Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
The Renewed Covenant by Daniel Gregg
"Romans 4:1-3: What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For when Abraham was just by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham firmly trusted in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (DLT: torahtimes.org).
Comment: Abraham, or any other believer is entitled to feel good about good works. Indeed, Paul even goes so far as to suggest that Abraham could boast (he does not actually say Abraham did boast). He only denies that Abraham can boast to God. Why does Paul say this? Because Abraham firmly trusted in God. Now if you trust in God, then you entrust your life to him, and he becomes the source of your righteousness. If God gives it to us, then how can we boast to God? It wouldn't make any sense to boast back to the Father after he has given you a gift. To firmly trust in God means the same thing as to rely on God. That's why Abraham could not take credit for his righteousness to God. Because God gets the ultimate credit. Abraham is crediting God as his Savior and Sustainer by trusting in Him. And that is why God was willing to recognize his trust as righteousness.
when : ει = אם. Paul is not tentative here. Abraham was righteous by works. He would not dispute it.
firmly trusted : επιστευσεν = האמן. The sense is to firmly trust with total commitment to God. The Hebrew text reads, "stood fast in YHWH". The idea behind the Hebrew verb is to make firm or to support. It denotes loyalty to the one trusted. Also BDAG, 3rd edition, def. 2. I utilize the gloss faithfully trusted or firmly trusted to retain the connection with faithfulness, and to avoid the abused translation "believe" which is insufficient to communicate the original Greek or Hebrew. In classical Greek, the word could even mean trust or loyalty in the sense of fealty to to a king as one who owes allegiance to the king.
accounted ... righteousness : Even if we reduce "faith" to mere belief in God's promises, it is counted as righteousness to have such "faith". For this is included in the greatest commandment of the Torah to love God with all one's heart. To believe what God says is to love him. It is fulfillment of the commandment. And whatsoever commandment we obey, then that is righteousness for us (Deut. 6:25). To "account" means that God acknowledges the "trust" as righteousness. We must be informed by the Hebrew verb used in Gen. 15:6: חשב, which includes such senses as "esteem" or "value". We must get a divorce from the legalistic understanding of this term λογιζομαι. That's not what it is about. Rather, Abraham loves God, and God loves Abraham by having a righteous opinion of him (cf. John 15:10). And there is nothing here about God thinking that Abraham was perfect in His sight. On the contrary, God's opinion is perfectly accurate. And λογιζομαι certainly includes these senses. (DLC: torahtimes.org)
composed: 4/23/09.
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/rom0401.html)
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