Passage

Romans 1.5

Book: Romans · ASV

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4. who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; even Jesus Christ our Lord,"

"5. through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake;"

"6. among whom are ye also called to be Jesus Christ's: 7. To all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:3-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh, 4. who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,"

"5. through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;"

"6. among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ; 7. to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:3-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: ^{declared: Gr. determined}"

"5. By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: ^{for obedience: or, to the obedience of faith}"

"6. Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: 7. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:3-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. concerning His Son, (who is come of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4. who is marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of sanctification, by the rising again from the dead,) Jesus Christ our Lord;"

"5. through whom we did receive grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, in behalf of his name;"

"6. among whom are also ye, the called of Jesus Christ; 7. to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called saints; Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ!" (Romans 1:3-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Paul (Romans is undisputed Pauline authorship)
Audience: the Roman believers (mixed Jewish-Gentile congregation)
Location: likely composed in Corinth, c. AD 56-57, during Paul's third missionary journey
Time period: mid-first-century

Theological reading

Romans 1:5 is the opening half of the Pauline inclusio that frames the entire Letter to the Romans: "obedience of faith" (hypakoē pisteōs) opens here, and closes at Romans 16:26 with the identical phrase. The construction is one of the most contested in Pauline grammar, genitive of source ("the obedience that faith produces", Cranfield, Moo) or genitive of apposition ("obedience-which-is-faith / faith-as-obedient-response", Schreiner, Wright), but on either reading the phrase holds faith and obedience together against both works-righteousness and antinomian-faith.

The verse also bears the apostolic-missiological frame: Paul received grace-and-apostleship eis hypakoēn pisteōs en pasin tois ethnesin, "unto obedience of faith among all the nations." The telos of the gospel's spread is hypakoē pisteōs among the ethnē (nations / Gentiles). The Great Commission (Matt 28:19) and Paul's apostolic-mission share the same telos.

The eschatological-soteriological framing: this hypakoē pisteōs is not a future-only project but the present-tense responsive-yielding of believers to Christ's lordship, anchored in the resurrection-declaration of v. 4 (Jesus's being "declared to be the Son of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead"). The risen Lord receives the hypakoē pisteōs of the nations.

Key words

G5219 - hypakouo, the verbal cognate hypakouō (G5219); see also G5218 - hypakoe for the noun hypakoē. Romans 1:5's hypakoē pisteōs is the load-bearing Pauline-soteriological phrase, opening the Romans-inclusio that closes at 16:26.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.