Comments on Romans1:1-6

Paulos, to Timotheos, my brother in Christ. Grace and peace be yours. I thank our God upon every remembrance of you.

Hey! I've got to make it sound official, at least a little bit.

I'm wondering about your translation of verse four. I am wondering why you translated it "because of the resurrection of the dead" instead of "on the basis of the resurrection from the dead." The first phrase concerns the words ex anastaseos nekron. The second phrase is a matter of interpreting the genitive, "nekron." It could be translated with the simple preposition "of." However, I wonder if we couldn't be more precise and translate the genitive as "from." The reason I suggest this is that the simple "of" does not specify that it is Jesus' resurrection that is in view. By translating the genitive with the preposition "from," we indicate that the resurrection in view is none other than Jesus' own resurrection from the dead.

As for the statement, "who was declared 'Son of God,'" I believe that you are correct to draw our attention back to 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 2. However, I wonder if we would not have to bring into view a whole "Son of God" theology from the Old Testament, for David, as King, surely is the prefigurement of the "Son of God" which is in the forefront of Paul's vision in this passage. Nevertheless, the category finds its roots in Adam and in Israel. So, I wonder if Paul does not draw the link back to David because David is the prominent one in that David was both Jesus' ancestor and kingly prefigurement. Paul, in other words, wants to emphasize Jesus' humanity and his kingly right. Thus, David comes to the foreground. However, David's "Son of God" title has its origins much farther back. Given Paul's theological development and use of both Adam and Israel in and throughout the letter, I wonder if we wouldn't want to say something at this point of the title's origins earlier than David, such as Exodus 4:22f.

As for the "obedience of faith," it may be advisable to offer some comments upon the possible and plausible translations of this phrase. It may also be useful, at this point, to say something by way of anticipation concerning the place of "obedience" within the letter. I have in mind, for example, its mention in chapter 6 and its prominence in chapter 16, also. There, "obedience" stands in the place that "faith" holds in 1:8. And Paul reiterates his phrase "obedience of faith" in 16:26. Since, however, 1:8 is outside the range of verses you have included, perhaps you had already planned to say something about this in the next segment.