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Romans 4:3

“For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:3 · direct translation from the Greek
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With the Greek beneath

3

Quotation · Genesis 15:6

Go to Genesis 15:6

Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 and names Abraham, whom the Hebrew does not name in that verse.

Formula: τί γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει “for what does the Scripture say?” (Romans 4:3)

See the original texts

Greek of the New Testament: τί γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ λέγει Ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην

Hebrew (Masoretic text): וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוָה וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה

Septuagint (Genesis 15:6 in the Septuagint numbering): καὶ ἐπίστευσεν Ἀβρὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.

The Greek of the NT matches the Septuagint word for word in 7 consecutive words: “τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην.”

Septuagint, Swete’s text, First1KGreek transcription (with reading errors), CC BY-SA 4.0

Romans 4:3, word by word

does the Scriptureγραφὴgraphē

Scripture

Scripture: the sacred text; "the Scriptures", the Old Testament.

Where else “graphē” appears
sayλέγειlegei

state

What something written says, like Scripture.

Where else “legei” appears
AbrahamἈβραὰμAbraam

Abraham

Abraham, the father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised to bless all the families of the earth through his offspring.

Where else “Abraam” appears
believedἘπίστευσενEpisteusen

trust

To trust in God or in Jesus.

Where else “Episteusen” appears
Godθεῷtheōi

God

The Creator and Lord of all, the one God of Israel.

Where else “theōi” appears
it was countedἐλογίσθηelogisthē

reckon

To put something to someone's account: "it was reckoned as righteousness".

Where else “elogisthē” appears
righteousnessδικαιοσύνηνdikaiosynēn

righteousness

Doing what is just, living as God wants.

Where else “dikaiosynēn” appears

Translation note

Genesis 15:6.

Parallel passages

Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.

Quotation · Genesis 15:6

Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 and names Abraham, whom the Hebrew does not name in that verse.

See them side by side

Romans 4:3

3For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6

6And he believed in YHWH, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

The context

2For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

3 · This verse (above)

4Now to the one who works, the wages are not counted as a favor but as what is owed.

Read all of Romans 4

To study Romans 4 in a group

  1. 1. What it says

    What does Paul say happened to Abraham when he believed God? (vv. 3, 20-22)

  2. 2. What it means

    Why does Paul use the example of Abraham to speak of faith? What does he want to show? (vv. 1-3, 9-12)

  3. 3. How I live it

    Abraham kept trusting although it seemed impossible (vv. 18-21). In what situation is trust hard for you, and what would help you keep hoping?

How to use it