ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Romans 8.32

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

30. and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?

  1. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; 34. who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:30-34, ASV)
WEB

30. Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified. 31. What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32. He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?

  1. Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies. 34. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. (Romans 8:30-34, WEB)
KJV

30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

  1. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (Romans 8:30-34, KJV)
YLT

30. and whom He did fore-appoint, these also He did call; and whom He did call, these also He declared righteous; and whom He declared righteous, these also He did glorify. 31. What, then, shall we say unto these things? if God [is] for us, who [is] against us?

32. He who indeed His own Son did not spare, but for us all did deliver him up, how shall He not also with him the all things grant to us?

  1. Who shall lay a charge against the choice ones of God? God [is] He that is declaring righteous, 34. who [is] he that is condemning? Christ [is] He that died, yea, rather also, was raised up; who is also on the right hand of God, who also doth intercede for us. (Romans 8:30-34, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the Roman house churches (mixed Jewish-Gentile), whom Paul had not yet met
  • Location: Corinth, near the close of the third missionary journey
  • Time period: c. AD 56-57

Theological reading

The high point of the chapter's closing argument, and it works by moving from the greater to the lesser. Hos ge tou idiou huiou ouk epheisato, he who did not spare his own Son, but paredōken auton, delivered him up, for us all.

Ouk epheisato, did not spare, is the Septuagint's exact phrase in Genesis 22:16, where the angel tells Abraham "you have not spared your son, your only son." The echo is unlikely to be accidental in a letter that has already made Abraham its central example in chapter 4. The Aqedah supplies the pattern of a father and a beloved son on a mountain, and Paul's use of it turns on the difference: on Moriah the knife was stayed and a substitute provided, and here it was not.

Paredōken is the same verb that ran three times through Romans 1:24-28, where God gave humanity over to its chosen sin. The reappearance is pointed. The verb of judgment becomes the verb of self-giving, with the Son as its object.

The conclusion is drawn a fortiori, from the harder case to the easier: pōs ouchi kai, how shall he not also, with him freely give us all things? The word for the giving, charisetai, is the grace verb. Paul's pastoral logic is that the decisive gift is already behind us, so the assurance of everything subsequent rests on something already done rather than on anything still to be secured.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

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.