Bondservant: one who chooses to serve his master perpetually. (Ex. 21:1-6) Set apart: relieved of all other duties and commissioned to this one.

Holy writings: the Hebrew Scriptures. Announced: Aramaic, promised.

4. being powerfully demonstrated to be the Son of Elohim in accordance with the spirit of holiness through [His] being raised from the dead: our Master, Yahshua the Messiah,

Demonstrated to be: or marked out as.

Obedience that springs from faith: Behavior appropriate to their new belief as freemen yet “slaves of righteousness”. (6:14; 16:17) This agrees with Yaaqov (James)’s statement that “faith without works is dead.” His Name’s sake: to bring honor and credibility to Yahshua’s reputation. (14:16-20)

Called: from among the Gentiles to be joined to, and thus part of, the people of Israel.

Favor: a common Greek greeting; well-being: the Hebrew greeting, shalom.

9. For the Elohim whom I serve in my spirit by spreading the good news about His Son is my witness, how I never cease to make mention of you 10. in my prayers, imploring whether I may now finally be blessed, in YHWH's will, to come to you,

In YHWH’s will: Aramaic Peshitta, “if a way opens in Eloah’s will”.

A spiritual gift: instruction from YHWH regarding an area in which they are lacking, for which this letter is an introduction in absentia. (Nanos, Wedderburn)

13. However, I would not want you to be ignorant, brothers, [of the fact] that I often intended to come to you (but was always hindered until now) so that I might also have some fruit among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.

14. I have an obligation both to the Greeks and barbarians, both wise and foolish;

Greeks and barbarians: Considering his audience (mainly Gentile believers who are associated with Jewish synagogue communities), he may be referring to “Hellenized (Jews) as well as (those who have made themselves) Gentiles”, not fully-observant Jews, for he does not categorize “all men” as “Jews and Greeks” as he does elsewhere (e.g., v. 16). It was the “lost sheep” he was after, and both of these audiences had left YHWH’s covenant to one degree or another. To a Roman audience, the Hellenized world was equivalent to the civilized world, since though Rome was victorious over the Greek Empire, it had gained much of its cultural advancement therefrom. Greek was the lingua franca bequeathed to it intact, and it was thus the universal tongue that speeded the message of Messiah’s purchase of amnesty for the Northern Kingdom of Israel, now scattered among the Gentiles.

16. for I am not ashamed of the glad news concerning the Messiah, because it is YHWH's means for effecting deliverance to everyone who believes--first to the Jew, but to the Hellenized as well,

Means: literally, dynamic. Deliverance: from sin. Hellenized: the quintessential alternative worldview vis-à-vis Judaism, and thus often a generic term for all Gentiles. But Yahshua sent His envoys especially to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” (the Northern Kingdom who had chosen to become Gentiles), though in the process Hellenized Jews as well as any who wished to join the holy community heard the message as well. Aramaic: if of the Yehudim first, if of the Aramaeans.

From faith to faith: by faith from start to finish.

Human beings: Adam in Hebrew. Avi Ben Mordechai points out that in first-century Jewish usage, this would refer only to Israelites; Yehezqel 34:30-31 in particular identify this term “men” with the House of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Suppress the truth: Psalm 119:142 identifies truth as YHWH’s Torah in particular. So again we see that these references to “Gentiles” refer primarily to the Northern Kingdom, which chose to become Gentiles. Who but those who were given the Torah could suppress it?

Known: self-evident; obvious if not deliberately obscured, as it is here.

21. because, though they thus knew about Elohim, they did not honor Him as Elohim, nor were they grateful, but rather they became futile in their reasoning, and their heart, failing to discriminate [truth from error], became darkened.

Futile: useless; devoid of result, i.e., leading to no solid answers, but only “proving” the premise they began with through “evidence” that makes sense only when reasoned backward from the conclusion conveniently decided upon ahead of time. Making excuses (though the truth was clear) dulled their faculties, leaving them open to delusion about the simplest facts and thus “chasing after wind”. (Ecclesiastes) We see this happening again through the unscientific theory of evolution, which is a wishful attempt to explain away mankind’s obligation to Elohim. But how much more does this apply to those who were once in covenant with YHWH, but then despised and left it behind (that is, the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and many from Yehudah as well, as in 2:17ff). Darkened: indeed, this means they previously had light (which Psalm 119:105 says is identical to YHWH’s word).

Their arrogance blinded them to the inevitable consequences of their philosophy. Thinking they were free from constraints and claiming their own ingenuity got them there, they were actually careening toward tragedy. But wisdom speaks in particular of those who were under the covenant of the Torah (Deut. 4:6), but gave this up for what seemed more attractive to them at the time.

Resembling man: Aramaic, the image of a son of man, a Hebraic way of emphasizing that we are not evolving after all. (Num. 23:19; Ps. 8:4; 146:3; Yeshayahu 21:12) Perishable: not simply mortal, but capable of being corrupted, in contrast to the incorruptible Elohim, who is too pure to even behold evil. Reptiles: literally, creeping things--a downward progression further and further into uncleanness, from worship of Elohim’s purity to honoring beasts not even fit for consumption, let alone worthy of supreme loyalty. Their deities were truncated into toothless beings that they could easily control.

Gave them up: or handed them over; Aramaic, released. His integrity (v. 17) is vindicated since He is only punishing them as suits their crime. (See also vv. 27, 28.)

The lie: in particular, the one promulgated by Satan from the beginning, that they could become independent elohim.

Degrading: moving from a position of honor into dishonor. Function: or usefulness, for homosexual behavior produces no offspring, only self-devouring diseases. Even: women are more reluctant to fall into such unnatural practices; society must become utterly devoid of any notion of decency before these sins “trickle down” to those normally not so susceptible to such illogical temptations. Females: instead of “women”, a word normally referring to animals is used, showing how sub-human they have become. But the clear analogy is to those who left Israel--a community given the very best means of escaping the futility of normal fallen existence and designed to demonstrate YHWH’s wisdom to everyone who saw it lived out (Deut. 4:6)--and went back to the pagan ways from which their ancestors had been rescued.

Indecent: both having no goal and unfit even to speak of.

Depraved mind: literally, disqualified from being called an intellect any longer. Latin, reprobate: going back to something they had come out of. By believing they evolved from animals, they actually backtracked to having the brains of lower species. Likewise, He surrendered the Northern Kingdom of Israel completely to their desire to mingle with the Gentiles (Hos. 7:8) by letting them become so assimilated that they lost their identity.

30. libelous, haters of Elohim, violently insolent, arrogant, braggarts, devisers of new [kinds of] evil, disobedient to parents,

31. indiscriminate, untrustworthy, without affection even for their families, unforgiving, unmerciful—

Indiscriminate: Aramaic, having no covenant—the very state of the Northern Kingdom until Yahshua came to renew it for us; or, no stability. Unmerciful: Aramaic, no tenderness.

Give hearty approval to: Aramaic, fellowship with—a radically opposite parallel of the fellowship Paul desires between those from Yehudah and those returning from the Gentiles (Acts 15:19) who both worship YHWH, though currently in different ways.

Without excuse: Aramaic, having no spiritual way out. The same things: compare Yaaqov/James 2:10; Aramaic, it is returned to you.

3. Do you then think, O mortal man (you who pass judgment on those who practice such things and yet do them yourself), that you [will] escape Elohim's condemnation?

4. Or do you despise the wealth of His kindness, His toleration, and His immense hesitancy to avenge, instead of recognizing that His kindness is meant to lead you to [change your ways and] return to Him?

Hesitancy: Aramaic, the place He gives you. Anyone who thinks he can be considered justified before Elohim without accepting His provision of amnesty through the Messiah is fooling himself about how righteous he really is.

6. and “He will render to each one exactly what His deeds deserve”,

This is a quote from Psalm 62:13 (62:12 in English) and Prov. 24:12.

Constructive undertakings: Aramaic, the works He empowers.

Comply with: Aramaic, are persuaded by.

Distress: or dire straits. Perpetrates evil: or, lets his evil inclination have expression. Especially: Jews, who have had the more revelation, should know better than anyone. Greek: a common term for all Gentiles, but held as the cultural ideal of civilization in that part of the world at this time, but despised as ignorant by the Jews (vv. 1-3).

Primarily: See 3:2.

YHWH recognizes any who fear Him, no matter what nation they come from. (Acts 10:35)

Torah: Instruction from YHWH, most particularly through Moshe/Moses.

Have heard: Some Jews were thinking they automatically had standing with Elohim simply because they had heard His words. (v. 17; compare Luke 3:8) With Elohim: or, as Elohim sees it.

Instinctively: guided by a natural sense of right and wrong, decency, and respect for their neighbors.

“Written on their hearts”: an allusion to Deut. 11:18; Yirmiyahu/Jer. 31:33.

