Romans 4 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

408 409 410person, or also upon the uncircumcised person? For we say, "The trust was considered407(...continued)Psalm 1:1–the man who does not walk in the council of the ungodlyPsalm 34:8 (34:9 in Hebrew; 33:9 in Greek)–who takes refuge in the LordPsalm 40:4 (40:5 in Hebrew; 39:5 in Greek)--who makes the Lord his trust (or object ofconfidence, or security)Psalm 84:5 (84:6 in Hebrew; 83:6 in Greek)–whose strength in You (the Lord)Psalm 112:1 (111:1 in Greek)–who fears the Lord, who takes delight in God’s commandmentsProverbs 8:34–who listens to Wisdom, watching daily at her doors, waiting at her doorwayProverbs 28:14–who always fears the LordIsaiah 56:2–who maintains justice and does what is rightWe could add many other passages to these, for example the so-called “Beatitudes” ofJesus in Matthew 5:2-12:the poor in spirit;those who mourn;the meek;those who hunger and thirst for right-relationship(s);the merciful;the pure in heart;the peacemakers;those who are persecuted because of right-relationships;those who are spoken of as evil because of their relationship to Jesus.None of these who are pronounced “fortunate,” or “happy,” or ‘blessed” are people whocome proudly before God, claiming that God owes them anything. They are people who relatetheir lives to God in trust, in humility, longing for divine wisdom, loving to hear and follow God’sdirection (Torah),who maintain justice and right, who recognize their poverty, who can mournwith others, etc. etc. These are the people considered “rightly-related” by God, andpronounced as such in these biblical passages. God considers them as being in “rightrelationship.”There are numerous other biblical passages that can be added to these.408The accusative singular adjective mo,non is interpolated into the text at this point byBezae, a majority of the Old Latin witnesses, the Clementine Vulgate and Ambrosiaster (366-384 A.D.)This textual variant supports our translation, into which we have inserted this word.223