Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Romans 4:1-25, Abraham, father of the uncircumcised too
Paul argues from Genesis 15:6 that Abraham was counted righteous by trusting God before he was circumcised, so he is the father of all who believe, circumcised or not.
Romans 4:1-25, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul turns to Abraham, the father every Jewish reader claimed, and points out from Genesis that God counted him righteous because he trusted God. That happened years before Abraham was circumcised, so circumcision confirmed something he already had, and he can be father to uncircumcised believers as well as circumcised ones. The promise rested on trust, and Abraham trusted a God who brings the dead to life.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/children-of-abraham\/","n":"Children of Abraham","s":"Jews called Abraham our father, and many believed that being his descendants all but guaranteed a place among God's saved people. The Gospels and Paul argue over who his true children are.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/circumcision\/","n":"Circumcision and becoming a Jew","s":"Circumcision was the sign of God's covenant with Abraham and the mark of a Jewish man. A Gentile man who joined Israel was circumcised; the first great quarrel in the church was over whether Gentile believers had to be.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/proselytes-and-god-fearers\/","n":"Converts and God-fearers","s":"Gentiles drawn to Israel's God stood at two distances. Converts took on the whole law, circumcision included, and became Jews. God-fearers worshiped Israel's God, gave to the synagogue and kept some customs, but did not convert.","r":""}
Jewish tradition spoke often of our father Abraham and treated him as the model of faith, the model Pharisee and the model convert, a Gentile before his circumcision who destroyed idols; some traditions said his merit sustained Israel in later generations (Keener). Genesis 15:6 was a favorite text, often read as Abraham's faithfulness, one of his works, and the verb for counted or credited was a bookkeeping term from business documents (Keener). Keener counts over thirteen years between Genesis 15:6 and Abraham's circumcision and notes that some Jewish interpreters made it twenty-nine. Many Jews allowed that exceptional Gentiles who kept the laws given to Noah could be saved, but required male Gentiles to be circumcised to join God's people, so making uncircumcised Gentiles full heirs of Abraham would make Jewish ears recoil (Keener and his notes). The Hebrew word translated land can equally mean earth, and Jewish interpreters taught that Abraham's offspring would receive the entire coming world as their inheritance (Keener). Wright frames the chapter around one question: what kind of family have believers been adopted into?
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Romans 4:1-22, 4:1, 4:2, 4:3, 4:10, 4:11-12 and 4:13
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Romans 4:11
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part One, comment on Romans 4:1-8