My version: or the aspect of the glad message that I am called to proclaim, which focused primarily on those who had been outside the covenant.

18. “understanding His will”, and [able to] distinguish the difference between things holy and profane, having been so instructed through the Torah,

19. being confident that you are indeed a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness,

20. an instructor to those who act irrationally, a teacher of the untaught, having the fullest, most accurate expression of genuine knowledge and of the truth in the Torah—

Fullest… expression: Aramaic, an example.

22. As the one saying, "Do not commit adultery", are you committing adultery yourself? As one who is repulsed by the idols, are you guilty of robbing their temples?

Robbing temples: Apparently this actually happened, perhaps in the Jews’ zeal to desecrate what they knew was not a true elohim. Aramaic, spoil the house of the holies.

24. Because just as it has been written, "on your account Elohim's name is being treated with contempt among the Gentiles."

Treated with contempt: or blasphemed, reviled, railed at reproachfully. The quote is from Yeshayahu/Isaiah 52:5 and Yehezqel/Ezekiel 36:20; this forms the background for Paul' later argument in 14:3, 4.

Circumcision: the physical sign that one has taken on the observance of Torah.

Uncircumcision: an epithet Jews used of pagans. But the precise term used is important. It is not the word for those who had never been circumcised, but those “having foreskins”, a subtle difference perhaps, but it throws much light on exactly who they were, for we are told in 1 Makkabim 1:15 that when some in Israel persuaded their fellows that it would be to their advantage to realign themselves with their Gentile neighbors, taking on their ways, they built a gymnasium in Yerushalayim and in order to not be ostentatiously different from those against whom they competed in the nude, “made themselves uncircumcised”—this same term. They actually had surgery replacing their foreskins in some fashion. So the term bears special connection to those who were once part of the covenant of Yahweh but made a clear decision to leave it behind and take on Gentile ways. The depraved mind of 1:28 has often been translated “reprobate”, meaning going back into what we once came out of. The Jews, as corrupt as many of them had become in this era, still retained their identity as the tribe of Yehudah. The Northern Kingdom had deliberately “mixed itself among the peoples” (Hos. 7:8), meaning it had become so mingled as to be very confusing to determine which were Israelites any longer. Counted as if: This lays the groundwork for his arguments in chapters 14, 15.

Physically: literally, by nature, i.e., through no fault of their own. The letter: the complete written form of YHWH's revelation, which others did not have.

Appears to be: or is recognizeable as, in contrast with the Northern Kingdom.

Inwardly: or, in the hidden part. Not so much in letter as in spirit: not in the literal sense so much as in the attitude it portrays. Of the heart: as in Deut. 10:16. Who is praised: The root word for "Jew" in Hebrew is "praise". So a true “Jew” is anyone who praises Elohim “in spirit and in truth”. (Yochanan 4:24)

2. Much in every sense! First of all, indeed, they were entrusted with the very words of YHWH!

Words: utterances, oracles. All of the authoritative verbal revelation came through the people of Israel, which is often how “Jews” is used today and already was in Paul’s day, since they were the only remaining part of the nation that was easily identifiable. They have the very real advantage of having preserved and understanding as native speakers the nuances of the Hebrew language in which YHWH revealed Himself.

Discharge from His obligation: or, inactivate His faithfulness.

5. But if our violation thus demonstrates YHWH's righteousness, what are we to say? That YHWH is unjust to enforce the angry punishment that is due us? (I speak according to human [reasoning].)

Our, we: i.e., the Jews, a blanket term here since Paul was part of the Southern Kingdom, though actually of the tribe of Binyamin, not Yehudah. Demonstrates: brings together the evidence in a way that as the two are placed side by side in comparison only serves to prove it all the more unquestionably. Human reasoning: i.e., as men would argue to evade responsibility; I recognize the irreverence of such ways of speaking.

If He let the Jews’ sin go unpunished, He would have to be consistent in His leniency and no wrongs anywhere could be set right, nor any justice done.

8. And why not say (as some wrongly accuse us of saying and others claim that we say), "Let's do evil things in order that benefit may come of it"? Those who say such things deserve the condemnation [they will receive]!

Claim: or quote, without hearing directly from us. Deserve the condemnation: Or, they would be right to judge me if that were what I had really meant to say.

10. just as it has been written,

"There is not a righteous person—not one!

Kindness: Septuagint; Heb., doing what is beneficial.

Throat: or voicebox; Heb., His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and injury. Grave: an idiom for corruption. Deceived: or flattered.

15. "Their feet are overquick to shed blood; [Prov. 1:16]

16. "devastation and misery remain strewn in their tracks,

17. "and they were not familiar with a pathway of peace." [Yeshayahu/Isaiah 59:7-8]

18. "There is no fear of Elohim before their eyes." [Psalm 36]

19. Now we know that whatever the Torah says, it is speaking to those living within the framework of the Torah, so that every mouth may be silenced, and all the world may come to be [categorized as equally] under Elohim's judgment,

Silenced: stopped up, i.e., dumbfounded, without excuse.

No one who is alive: or, not everyone who is alive. Undertaking to accomplish Torah: misconstruing the commands as rules which will magically obligate YHWH to reward us. The phrase is the translation of a Hebrew phrase (Ma’aseh haTorah) which had a special meaning of a set of 24 particular commands thought by the Qumran sect to be especially efficacious in rendering one ritually pure. Knowledge of sin: or, recognition of sin's sinfulness. Though absolutely correct in itself, it could hardly effect purification, being itself tainted by its very mention of specific sins.

Outside: separate from, but on the perimeter surrounding it, thus not in antithesis to the Torah or outside its scope, but from a source independent of human efforts to keep it. It circumvents the limitations of the Torah (cf. 8:3) since one who leaves the covenant cannot re-enter it unless he has a kinsman redeemer.

For anyone: Jews or not, or those who have been Torah-observant or not. Thus it can still be offered to those who have been unfaithful to the Covenant, namely the Northern Kingdom, and be extended to the rest of the world as well. (Yeshayahu 49:6) Faithfulness of Messiah: to vicariously obey the complete Torah for us so that we could be reinstated into the covenant. Reaching and extending over all: just as the blood of atonement was sprinkled toward and upon the whole congregation.

Fall short: when thus clamoring for His goodwill through attempts at observance, which is not the purpose of Torah. Alt., lack the splendor Elohim has. Hoshea 8:10 speaks of YHWH taking away the vessels that were once holy and relegating them to common use, since they fall short of being able to carry the King’s burden anymore. Paul’s argument is that this has happened to both Yehudah and Efrayim, and neither is on higher footing apart from the Messiah:

Declared to have the right standing: Aram., given place, or placed. Ransom: or kinsman-redemption, i.e., liberation via payment.

His blood: which He faithfully presented to the Father as High Priest, as on the Day of Atonement. (cf. Yochanan 20:17; Heb. 9:12) Alt., through placing confidence in His blood, i.e., in what it accomplished on our behalf (v. 24). Forbearance: holding back judgment until the innocent substitute who could bear it came.

Present season: a fixed grace period when amnesty is offered for any who wish to re-enter the covenant. Partakes of the faithfulness of Yahshua: that is, in paying the debt. His payment can now be credited to whomever will accept it.

Boasting: about our record of holy behavior. Precluded: All grounds for pride are removed. Self-efforts: or accomplishments (in regard to Torah observance).

We can be “grandfathered in” to the covenant again through Yahshua. This does not mean the normal requirement is cancelled, but only that it can be waived in this case due to this additional factor.

If Gentiles must become Jewish in order to belong to Elohim--which would be the case if right standing with YHWH could be based only on Torah-observance -- then YHWH is only a local deity like all the rest, and not the Elohim of anyone anywhere in the world who trusts in Him.

Compare Deut. 10:16, which says the truest circumcision is that of the “heart”. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians discusses this in more detail. Faith: confidence in what Yahshua has accomplished for us.

Firmly uphold: or stand it up so it is immoveable, unharmed and intact through any attack, stick by it, establish it, keep it in place, place it on firmer footing still; Aramaic: We raise it up. In demonstrating, as above, that Elohim's standard goes against our natural inclinations and drives us to Him for mercy, the Torah fulfills one of its purposes, causing us to hold it in still higher esteem than ever.

Some expected to receive merit through their forefathers’ deeds. (Mat. 3:9; Yoch. 8:33) While YHWH’s promises to our ancestors can be appealed to (Deut. 9:27), each must also have his own faith.

Not the way YHWH sees it: literally, not before YHWH. I.e., men may see it that way, but no one can boast when they compare themselves to Him.

4. Now a worker doesn't think of his pay as a favor but as a debt,

5. but to a "non-wage-earner" who trusts instead in the [One] who [can] justify [even] those who are destitute of reverence, his faith is counted as righteousness."

