Difference between revisions of "Rom 1:1-5"

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The New Testament > The Epistle to the Romans > Chapter 1

Questions

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Lexical notes

• Verse 1:

Paul had two names, but it is almost certainly not true that he changed his name from "Saul" to "Paul" when he was converted. Notice that he is called "Saul" after his conversion (see Acts 13:1). Roman citizens (Paul was a Roman citizen) usually had three names, a personal name, a clan name, and a family name. Sometimes they also had a nickname. "Paulus" (Paul in English) was a common Roman family name. "Saul" was a relatively common Jewish personal name and could also be a nickname. So "Paul" and "Saul" are just two different ways of identifying the same person, much as we might refer to a person sometimes by his last name--"Smith"--and sometimes by his first name--"John."

The Greek for "servant" is perhaps better translated "slave." There were few if any of what we would think of as servants in Roman or Hebrew culture of Paul's time. Servants were owned by someone and owed that person work, receiving no compensation for their work. Household slaves, however, were usually treated much like members of the family. Sometimes they were adopted (a fact that Paul uses to make his argument in chapter 8).

"Called to be" is a misleading translation. "Called" would be more accurate.

The word "apostle" literally means "one sent out," "a messenger." So Paul is "a called messenger" or "a called apostle." In other words, he is not self-appointed.

"Separated" means much the same as our phrase "set apart."

Exegesis

Most Roman letters began "So-and-so to so-and-so, greeting." Jewish letters began "So-and-so to so-and-so, peace be multiplied." Paul begins his letters with variations of these standard greetings, but he often expands those greetings. In this letter, for example, he tells us who he is in verse 1 and who the letter is addressed to in verse 7, with a five verse parenthesis between.

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