Romans 4:13 BSB — MannaFest

Romans 4:13

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.

KJV

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

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Commentary

3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

For the promise ... - To show that the faith of Abraham, on which his justification depended, was not by the Law, the apostle proceeds to show that the promise concerning which his faith was so remarkably evinced was before the Law was given. If this was so, then it was an additional important consideration in opposition to the Jew, showing that acceptance with God depended on faith, and not on works. That he should be heir of the world - An heir is one who succeeds, or is to succeed to an estate.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

The promise, that he should be the heir of the world - Is the same as that he should be "the father of all nations," namely, of those in all nations who receive the blessing. The whole world was promised to him and them conjointly. Christ is the heir of the world, and of all things; and so are all Abraham's seed, all that believe in him with the faith of Abraham

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Or, rather, it points at Christ, the seed here mentioned; compare Gal. iii. 16 , To thy seed, which is Christ. Now Christ is the heir of the world, the ends of the earth are his possession, and it is in him that Abraham was so.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

21 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
οὐ	ou	Not	G3756 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
διὰ	dia	through	G1223 →
νόμου	nomou	[the] Law	G3551 →
ἡ	hē	[was] the	G3588 →
ἐπαγγελία	epangelia	promise	G1860 →
τῷ	tō	<the>	G3588 →
Ἀβραὰμ	Abraam	to Abraham	G11 →
ἢ	ē	or	G2228 →
τῷ	tō	to the	G3588 →
σπέρματι	spermati	descendants	G4690 →
αὐτοῦ	autou	of him	G846 →
τὸ	to	that	G3588 →
κληρονόμον	klēronomon	heir	G2818 →
αὐτὸν	auton	he	G846 →
εἶναι	einai	being	G1511 →
κόσμου	kosmou	world	G2889 →
ἀλλὰ	alla	but	G235 →
διὰ	dia	through	G1223 →
δικαιοσύνης	dikaiosunēs	[the] righteousness	G1343 →
πίστεως.	pisteōs	of faith.	G4102 →

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
Galatians 3:29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
leads to
- Ephesians 3:6
  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 9:7–8
  Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- Galatians 4:22–31
  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Galatians 3:7
  Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.
- Romans 8:17
  And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Through
Psalms 2:8
Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
leads to
- Psalms 22:27
  All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD. All the families of the nations will bow down before Him.
- Psalms 89:27
  I will indeed appoint him as My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
Through
Genesis 28:14
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through…
leads to
- Genesis 12:3
  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

Featured studies on this passage

On Romans 4:13

The Covenants

Six covenants in succession, cumulative rather than replacing. Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic, New. Each narrowing the line of promise while widening the scope of fulfillment.

Open the study →