A non-wage-earner: having no background of Torah-observance in which to boast. (For example, the tax collector in Luke 18:13.) Those who use obedience to try to earn merit with YHWH would make Him their debtor, but the one who does not see it as a business transaction which obligates Him can experience the relationship as one of mercy and love. (Luk. 7:47) Indeed, Avraham undoubtedly worshipped idols at some point, so even he could not be considered a “wage-earner” in terms of perfect observance of Torah.

7. "[How] blessed are those whose law-violations are forgiven, and whose sins are covered over;

8. "[How] blessed the one to whose credit the Master will not charge any sin!" [Psalm 32:1, LXX]

Heb., blessed is the one whose transgression is lifted [off him].

10. So how was it accounted? Was it when he was in [the condition of] circumcision or uncircumcision? It was not when he was circumcised, but while [he was still] uncircumcised,

11. and he received the sign of circumcision as a seal to [confirm] the righteousness [that had come] by the faith [he had] while [still] uncircumcised, so that he could be a "father" to all those who have faith, though [still] uncircumcised, so that righteousness could be credited to them also,

12. in addition to being a father of the circumcised—[that is], those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith our father Avraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

Not only: i.e., circumcision itself as an act guarantees nothing if the heart attitude is not also there. In this way YHWH provided for both Jews and non-Jews to share in the covenant of blessing and deliverance from sin which He offered to Avraham and his descendants, who can be “accounted” not only through physical lineage, but also through sharing His attitude toward YHWH. By being called while still a Gentile, so to speak, Avraham could represent YHWH’s purposes for the whole world. (Nanos) Even after Torah came, “grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8-10) was always YHWH’s way of salvation (Mal. 3:6). Circumcision, sacrifices, etc., are manifestations of an already-existing faith, since obedience implies some level of trust, but they cannot constitute “actions performed to acquire salvation”. (Jackson)

14. because if they are heirs only on the basis of Torah, then faith has been emptied of its force, and the promise has been nullified,

Nullified: because then it would have become conditional, when originally it was not. We would have to make our efforts add up to an amount we could have no confidence of attaining. But “even as the Law is not nullified through faith (3:31), so too f aith is not nullified through the Law; they both establish that the purpose of the other is ultimately onl;y one thing…the very thing that makes Avraham ‘the father of us all’, namely to give ‘glory to [YHWH]’ (v. 20).” (Nanos)

YHWH made the promises before there was any law to break, and though it carried penalties when it did come into play, this could never cancel the promise. (Galatians 3:17, 18)

Guaranteeing: unalterably firm, warranting the utmost trustworthiness. (Thayer)

Ordained: established, appointed—something firmly fixed in YHWH’s purposes. Speaks of: or, calls by name. (e.g. Yeshayahu/Isaiah 44:28)

19. and though he was as much as a hundred years old, he did not let his faith grow weak, nor did he consider his body to have already died, nor take into consideration the deadness of Sarah's womb,

Grow weak: a strategically-placed argument, since “weak in faith” or “unable to believe” is the very pejorative term these Gentiles were using of the Jews who did not believe YHWH would keep His promise that Gentiles (or the tribes) would one day (again) love and praise Him. (14:1) Consider his body to have already died: i.e., having no offspring to render his seed "immortal". Deadness: being past child-bearing age.

Empowered by faith: or, “enabled to believe”--the very terminology some in Rome were using of themselves as opposed to others (ch. 14). Deferring to the pre-eminence: i.e., choosing to believe what YHWH said over what he could see or logically figure out.

22. This is why it was "credited to him as righteousness."

23. But this (about it being credited to him) was not written in regard to him alone,

24. but also for our sakes, to whom it is on the verge of being credited—that is, to those who place their faith upon the One who has raised our Master Yahshua from the dead,

On the verge of being credited: those He has in mind to make the intended beneficiaries of this favor. It has the sense of something that will happen by fixed necessity or YHWH’s appointment. Avraham had the same type of belief—that YHWH would raise his and Sarah’s bodies “from already being dead” according to natural processes.

Raised: as evidence that YHWH had already accepted His sacrifice as the full payment for our sins, so that we were “positionally” righteous. I.e., we have been counted as justified, even though the whole story has not yet been played out. His resurrection (as the firstfruits, 1 Cor. 15:20) was the down payment guaranteeing our resurrection someday also.

Literally, we have peace in Elohim's direction. The rest of the book (especially chapters 11-16) challenges us to bring back the peace horizontally between the two houses of Israel for reasons reaching far beyond our present differences.

Paul now begins a series of descriptions of how the redemption YHWH provides satisfies each of the legitimate goals and objections raised previously. First, we have access to His favor, which in the framework of Torah is complicated by purity issues. It is now available to those who have followed Torah all along and those who are just coming to know what it is. Our boast: He has undermined all other grounds for boasting. There is now a basis that does not require us to oppress others in the process. Certainty of praise from YHWH: We saw in 3:23 that every other hope of receiving His favor has been exhausted, but as with anything else that is submitted to death with Messiah, it comes back resurrected, redeemed, purified, and fuller than ever. Position: or standing. Paul will explain this concept of “positional accounting” in greater details throughout chapters 5-8.

Can: or, should. Our afflictions: from those who continue to seek their glory in the old, usual way. Renders endurance effective: changes the raw material of the empowerment He provides into this useful quality through the stresses that shape us. Endurance: steadfastness, constancy, unswerving loyalty to our purpose, with the nuance of sustained, patient, expectant waiting for (used for the Hebrew tiqwah, as in Ps. 9:8; Prov. 10:28).

Proven: or "documented", as a specimen of tested value; Aramaic, experience. Hope: something certain, which we can count on.

Disappoint us: put us to shame by being proven false. (Stern; this juxtaposition of hope, avoidance of shame, and “pouring out” alludes to Yirm./Jeremiah 17:13 and Yoch./John 7:37-38; 8:7-9)

Powerless: to fulfill the Torah's whole demand. Perhaps this is a gentle rebuke for those who considered others “weak” or blamed them for being “unable to believe”, since this is the same word used of them in 14:1ff. (Nanos) At the right time: on schedule, at the appointed moment—when we needed it, but also on schedule according to His promise to first double our punishment before restoring us. (Yirmiyahu 16:18; Yeshayahu 40:2) The 390 years of the Northern Kingdom’s affliction (Yehezqel 4) doubled ends at just about the time Paul started taking the message of restoration out among the Gentiles.

A righteous person: the Aramaic has, a wicked person.

Demonstrates: proves His point in the clearest and most coherent way, setting several ideas side by side and presenting them so as to introduce people to a new way of seeing Him.

Delivered from retribution: brought safely outside the area that is to be subjected to wrath--as He vividly did for Lot and Noah.

Enemies: Aram., Ba’a’ D’bub, the equivalent of the Heb. Ba’al-z’bub. Saved: rescued and restored to wholeness. If His death accomplished all these things for us, how much more will His life, which is now operative within those who trust Him, enable us to live in such a way as to avoid deserving His wrath? Most notably, the expression of His love can flow through us (v. 5) to those with whom we have differences (chapter 15); compare 1 Cor. 3:10-23; 11:31-33.

12. So, just as sin entered the world through one man, and through [that] sin, death [also entered], and death in turn permeated to all men, on the grounds that all sinned.

One man: Aramaic, “one son of humanity”, an idiom for one who is mortal. Though the tendency to sin also passed down physically from Adam, the emphasis here is that everyone’s death sentence is due to the fact that each has also indeed sinned himself. (v. 14; 1:18-3:20; Yehezqel 8:14)

Charged to anyone’s account: Aramaic, counted as sin. This may explain those in 1 Kefa/Peter 3:19 who are given a conscious opportunity to repent after death, not having had the benefit of YHWH's instruction to warn them against trespassing. Sin means “missing the mark”, but if no one is taught which mark to aim for, how can they be faulted for shooting in other directions?

The One who was to come: Aram., He, the one prepared.

Not to be compared: in any other way; Adam’s sin is imputed to all he represents, as Messiah’s sacrifice can be, but the comparison ends here. “His grace is out of all proportion to the fall.” (Amplified Bible)

17. For although, by the one offense, death reigned through the one [man], those who are receiving the overabundance of [both] the undeserved favor and the gift of righteous standing shall reign in life much more through the one, Yahshua the Messiah.)

Death reigned: became ruler or held sway, biasing us all toward sinning, inclining us that way against our wishes and best intentions.

