Romans 4:1 BSB — MannaFest

Romans 4:1

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, hath found according to the flesh?

KJV

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

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Commentary

2 voices

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (253)

These things having thus been explained according to our ability, it also seems by no means to be passed over that he named Abraham "our father according to the flesh." For Abraham is seen to be the father of the Gentiles according to faith, not according to the flesh.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

What shall we say then that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?--that is, (as the order in the original shows), "hath found, as pertaining to ('according to,' or 'through') the flesh"; meaning, "by all his natural efforts or legal obedience."

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

10 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Τί	Ti	What	G5101 →
οὖν	oun	then	G3767 →
ἐροῦμεν	eroumen	will we say	G4483 →
εὑρηκέναι	heurēkenai	to have discovered	G2147 →
Ἀβραὰμ	Abraam	Abraham	G11 →
τὸν	ton	the	G3588 →
προπάτορα	propatora	ancestor
ἡμῶν	hēmōn	of us	G3165 →
κατὰ	kata	according to	G2596 →
σάρκα;	sarka	[the] flesh?	G4561 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 8:56
Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
leads to
- Hebrews 11:13
  All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the…
- Genesis 22:18
  And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
- Galatians 3:7–9
  Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.
- John 8:39
  “Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.
- Matthew 13:17
  For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
Through
Romans 4:16
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who…
leads to
- Romans 3:24–26
  and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 2:8
  For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,
Through
Isaiah 51:2
Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.
leads to
- Ezekiel 33:24
  “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been…

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