Romans 4:18

Here the apostle digresseth a little from his principal argument, and falls into a commendation of Abraham’s faith. Who against hope believed in hope: Abraham, when he had no natural or rational grounds of hope, either in respect of himself or Sarah his wife, did yet believe and hope he should have a son; and so be a root or stock, from whence many nations should spring: and this faith and hope of his was grounded upon the power and faithfulness of God. So shall thy seed be; so as the stars of heaven for multitude, which must be supplied out of the promise, in Genesis 15:5 .

Romans 4:18-22 . Who, &c. — In this paragraph the apostle first takes notice of the difficulties which stood in the way of Abraham’s faith, and then of the power and excellence of it, manifested in its triumphing over them. Against hope — Against all probability; believed in hope — With an assured confidence, grounded on the divine promise; according to all that which was spoken — When God called him forth abroad to view the stars of heaven. So shall thy seed be — So numerous and glorious. And being not weak in faith — That is, being strong in faith; for the Hebrews, when they meant to assert a thing strongly, did it by the denial of its contrary. He considered not his own body now dead — With regard to the probability of begetting children. He did not regard it so as to be discouraged thereby, or induced to disbelieve the promise. The children which Abraham had by Keturah, after Sarah’s death, do not invalidate the apostle’s assertion here; for Abraham’s body, having been renewed by a miracle in order to the begetting of Isaac, might preserve its vigour for a considerable time afterward. Nor did he consider or regard the old age of Sarah.

He staggered not — Greek, εις την επαγγελιαν του θεου ου διεκριθη τη απιστια , against the promise of God he did not reason; through unbelief — Did not call in question the truth of God’s promise, or the certainty of its fulfilment; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God — Entertaining high and honourable thoughts of God’s power and faithfulness, and manifesting the same by his actions. “We are told, indeed, that when God declared that Sarah was to be the mother of nations, Genesis 17:17 , Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? &c. But these questions did not proceed from unbelief, but from admiration and gratitude, as may be gathered from the posture into which he put himself.

(18-22) Extended description of the faith of Abraham. (18) Who.—It must be noticed that the relative here refers to Abraham, whereas in the previous verse it referred to God. Believed in hope.—The force of the preposition gives rather to the sentence the meaning of “grounded his faith upon hope”—that internal subjective hope that was strong within him, though there were no objective grounds for hoping. That he might become.—So as by exercise of faith to carry out God’s purpose.

Romans 4:18 ff. Abraham’s faith described. It was both contrary to hope (as far as nature could give hope), and rested on hope (that God could do what nature could not). εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν πατέρα κ . τ . λ . ( cf. Romans 4:11 ) is most properly taken to express the Divine purpose—that he might become father, etc. (see Moulton’s note in Winer, p. 414); not result—so that he became. κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον , Οὕτως κ . τ . λ ., Genesis 15:5 : the passage is familiar, and the οὕτως is supposed to suggest its own interpretation—the stars of the heaven. μὴ ἀσθενήσας … κατενόησεν , without becoming weak in faith, he considered his own body. “The participle ἀσθενήσας , though preceding the verb, is most naturally interpreted as referring to a (conceived) result of the action denoted by κατενόησεν .” Burton, Moods and Tenses , § 145. This remark holds good only with the reading κατενόησεν : if we read οὐ κατ . the meaning is, He considered not his body quippe qui non esset imbecillis (Winer, p. 610). ἑκατονταετής που (circiter) ὑπάρχων : his great age was the primary and fundamental fact in the situation: this seems to be the suggestion of ὑπάρχων as distinct from ὤν . In Romans 4:20 ( εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ) the δὲ contrasts with becoming weak, as he considered his body, the actual conduct of Abraham. “He did not waver in relation to the promise, in unbelief; on the contrary, he was strengthened in faith.” On διεκρίθη , cf.

Matthew 21:21 , Jam 1:6 , Romans 14:23 . τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ : instrum, dative; because of unbelief. It is simplest to take τῇ πίστει as dative of respect, though Hebrews 11:11 can be adduced by those who would render: “he became strong, recovered his bodily vigour, by faith”. The participles in Romans 4:21 are loosely attached to the principal verbs, and are really equivalent to co-ordinate clauses with καί . In his whole conduct on this occasion Abraham glorified God, and demonstrated his own assurance of His power. See Burton, § 145. δοὺς δόξαν τῷ θεῷ : for this Hebraism see Joshua 7:19 , Jeremiah 13:16 , John 9:24 , Acts 12:23 . For πληροφορηθείς Romans 14:5 , Colossians 4:12 .

Verses 18-21. - Who against hope in hope believed ( παρ ἐλπίδα ἐπ ἐλπίδι - an oxymoron. For a similar use of ἐπ ἐλπίδι , see 1 Corinthians 9:10 ; also below, Romans 5:2 . Its position in the Authorized Version might suggest its dependence on "believed," which is grammatically possible (cf. Romans 9:33 ; Romans 10:11 ), but unallowable here, since hope cannot well be regarded as the object of belief) to the end he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be ( Genesis 15:5 , viz. "as the stars"). And being not weak in faith, he considered not ( i.e. paid no regard to as a hindrance to faith. The codices relied on by our recent Revisers omit οὐ before κατενόησεν , and they accordingly translate, "he considered his own body," thus making the idea to be that he was fully aware of the apparent impossibility of his having a son, but believed notwithstanding. But the reading of the Textus Receptus has good support, and especially that of the Greek Fathers, and gives the best sense) his own body now dead ( already deadened - νενεκρώμενον ( ι.ε. with respect to virility. So, with the same reference, Hebrews 11:12 ), when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; but he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong (rather, was strengthened ) in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform .

With regard to the construction of ver. 20, we may observe that, though in the Authorized Version, which is followed above, the prepositions put before "unbelief" and "faith" are varied, both words are datives without a preposition in the Greek, and apparently with the same force of the dative in both cases, the sense being, "With regard to the promise, etc., unbelief did not cause him to waver ( οὑ διεκρίθη τῇ ἀπιστία ) , but faith made him strong ἐνεδυναμώθη τῇ πίστει )." The purport of the whole passage is to show, with reference to Genesis 17:15-22 ; Genesis 18:9-16 , how Abraham's faith in the promise of a seed through Sarah, which seemed impossible in the natural course of things, corresponded in essence to our faith in "him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (ver. 24). It was faith in a Divine power above nature, able to quicken into supernatural life that which humanly is dead. And as Abraham's faith in this promised birth of Isaac involved a further faith in the fulfilment through him of all the promises, so our faith in the resurrection of Christ involves faith in all that is signified and assured to us thereby - in "the power of a Divine life" in him, to bring life out of death, to regenerate and quicken the spiritually dead, and finally in "eternal redemption" and the "restitution of all things" (cf.