Here the thought begun in v. 12 resumes after a long digression. One righteous accomplishment: an act with legal connotations; that which is deemed right so as to have the force of law. (Thayer) This act resounds with legal finality in contrast to the temporary nature of Adam’s. Right standing: The Aramaic term means worthiness or innocence, with an element of victory and triumph. Understanding this concept hinges not on the specific nature of each sin, but the legal concept of corporate solidarity (see 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Hebrews 7:9ff). We are all considered to have been present in a genetic sense in Adam, thus participating in his downfall when he forfeited the kingship of earth to Satan. But in the same way, then, we can also share in the second Adam's successfully buying back earthly rulership by accomplishing the perfect obedience that the first representative of the human race did not. For those who change the basis of their hope of attaining righteousness to the legal exchange accomplished by the Messiah, a transaction precedented only in Adam’s disobedience is accomplished. We are counted as members of a new "race" wherein Adam's record no longer applies to us in the judicial sense, and we will ultimately be freed from the effects of the curse Adam brought on us all. (1 Cor. 15:45) Positionally, we are counted as pure; thus it behooves us to line up our actions with this truth so that we are pure in every sense.

Disobedience: including an unwillingness to listen to instruction. Obedience also has to do with listening to the right voice. (Nanos) Rendered: constituted or declared, caused to be.

So that sin would increase: superabound; Aram., proliferate. (See 7:7ff; Gal. 3:19).

These seems a logical conclusion, and indeed one that some have drawn.

Shall those who have put our confidence in the Obedient one go on living in disobedience? (Nanos) Why should we who have been given a new nature which is obedient keep living according to the old?While YHWH sovereignly used sin’s presence to provide a starker background by which to highlight His love and purity, sin is now a foreign thing to us, and thus is no longer appropriate, even though the penalty has already been paid.

Ritual immersion as had been practiced by Israel for centuries before this is a picture of dying--a clean break with an old condition--and entering into a new life. It is used when converting to the worship of YHWH, when re-entering a ritually pure condition after being in a state of defilement, when taking on a new role (such as priest), and when preparing to enter the Temple, the symbol of YHWH’s presence on earth. Crossing the Yarden River into the Holy Land was another example of the same imagery; thus it is very appropriate that the only recorded instance of Yahshua’s immersion was also in the Yarden River, making both pictures converge!

Glory: majesty as exhibited in deeds of power, by which His name comes to be held in high estimation. Newness: Aramaic, renewal. Bullinger’s Companion Bible renders it “life-long newness”. Guthrie summarizes: “Salvation from wrath… is only the negative side of [justification]. If [Messiah’s] death achieves the negative aspect, His life is the basis for the positive.”

Planted together: Bullinger, identified. While the main uniting is with Messiah, there is room for this statement to include the two Houses of Israel (here seen as Jew and Gentile) also being united to one another in the process. (Compare 11:17 and Yoch./John 12:24.) Representation (depiction) of His death: that is, the immersion mentioned above, by which we demonstrate that identification openly. The term actually means a likeness “well-nigh to equality”. (Thayer)

Our old man: or humanity--the nature inherited from Adam, with its corrupted traits; the underlying “sin” that only results in “sins”, the particular instances. Contrast with the “new man” of Eph. 2:15; 4:24; Col. 3:10. Cease to operate as: or, that the body of sin might be deprived of its effectiveness by disuse; Aramaic, be annulled. This is an indirect answer to the charge that the Torah was being “done away with”—the same word used in 3:31. This connection explains his logic in the next two chapters that it is we, not the Torah, that are done away with. Doing away with the sins is not enough; the sinner must be executed, so the motivating factor itself changes, not just the actions, though by the same token, the actions must change or there is no evidence that the

Freed: legally acquitted from the jurisdiction of sin, since, in YHWH’s eyes, if Messiah died in our place, it is truly we who have died. (Grubb) Having participated in Yahshua’s death means that we have no obligation to our passions or old habits, just as a freed slave can disregard any commands his former master shouts at him, though shout he still does and the conditioning runs deep.

This gives new meaning to the old hymn that asks, “Were you there when He rose up from the grave?” Indeed we were!

Others were raised from the dead, but assumedly died again, since they were brought back into the same fallen, corrupt bodies.

As in 5:15, the positive aspect prevails: though death accomplished this separation from the cancer that had overtaken us, the real intent was to bring us to the lifestyle we were always meant to have—as “slaves to righteousness” (v. 18). The Torah lifestyle (when the spirit behind it is understood properly) is what holds the old nature at bay. To the immediate audience, this meant subordinating freedoms that they found enjoyable (v. 17; 12:1ff; 16;17) to the higher goal of being able to reunite with a Yehudah that was still hesitant to believe that YHWH had also brought new life to these “Gentiles” as well (ch. 14-15), thus proving that the Messiah (whose role it is to inaugurate this) must have already come. If we are in Him, and He in us, every bit of our energy should be moving in the same direction, not working against what He is doing:

Recognize: or consider; let this understanding so pervade your consciousness so as to make the positional truth effective in practicality.

Mortal body: Aramaic, dead body, referring back to the body that has been immersed into Yahshua’s death, and thus declared dead as far as any obligation to sin is concerned. Cravings: Aramaic, pantings.

Tools: passively used for another’s purpose, as pawns for YHWH’s antagonist (for no one can be anything but a slave to either sin or YHWH, v. 16). Contrast this with the active, conscious yielding to a new Master.

No longer subject to Torah: i.e., not under its authority to condemn you, though this is for the purpose of now becoming its active partners. Paul contrasts it to YHWH’s empowerment in a way he never does with the Torah itself (7:12), so this term must, like “the works of Torah”, have referred to a particular heresy that misunderstands what obedience to Torah means. (Trimm) Stern renders “Torah” here as “legalistic interpretation of Torah”. Trimm notes that the Greek word nomos, which can mean Torah or any law, stems from a Hebrew/Aramaic root meaning “to civilize” or “make polite”, which is indeed what the Torah does for us. There is no choice but to be obedient now; the choice is between whether to submit to Messiah’s “easy yoke” (Mat. 11:28ff) or a view of Torah as burdensome, which emphasizes its power to condemn. Empowering favor: includes both amnesty for sin and the ability generously given to be able to accomplish what Torah aimed at--the positive effects of holiness, without unnecessary fear of being condemned for going about it wrongly. Since Yahshua has undergone the penalty for the time when we were not obedient, Torah now has only positive meaning for those who submit to it: teaching us countless things about YHWH and His Messiah (Heb. 10:7), bringing us great reward (Ps. 19:11), freeing us from unnecessary obstacles (Ex. 15:26; Yehoshua 1:8). Our attitude toward it now can be one of unmixed love. (Ps. 119:97) How this became translated to ignoring it completely is a sample of the subtlety of the enemy’s deceit. How can we ignore a house plan and expect to build the house correctly?

We are never “above” Torah, but we are “beside” it as its partners once we have internalized it. (Gal. 3:19-4:7) Empowering favor: includes both amnesty for our failings, “grace” time bought for us to become what we had ceased to be, and positive encouragement by which He motivates us to obey from the heart. This should result in fuller obedience than isolated, disjointed legalistic commands ever could prompt.

17. But thanks be to YHWH that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart a standard of teaching into which you were delivered,

A standard of teaching: or, paradigm of a new lifestyle— the same one decided upon at the Yerushalayim Council (Acts 15:22-31) of what is incumbent on non-Jews to be considered “righteous” (16:17).

Made subject: If we leave one area of servitude, we by definition enter the service of the other. The Exodus freed Israel from Pharaoh to serve YHWH. To be free from sin’s control while still in fallen bodies, there is still a discipline by which we must live (Torah), but it has no direct connection with earning YHWH’s favor. It is a myth that we can actually serve self; that is really only one more form of serving sin. These non-Jewish believers were claiming to be free from the Torah, but there is no “freedom” in an absolute sense, but only freedom from one of the only two masters that truly exist, so that we are free TO serve the other.

Your…inability to understand: This is a mild rebuke to those who prided themselves on their “ability” to understand something their Jewish neighbors could not. (Ch. 14-15) One kind of lawlessness after another: being sucked deeper and deeper into things contrary to Torah. Enlist: yield yourself rather than being "drafted" against your will into another, unprofitable, kind of service. But he has in mind a particular result to be gained by their step-by-step growth in holiness which is larger than a merely personal lifestyle of righteousness: the salvation of Jews who do not yet believe. (Ch. 9-12). For this reason he asks them to suppress their bodily lusts (in this case, culinary tastes) for a higher purpose.

21. but tell me, what fruit did you have then from the labors over which you are now ashamed? For the final [installment of the] payback from those things is [nothing but] death!

Final payback: we could render it “severance pay”.

23. since the [only] "benefit" sin pays is death, while the "bonus" that comes from YHWH is eternal life in Messiah Yahshua, our Master.

Benefit: soldier's pay or allowance, especially the part given in lieu of money. Bonus: an unearned, free gift.

