clause. Alternate translation: [which resulted in him becoming]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν
˓the˒_father ˱of˲_many nations
See how you translated this phrase in [4:17](../04/17.md).
Note 7 topic: writing-quotations
τὸ εἰρημένον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
Here Paul uses what was said to introduce a quotation from an Old Testament book ([Genesis 15:5](../gen/15/05.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a comparable phrase that indicates that Paul is quoting from an important text. Alternate translation: [what was said in the Scriptures]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
τὸ εἰρημένον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you must state who did the action, the quotation was spoken by God. Alternate translation: [what God said]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
οὕτως ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
Paul assumes that his readers would know the rest of what God said in the verse he is quoting ([Genesis 15:5](../gen/15/05.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [Look now at the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. So will your seed be]
Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τὸ σπέρμα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ὅς πάρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν εἰς τό γενέσθαι αὐτόν πατέρα πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κατά τό εἰρημένον Οὕτως ἔσται τό σπέρμα σοῦ)
See how you translated seed in [4:16](../04/16.md).
OET (OET-LV) Who contrary_to hope, in hope believed, in_order that to_become him the_father of_many nations, according_to the message having_been_spoken:
Thus will_be the descendants of_you.
OET (OET-RV) Without any other evidence, he believed in hope itself and thus he became the father of many nations according to what he had been told: ‘Your descendants will be like the sand and the stars.’
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.