Legal matters: or, the Torah (in particular).

Husband: Aramaic, master.

The Torah addresses the nature of the first Adam (1 Tim. 1:9), but now there is a second Adam. (1 Cor. 15:45ff)

Dead with regard to the Torah: i.e., freed from the need for it to stir up sin in us and bring a penalty. (v. 5) Messiah’s body: i.e, on the execution pole, but also, when we live as members of YHWH’s Body instead of thinking of ourselves as individuals, we become too busy doing what is right to have any time to do wrong. Belong to another: with nothing, however holy, standing in the way. An Israelite man is permitted to remarry the same woman as long as she has not married another man in the meantime. (Deut. 24:1-4) As Hoshea was told to take his wife back home but not live with her as a wife for a long period (Hos. 3), Y’shua had come to bring YHWH’s wife back into the household. (Eph. 2:19) The sentence of “No pity” was up, but not until much later when the second sentence of “not being My people” was up would the wedding come, when we again call Him “my man” instead of “lord”. (Hos. 2:16) The certificate of debt (both the original contract by which our unfaithfulness could be measured, and the divorce document) was taken out of the way through Y’shua. (Col. 2:13-14) How? In ancient Israel when a man went to war, he wrote a divorce document and left it with his wife in case he should die in battle and his body not be found, in which case she was free to marry another. (Avi ben Mordechai) Y’shua’s body was not found when searched for after His death “in battle”, and thus the covenant could be renewed as a clean slate. Israel could have a “new” husband—though He was the same one--but with all of our past offenses erased. (Heb. 9:15)

Flesh: not to be equated with the physical body, but the mere natural power of our fallen human nature, which falls short (3:23; 8:1) even if the intent is to do right. Aided: Aramaic, exhorted, i.e., even encouraged. (vv. 7-8)

Released: or cut loose; had it nullified toward us. From the Torah: not its true standards but its obligation to punish us for sinning (Gal. 3:24-4:2). That which firmly kept us in its possession: sin, not the Torah. Not in… the letter: a Hebraic idiom for “not so much in the letter as in the spirit (intent) behind it”, for the letter does define HOW to love one another, through concrete examples for which we will find many new, unwritten parallels as we understand the point behind them. The spirit is the Torah also, but it is its heart (animating force), without which the mere letter is indeed a lifeless shell that has the result described in verses 7-11. Notice that it was not the Torah that died, but we, as Messiah’s Body, died, so that sin, which held us captive and had a right to because the Torah said we were guilty and deserved death, would no longer have any claim to us. I.e., our one-time past relationship to the Torah, under which we were condemned, was severed by the death of the Messiah, for it was as if we were executed for our infractions when He was, in our stead.

Covetousness is not a tangible thing (though in Aramaic it is called “panting” here, which clarifies the concept). As a sin chiefly of the mind, it might be overlooked. But enter Torah, and we know what is forbidden. As Adam and Chavvah did not know there could be such a thing as evil (which also has no substance as such), until there was an occasion to contrast it with something else (the knowledge of good and evil), the Torah brought to our attention the potential for getting off track, and showed us that there was an (albeit perverse) alternative to the straightforward truth we had known. It made us curious about what was on the “other side of the fence”, and this became an obsession until we found out what it was, even though it was not only disappointing but also hurtful once we tried it. Childhood ignorance is lost once one knows the law that is designed to teach us to make distinctions (Lev. 10:10). Y’shua, given the same choice, went from being innocent to being righteous, while Adam went from innocent to guilty. But covetousness even corrupts religious desires--wrong motives for doing right, such as spiritual pride, rivalry, or trying to "score points" with YHWH.

Taking occasion: using as its base of operations. A commandment can arouse a latent potential for sin by its very suggestion of what should not be done (arousing latent evil by its very suggestion of sins we might never have imagined otherwise), as the same sun that makes flowers fragrant brings the foul steams of the dunghill to the surface. (Henry) It has the same effect as eating the forbidden fruit, not because it is evil, but because it opens our eyes to the possibility of things being abused (itself a form of death), and thus ruins us for any nobler use until the solution--true, deep-heart atonement--is accepted.

Alive: since where there is no law, there can be no violation. (4:15) Then: i.e., the theoretical time (though not literal in Paul’s life) before he was made familiar with the Torah.

Bringing death: as a body is further inflamed by a medicine that is not strong enough to carry away its disease. We spoiled even the Torah when we, in our fallenness, got our hands on it, so we had to be separated even from it so that we could be re-formed and re-created. The Torah is known in mystical circles as the garment that merely enwraps (thus taking the shape of) the Man it covers, but if we focus too strongly on the garment (which also must be laid aside if there is to be intimacy with the true husband), it too becomes idolatry, and we defeat the entire purpose. Therefore YHWH went back to the drawing board and renewed the covenant in different terms, though its content and purpose, when put back in the proper order, were the same as ever.

Deceived: or, misled (due to our faulty understanding of what the Torah was aiming at). This pattern is repeated every time Torah throws light on another way we fail to line up with YHWH's standard. It topples us from our sense of being in “good standing” and forces us to seek the power to love YHWH which only He can give when we come to Him for mercy.

This is the basic, core belief by we must judge everything else Paul ever says about the Torah. If we were cut off from the Torah, it was so we could be resurrected to the relationship it was truly meant to have toward us (teaching us to know YHWH, not becoming a substitute for Him), but with amnesty for the past, a fresh start.

We can no longer make excuses once it exposes our motives. The true standard is made clear through the Torah, though other nations who are not designed to be His intimate people might go happily on their way thinking they are guiltless. But all through the Scripture we are reminded that they live pointless lives in which, in the words of the Shakharit (dawn) prayers, “most of their deeds are desolate and the days of their lives are empty before You. The preeminence of man over beast is non-existent, for all is vanity.” Right: or beneficial; Aramaic, sin, seen as sin, by the graced perfected death in me that is especially condemned by the commandment.

15. indeed, I don't even understand my own behavior, because I [end up] doing what I do not want to do, but the very thing I hate—that's what I [find myself] doing!

No matter how high our ideals, we are not equipped to live according to the laws of a pure nature when we ourselves are corrupt.

I concur wholeheartedly, but the fallen nature renders me unable to respond to this new upward pull because of the greater natural strength of the evil inclination which, like a spiritual law of gravity, is also present. The Torah's failure to justify us before YHWH lies not from any defect in the teachings themselves, but in us who misuse them. (Berkowitz) Praiseworthy: Aramaic, beautiful. Again, this is Paul’s root opinion about the Torah, by which we must interpret all his other statements!

Inhabits: Aram., dominates, as a slavemaster who can order one to act against his better judgment. Enchained to Adam’s mutated genetic makeup, our habits are still evil, but once we agree with YHWH’s verdict and stop trying to justify ourselves, we receive a new option, though the old is still with us until physical death frees us from it.

Nothing useful resides in me: Lamsa renders the Aramaic, “Yet I know that it does not fully dominate me.” Present with me: near at hand, yet still just out of reach—an excruciating source of frustration. (v. 24) Aramaic, easy (simple) for me.

20. But if "I" do what I do not really wish to do, then it is no longer my real self who is perpetrating it, but rather the sin that resides within me initiates it.

The new nature remains entrapped by our bodies' remaining weakness, but YHWH no longer counts this our truest self--see 8:1,2; He does not recognize us as the ones living out our old tendencies, but lays the blame on the slavemaster who gave the orders, as the higher-in-command is considered the real war criminal, not the one forced to carry them out.

Law: here, an operative principle, not a command, though using the same term heightens the sense of tension between our natural inclination and YHWH’s requirements. Stern renders it, “a kind of perverse ‘torah’.” Nearer at hand: distracting me from what I really want to pay attention to. It is our “nearer kinsman” that stands in the way of a better one redeeming us. (Ruth 3:12) Trimm renders it, “I find a Torah that unites with my mind, which desires to do right.”

23. but I see another principle at work in my bodily members—having waged war against the principle by which my mind [operates], and taking me captive through the principle of sin that exists within my members.

Principle: or “law”, the same word used here for Torah. Mind: reason, capacity for spiritual truth, higher powers of the soul to recognize the right and hate the evil.

Miserable: wretched, troubled, afflicted. Rescue me: or, draw me to Himself. Given over to: or sold into slavery to “this whole morbid package of frustrating tendencies”!

What was accomplished? The severance from the penalty in the Torah for what our natural inclinations still tend toward. Serve: or submit to, yield obediently to.

The new nature, which YHWH regards as the true self (v. 9), can no longer have blame laid to it, for the penalty has been paid; we, as the Body, are identified with the righteous character of our Head, who paid it. (7:17, 20; 1 Yoch. 3:9) “[YHWH’s] loving commands, which express His desire for our fellowship, have through the Fall become law, and as such are negative and prohibitive rules that condemn man. Yet through the Gospel the same law is transformed… again into the loving commands of [YHWH].” (Althaus) Some manuscripts add here the last phrase in v. 4, including the Aramaic (the earliest extant translation), which reads, for those who in Messiah Yahshua do not walk in the flesh, or, who walk not in the flesh but in Yahshua the Messiah.

Only the approach changes, as the law of aerodynamics prevails over, but does not cancel, the law of gravity. (Bedell) We are empowered to rise above the old nature’s tendencies while still living in a body subject to its influence. (v. 11) Justice having been satisfied, we can again see YHWH's commands as an expression of His desire that life be the best it can be in a fallen world, rather than something that condemns us. They are solid ground to land on; their "teeth" are removed and they become mainly instructive--our friends--once we are free from fear in regard to whether we have observed them well enough.

Powerless: to, by itself, empower us to overcome the pull in the opposite direction. (ch. 7) It “lacked the power to make the old nature cooperate.” (Stern) Also, once we had forsaken the covenant, it held only condemnation for us, and did not contain the mechanism by which a whole nation, once shattered, could return, unbesmirched, to favor with YHWH. Also, Sha’ul again uses the motif of “weakness” to set the stage for his answer to those who consider others “weaker” than themselves. (Segal, Nanos; cf. note on 7:7) Condemned sin: not merely judged, but rendered it even more censurable because of His perfect example--though the focus is on taking away the penalty for us through satisfying justice perfectly Himself. In the likeness of sinful flesh: Though tempted in every way (Heb. 4:15), He was flesh and did not sin, thus precluding any idea that the physical nature, as such, is inherently evil. To deal with sin: The main purpose of Yahshua’s first coming as the “Messiah ben Yoseyf” was to be “bruised for our iniquities” (Yesh. 53:5), whereas when He returns in the role of “Messiah ben David”, it will be “without reference to sin” on the part of those whom He has already cleansed (6:10; Heb. 9:12, 26-28; Yoch. 15:3) In the flesh: Aramaic, in His (Yahshua’s) flesh. I.e., by incorporating into Himself all the unpunished sins especially of the prodigal Northern Kingdom, He was able to pay off their penalty and thus nullify our debt, so that sin had no more claim on us. Torah: the same word in Greek and Aramaic as the two “principles” in v. 2, and hence here it may refer to the latter of these rather than the Torah of Moshe, but not in v. 4:

Righteous requirement of the Torah: the outcome that YHWH had originally intended before there was a Torah: true love towards YHWH and one's neighbor. It counts as equivalent in His eyes as long as we keep ordering our lives (literally, walking, a concrete Hebrew way of putting it) along that path and not the other, though we are still in sin-infested bodies.

According to the flesh: Here, specifically, those more concerned that they were free to eat certain things without seeing that it was preventing those who were obligated to kosher laws from recognizing them as genuinely possessing a salvation that the latter also needed. Direct their minds to the things of earthly nature: though they now have the option of not doing so. Living according to spirit: letting their human spirits, revived by being reconnected to YHWH's Spirit, be united into one operating force, thus pursuing the things of the spirit realm.

The mindset of the flesh: the natural way of thinking, the "psychic" mind of 1 Cor. 2:12-15 which cannot comprehend spiritual matters, but judges according to its own feelings or reasonings.

This explanation of the limitations of human religion unaided by YHWH’s intervention accounts for Sha’ul’s lack of success (ch. 7). Enmity: in Aramaic, the word is the equivalent of the Hebrew Ba’al-zebub. Able: The same term used of one faction in the debate Sha’ul is addressing here (ch. 14-15).

9. You, however, are not in flesh, but in spirit, since the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you—though if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, that person does not belong to Him.

Sha’ul again uses the language of positional identification with Messiah (6:3ff; 1 Cor. 15:22). Though we still have a “fleshly” nature, that is not where YHWH locates our “true self” (7:17, 20); rather, that is in the spirit—the part of the person that, as the first installment of three, has been fully reborn and perfected (v. 30), and already “seated with [Messiah] in heavenly places.” (Eph. 2:6) Spirit of Messiah: distinguished here from the spirit of Elohim, but laying the foundation for the latter to build a home in us also.

If Messiah is in you: as we are in Him (as opposed to “in Adam”)—a perfect union. The body is dead: having already begun the process of dying, being no longer perfect; in the same way, our spirit is already counted as alive and capable of growing in influence, as we allow it to. (v. 11) Literally, the spirit is life. As Adam was considered dead the day he sinned, those who have opened the door to Yahshua are counted alive, though our minds still have much to comprehend about who we are and how we ought to live this truth out.

The inward condition of life can even influence the outward condition of our dying bodies, giving us power to resist sin and invigorating us to again do what pleases YHWH; this also speaks of the complete resurrection.

13. because if you live according to the flesh, the logical conclusion you are heading toward is death. But if by spirit you put to death the body’s ways of acting, you will [enjoy real] life,

14. because as many as are led by Elohim's Spirit--these are sons of Elohim;

Led: Aramaic, guided. This resolves the dilemma of our not being able to always trace our roots to being literal physical descendants of Yaaqov, because “sons of Elohim” are a particular title used for those of the Northern Kingdom who were once “not a people” any longer. (Hoshea 1:10) The fact of our being drawn back to YHWH by His Spirit is what identifies who we are.

Sha’ul gives the Hebrew translation of “Abba” for his Greek-speaking audience, for it is the language of his heart and the language YHWH loves most to hear us praise Him in.

Herself: itself in Greek, but in Hebrew (the pure language, Tsefanyah 3:9), spirit (ruakh) is feminine; the Aramaic actually reads, She the Spirit. This reflects YHWH’s motherly aspects, since YHWH is All in all.

18. For I reason that the sufferings [we must undergo during] the present [limited] season are not weighty enough even to be compared to the coming honor that is to be manifested in us,

Present season: the long-awaited time when shared affliction is necessary to form and shape the splendor He has put within us but kept covered up by our weak, mortal constitution. We must suffer because we have aligned ourselves with a ‘rebellion” against the principalities that now rule the world system, and will lash out at us as they lash out at Him. Weighty: also carrying the connotation of honor in Hebrew thought.

Awaiting: waiting it out, with head patiently but persistently outstretched in attentive, watchful anticipation of, with bated breath. "The creation" is a Hebrew idiom for all of mankind, especially Gentile nations, whose very origin was an unwilling subjection to confusion (1:21-28; Gen. 11:7). Thus, they are awaiting the message of release that is meant to come from those who have already experienced it. "Sons" because adopted daughters in Roman society had no rights, while adopted sons--v. 15--could inherit as if they had been naturally-born--Jews and Gentiles together! The rest of the world cannot fully experience the presence of Messiah’s kingdom until those YHWH has preserved (Yesh. 49:6) and not let drop (Amos 9:9), though dispersed and no longer even aware of their identity, are again brought to light. Thayer: “the unveiling of who the sons of YHWH are”. This sets the stage for the coming three chapters. The revelation also includes the message they bring to the rest. (Zech. 8:23)

Futility: inappropriateness, frailty, pointless recurring cycles without direction or progress; vanity--the same word used throughout the Septuagint version of Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes. Subjected: purposefully arranged under an ordered scheme. These pointless, recurring cycles of life and death and death form a backdrop for the one big exception—the history with a direction, embodied in Israel.

During the “time of the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21), the originally-intended order will be restored. (vv. 23ff)

This time: the present, promised day when redemption is beginning to be proclaimed.

Down-payment: or firstfruits (Heb. 6:5). Adaption: Aramaic, sons of treasure. Ransom of our body: the third installment --full practical liberty to never sin again, after being freed from the penalty of and the will to sin.

Not hope: If we can see what we hope for, it isn't really hope anymore.

With patience: this certainty of what is coming enables us to endure the struggles we have meanwhile.

27. and the One who searches the inner thoughts of our hearts understands the intent of the spirit, because [our spirit in union with His] intercedes on behalf of [those who are] holy, in agreement with what Elohim desires.

28. Moreover, we know that all things converge to help accomplish what is beneficial for those who love Elohim—to those who are being called, in line with His predetermined purpose,

Converge: in His sovereign “chemistry”, even if not all are beneficial if looked at individually.

Foreordained: Primarily Israel, His “firstborn” (11:2). Perhaps it seems like circular reasoning to understand whether He first knew who would be “fit” to be conformed to Messiah’s image (Thayer), and so chose them to be the ones who would believe, or whether He chose them first, then created the rest of the human race for “supporting roles” (e.g., Pharaoh in 9:15ff), but we can only rejoice in the outcome that whoever cares about the question is offered the occasion to respond to His invitation and thus “become” one of those “foreordained”! His ways are higher than ours. (Yesh. 55:9)

He glorified: From YHWH’s point of view it has already taken place, and is thus, for those who continue in Him, an absolute certainly--which is the connotation of "hope" in this context, rather than the uncertain sense in which we often use this term.

On our side: acting in our defense; Aramaic, in our stead. Adversary: literally, be against us.

If we have the "down-payment", is He unwilling to give us the whole package? Dare we accuse Him of being so capricious?

This is an allusion to Yeshayahu/Isa. 50:8, 9, a Messianic prophecy that applies to us (since what is true of the Head is true of the whole Body).

In other words, the only one who could bring a charge against us is on the other side—ours—if in fact we are on His side. (Yehoshua 5:14) He is the one who has made our very vindication possible, so how can our adversary’s accusations stand?

Persecution: or pressure. Calamity: Aramaic, confinement.

Compare: 12:1; 2 Cor. 4:8-11; 6:4ff; 11:23-28.

More than victorious: the Aramaic word could also mean innocent or worthy.

Threats… already upon us: lit., (things) present.

Anything else that has been created: except, perhaps, our own choice, though even this is called into question by v. 29.

2. that my grief is so great, and the painful sorrow in my heart so unceasing,

3. that I could even have wished that I myself could be cut off from the Messiah in place of my brothers, my physical kinsmen--

Could have wished: the grammatical mode implies “if it were possible”, which he has precluded in the previous paragraph (8:28-39); Trimm renders it “I have prayed”. Note the parallels with Moshe/Moses (Exodus 32:9, 10, 32). Cut off: or, accursed. But only the Messiah qualified as an innocent substitute who could be forsaken by YHWH on behalf of others. (Mark 15:34) He did this once for all. (Heb. 7:27) Perhaps YHWH could have allowed Paul to be left out of the earthly advantages of being in the Kingdom that they did not share. Yet that was not His choice. (vv. 11-18)

Israelites: in this context, he seems to be speaking only of Jews (as encompassing all of the southern Kingdom, including those token few from the north who joined Yehudah after the secession), who are readily identifiable as Israelites. An Israel that is defined both more broadly and more narrowly than this will be referred to shortly. Adoption: Aramaic, sons of treasure. Service: Aramaic, the ministry that is in it (i.e., the Torah). Preeminence: weightiest honor, most consideration in the dissemination of the Glad News of redemption.

6. Now, it is not as if the word of YHWH has failed, because not all of those who come from Israel are [part of the true] Israel,

The failure of some Israelites to repent did not mean YHWH had not kept His promises. (See 11:17.) He only promised to keep the root alive. (See v. 27.) The true Israel is anyone who lives and acts as Israel. We are finding now that for the most part this true Israel is a subset of the physical descendants of Israel, but, just as at the Exodus, others from outside who join are considered just as much Israelites as the native-born. (Ex. 12:49; Num. 15:16) In fact, Paul seems to be mainly addressing the latter in this book—Romans who have joined themselves to the synagogue. Undoubtedly many were indeed descended from Israel, in part (Hoshea 7:8), since they were responding to the drawing of the spirit of sonship (8:14-17) that was resurging into every Israelite soul as the sentence of “no mercy” for the Northern Kingdom (Hoshea 1) was now up. Thus those visibly identifiable as Israel (see note on v. 4) were not the entirety of the holy nation either.

The particular title, “seed of Avraham”, to whom the promise applied in YHWH’s eyes had now narrowed to the children of Yitzhaq alone: i.e., not Yishmael.

Children of the flesh: those born by natural planning only, not by miraculous appointment (Yochanan 1:13; Gal. 4:23, 29):

10. And not only her; Rivqah also, though she had conceived from one single [act] of our forefather Yitzhaq,

This narrowing of the scope of the promises continued, even dividing between a set of twins whose pedigree was exactly the same, yet only one of them was considered Avraham’s true seed.

12. she was told, "The elder shall serve the younger", [B’Reyshith 25:23]

13. as [indeed] it has been written, "Yaaqov I loved, but Esau I hated." [Mal. 1:2-3]

Loved: Aramaic, befriended. Hated: not always a term of malice (though Esau was later opposed by YHWH because of his hatred for YaaqovGen. 27:41) but often descriptive simply of the one disqualified so another can be chosen.

15. For He said to Moshe, "I will grant favor to whomever I wish to grant favor, and I will have compassion on whomever I wish to have compassion on." [Ex. 33:19]

Grant favor to: Aramaic, befriend.

Depends not on: or, is not within reach of. Exerts himself: Aramaic, races. To modern ears, it sounds grossly unfair that YHWH would not give everyone an “equal opportunity”. But His ways are not ours. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 55:9) He is the one who wrote the whole story, and He knows all the roles that need to be filled:

An antagonist was needed in order to heighten the (real-life) drama so that YHWH's acts would stand out all the more vividly and would be impressive enough to be published more widely. Raised you up: alternately (in Heb.), allowed you to endure (this long).

After people have made choices to ignore Him, as Pharaoh did, He facilitates the continued hardening, and uses it toward His purposes, I.e., Pharaoh would never have turned out to be a "nice guy" had YHWH given him more time. Some are already written in the Book of the Wholly Wicked and are not permitted to be redeemed. (Contrast Deut. 23:18 with Ex. 34:20.) Since the ultimate sovereignty is His, YHWH can be said to have been the one "doing" anything that He permits to take place.

I.e., if it is true that He wanted it to turn out that way, then how can He punish Pharaoh for doing what He wanted done anyway? And if everything that ends up taking place is a result of His predetermination, how can anyone be considered guilty? But YHWH judges according to motives. (Yeshay./Isa. 10:5-7)

This is the final conclusion of the philosophical debate that runs through the whole book of Iyov (Job).

Dishonorable: not always ignoble, but sometimes merely for common, everyday use. (Compare Yirmeyahu 18:1-6; Yeshayahu 29:15-16; 30:14; 41:25; 44:21ff; 45:7-10.)

Power: the term includes both strength and authority.

24. whom He also called out—namely, ourselves, who come not only from among the Jews, but also from among the [other] tribes?

Other tribes: The word is often translated Gentiles, but in historical context this term was used by the Jews of Paul’s day for the “lost tribes” in particular, since they were still considered “half-human” since they had chosen to mingle their seed with the Gentiles, whereas true Gentiles were not even spoken of as men by that time. (Avi Ben Mordechai) Remember that “Jews” generally encompass only two to three of the tribes of Israel (the southern kingdom of Yehudah); the name Israel actually remained with the northern kingdom, as the term was used throughout the chronicles and prophets. So until all the tribes are reunited (Messiah’s purpose and Paul’s), Yehudah is not even properly designated as Israel.

26. "And it shall so happen that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people', precisely there will they be called 'sons of the Living Elohim'. [Hoshea 1:10 (2:1)]

These prophecies were both directed very specifically to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, so these “others” were (for the most part) not those who had never known Him, but those whose ancestors had once been His people, but no longer wanted to be. Still, He made many promises through all the prophets to bring their descendants back to Himself, because of this sovereign choice He had made that Israel would be His special treasure.

Be preserved: or remain, return—and the fulfillments of this promise have encompassed all three. Compare Yeshayahu 11:11.

Heb., A conclusion [that is] decreed, overflowing [with] righteousness, because Adonai, YHWH of Armies, is bringing about a complete, decisive end within the whole Land. Aramaic, for He decides the word, and cuts and works it.

A Seed: i.e., a remnant of descendants, but on another level, the Messiah. (Gal. 3:16)

Not seeking: They had chosen to be Gentiles, but YHWH still had promises to fulfill to their ancestors, and so He called them back into His community, and as it has played out it has often (at first) actually been against the will of the individuals called. But, having once been Israel, they still had an obligation to Him (which their parents had promised at Sinai). Obtained: taken on, almost "stumbled upon”; Aram., overtaken. By faith: trusting the fact that Y’shua had paid the way for those who had not all along been fulfilling their obligation to come back into covenant as if there had been no break in the continuity.

Here Paul is using the term “Israel” in the way most people today use it, as referring to those identifiably of the community of Israel, which is, by and large, the Jews (the House of Yehudah).

33. just as it has been written, "Behold, I place in Tzion a stone that causes stumbling and a rock that impedes; not one person who has confidence in Him will be put to shame.” [Yesh. 8:14; 28:16]

I place in Tzion: Aramaic: the prophet I give to Tzion [is] a stone… Rock that impedes: lit.: "scandal" placed in one's way to entrap him. This, Paul says, is the Torah (and by extension, Y’shua, the living Torah), which trips up those who approach it wit the wrong motives (for their own purposes instead of His). But the stumbling that the stone occasions is not intended to be permanent, but is for a particular purpose. (cf. 11:11.)

Intense petition: The word implies that he implores out of a sense of need (Thayer)--not only because they are his kinsmen, but because the reversal of this condition will both signify and make possible the final fulfillment of YHWH’s purposes in history. (See ch. 11.) In context, Israel seems to refer to those who are consciously still within the covenant, that is, Yehudah; the rest of Israel is alluded to later in the chapter; the Aramaic version does not include the name Israel, but only says “them”, though the antecedent in chapter 9 is clearly the Jews. But verse 2 is more applicable today to the Northern Kingdom, much of which is still held captive in the Church. Salvation in this case is our being gathered together from out of all nations and brought into our own Land, as all the prophets say.

Zeal: When pointed out in Scripture, it was dedicated to a defense of Israel’s uniqueness. (Dunn) Incorrect understanding: They miss the main point of the Torah (vv. 3, 4). But in this more particular sense, they are harassing those returning to YHWH from among the Gentiles (Acts 15:19) by questioning their claim to be equal sharers in YHWH’s covenant blessings. They think they are maintaining a standard of holiness while in fact failing to recognize that these are their own long-lost brothers, the Northern Kingdom

Their own righteousness: Aramaic, seeking to raise a justness by themselves—by treating the “fences” they added to prevent accidental trespassing as if they were equivalent to Torah, which in itself is adequate protection (Berkowitz), thus raising the bar too high for the weak, weary, or exiled to ever attain (see v. 8).

The aim: the target, goal, purpose, desired outcome, the fulfilling result, the point which ties together all study and practice of the Torah, which can only provide a foretaste of the level of righteousness He offers (v. 3); Aramaic, summation. Some translate it “the end”, which is legitimate if understood in the sense of “the end justifies the means”, but not in the sense of the termination or nullification, which is how it has usually been interpreted by Christians. Rather, it is saying that the purpose of keeping the Torah is to establish the reign of King Messiah. To follow the Torah without this as the goal is to miss the point and to bring its curses (as in Deut. 27, 28) upon ourselves.

6. Moreover, the righteousness that springs from faith speaks thus: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will climb up into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Messiah down) [Deut. 30:12], or, [for that matter, we could add],

7. who will go down into the abyss (that is, to bring Messiah back up from the dead)?

“Some think Paul misuses the Torah by quoting selectively…to apply the passage to Messiah… However, …according to the canons of rabbinical citation, the context is assumed as given… Therefore, far from changing the simple sense of the text, Paul is assuming his readers know [that] already, so he can base upon it a drash (teaching) which should win the acceptance of anyone who approaches the Torah in a spirit of trust.” (Stern)

His instruction is not impossible to obey (Deut. 30:11), contrary to some interpretations of Paul himself! Paul did take to heart Yaaqov’s (James’) words, and changed his initial inclination to think that the Torah was too difficult for those used to living as Gentiles. Yaaqov did advise a gradual approach to transitioning into Torah-keeping (Acts 15:20ff), but insisted on the ex-Gentiles’ staying in a position to learn every part of it. If, as some say, the “righteousness…from faith” of v. 6 is in contrast with Torah, why does Paul enlist Moshe in both cases to confirm his point? As in 3:31, to read him as contradicting Moshe rather than upholding him (Deut. 27:26) is to misconstrue and misrepresent Paul completely. Heralding: making it even more “reachable” by those who would not otherwise hear. (vv. 14-15) But faith I this case clearly relates to the confidence in the fact that we can indeed carry out the Torah. Although it is more difficult for those still in exile among the nations than when in community in the Land of Israel under our own ruler, still there is not a double standard for Yehudah and for the House of Israel. (Ex. 12:49; Num. 15:16) Paul affirmed this after at first holding Israel to a lower standard (as seen in Galatians) until Yaaqov corrected him. (Acts 15 and Yaaqov’s epistle). No matter what additional rules Yehudah adds to make it more difficult (Mat. 23:4), we can return and we can carry out the pure, simple Torah, for the rightful King of Yehudah is also the King of Israel. In fact, as the Hasidim know, we hasten His coming by practicing Torah. Thereby we can establish a kingdom worthy of His kingship by the time He arrives.

Raised: or, roused, as in awakening someone from sleep. Master: an allusion back to the “change of masters” passage in 6:12-23). The Elohim: the article of exclusiveness denotes His final authority, even over Yahshua (which Yahshua Himself acknowledges in Yoch. 14:28). Be saved: Aramaic, have life.

Aramaic, The heart that believes in Him will be justified, and the mouth that professes Him will live.

12. because there is no distinction [made] between Jew and Greek, for the same one who is the Master of them all is abundant in generosity toward all those who call on Him.

Because…: Aramaic, in this it does not discriminate against either... (This claim has a limited scope; it is not a blanket equalizing of the two worldviews, as per 3:1; 9:4-5) Greek: often a generic or exemplary term for Gentiles; the Aramaic has “Aramaean”. Abundant: pouring it out lavishly until they are filled up; or, rich.

Appeals to: or, calls upon. Be saved: Aram., have life.

15. And how are they to proclaim it publicly unless they are sent out with authorization? —as it has been written, "How beautiful...are the feet of those who make known the glad news of peace, who bring tidings of excellent things." [Yeshayahu/Isaiah 52:7; Nachum 1:15]

Beautiful: or, graceful, with the sense of being in full bloom, the fulfillment of the potential for which we were created. But at root, the term means “of the right hour” or “in season”, i.e., fitting, appropriate, “at home”, right on schedule. Feet: or footsteps, also an idiom in Scripture for the pilgrimage festivals (Ex. 23:14), which must be on schedule, for they are appointments. And their purpose is to explain what this “Gospel” really is. Peace: Heb., shalom--reconciliation with YHWH, total well-being, and also national tranquility and harmony (which can only come with the reunification of the two houses of Israel). The Hebrew context goes further into the same vein as Paul’s explanation, speaking of the content of the message as “deliverance”, the rescue from our exile and reinstatement into YHWH’s favor.

Complied with: or obeyed, for the proper response is not just assent, but acting upon one’s belief that it is true; “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Believed: Hebrew, stood (his ground) on. The instruction: Heb., report; Aram., the daughter of our voice, a Semitic idiom for an audible word from heaven.

Communication: or word, a message with a definite meaning to the hearer, with whom the fault must presumably be if he does not respond (since there was no lack of clarity on YHWH’s part).

But I say: Paul plays the “devil’s advocate” to carry his argument, a common rabbinic method used throughout the Talmud. (Stern) Strain: a musical sound, whether vocal or instrumental; Heb., line, string, or cord; Aramaic, daughter of their voice. The context of the first half of Psalm 19 appears to be referring to the stars, the original signs of the zodiac, which before they were corrupted told the story of what YHWH would accomplish through Yahshua, and the second half, to the Torah, the same revelation in more clarified, prosaic, focused form, which was indeed delivered by a voice at Sinai. (Bullinger) Extreme outposts: or, remotest frontiers; thus it can hardly have bypassed Israel, who was at the very center:

Moshe: in actuality YHWH is the one speaking here, but Moshe recorded it; his name is also a typical “shorthand” referring to the Torah. Senseless: ignorant of the Torah (2:20)—the antithesis of Israel, a nation “taught by Elohim”; Aramaic, not convinced. Rouse you to anger: or, drive you to exasperation. A non-nation: or, [those which are] “not a people”, i.e., cannot be described as a homogeneous ethnic group. Who is that but the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which YHWH punished for 2,730 years (the 390 years of Yehezqel4:5 multiplied by the seven times of Lev. 26:24) by the specific curse of being “Lo-Ammi”—not My people! (Hoshea 1:9) How would these people provoke the part of Israel that remained with the covenant (and thus remained a nation, which, for most purposes, is equivalent to the Southern Kingdom of Yehudah, or the Jews) to jealousy? First, by enjoying a heritage that should have been their experience all along, and by receiving the same degree of mercy from YHWH without deserving it as much (cf. Mat. 20:1-15):

I was made manifest: Heb., “I said, ‘Look at Me; here I am!’ to a nation (or people) not called by My name.” So it is a distinct group of people which have become indistinguishable from the nations by choosing to become Gentiles, precisely as the Northern Kingdom did.

Impossible to persuade: or, deliberately withholding belief. Argumentative: back-talking. But a second way they would drive Yehudah to jealousy was that these people who had once rejected Torah would return and actually outdo many Jews in keeping Torah!

Binyamin: a respected tribe, for it was the only one that remained faithful to YHWH along with Yehudah when the ten northern tribes rebelled. Yet still it is not Yehudah per se.

Did not repudiate: as promised in 1 Shmuel 12:22; Psalm 94:14; Yirmeyahu 31:35-36. Whom He knew in advance: an allusion to the same phrase used in 8:29; comp