Abraham believed God, and David's blessing: righteousness credited apart from works (Romans 4:1–8)

Uncertain How 4:1 is construed (note.language.Rom.4.1.heurekenai-propatora). This commentary leans to the construal the BSB follows: Abraham is the subject of εὑρηκέναι, and κατὰ σάρκα goes with τὸν προπάτορα ἡμῶν, "our forefather according to the flesh" (4:1, BSB), because the phrase follows it directly and Paul uses κατὰ σάρκα of descent (1:3; 9:3, 5). Two alternatives are named: κατὰ σάρκα with εὑρηκέναι, "found by the flesh," that is, by his own effort; and a break after ἐροῦμεν, "Have we found Abraham to be our forefather according to the flesh?" (src.wright-nib-romans). The place of εὑρηκέναι varies, and WH omits it (var.Rom.4.1.heurekenai); RP and TR read πατέρα (var.Rom.4.1.propatora).

Says "If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God" (4:2, BSB). καύχημα (lex.G2745) is the ground for boasting. Scripture answers: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness" (4:3, BSB), from Gen 15:6. Paul follows Swete's LXX, with the passive ἐλογίσθη and εἰς δικαιοσύνην, but has δέ for καί and the later name Abraham (note.language.Rom.4.3.gen-15-6; xref.Rom.4.3.Gen.15.6.heb). Jewish writers praised Abraham as tested and found faithful, and 1 Macc 2:52 (non-canonical) joins Gen 15:6 to the testing of Gen 22 (note.historical.Rom.4.1-Rom.4.25.abraham-second-temple).

Says "Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation" (4:4, BSB). "However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (4:5, BSB). The words are μισθός (lex.G3408), ὀφείλημα (lex.G3783), λογίζομαι (lex.G3049), and ἀσεβής (lex.G765) (note.language.Rom.4.2-Rom.4.5.logizomai-misthos).

Implies The wage picture excludes working of any kind as the ground of the verdict, not only the practices that marked Israel off: the contrast is between working and believing, wage and gift (4:4–5). God justifies τὸν ἀσεβῆ, so the verdict does not rest on godliness found in the person (note.exegetical.Rom.3.9-Rom.3.20.all-under-sin).

Works and wages. Sanders described the Judaism of the period as covenantal nomism (src.sanders-ppj). Dunn reads "works of the law" chiefly as Israel's distinguishing practices and takes the wage picture of 4:4 as illustration only (src.dunn-wbc-romans), and Wright reads Romans 4 chiefly as about who belongs to Abraham's family (src.wright-nib-romans). Westerholm (src.westerholm-perspectives) and Gathercole (src.gathercole-where-is-boasting) read 4:4–5 as setting God's grace against human doing in general. The fuller discussion of "works of the law" is at 3:27–31 (note.exegetical.Rom.3.27-Rom.3.31.boasting-excluded).

Says "And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works" (4:6, BSB), and quotes Ps 32:1–2: "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him" (4:8, BSB). Paul's words match Swete's LXX (Ps 31:1–2) (note.language.Rom.4.7-Rom.4.8.ps-32-1-2; xref.Rom.4.7-Rom.4.8.Ps.32.1-Ps.32.2.heb; lex.G3108). SBLGNT prints οὗ in 4:8; RP and TR read ᾧ (var.Rom.4.8.hou-ho).

Implies Crediting righteousness (4:6) and not counting sin (4:7–8) are two sides of one verdict. The same verb, λογίζομαι, stands in Gen 15:6 and Ps 32:2, and David, a forgiven sinner, is blessed apart from works.

Implies Paul and James do not contradict each other. Paul asks on what ground God credits righteousness to the ungodly and answers, by faith apart from works (4:4–6); James asks what faith is genuine and points to the offering of Isaac (Gen 22), which came long after the crediting of Gen 15:6 and showed the faith already credited (Jas 2:21–23). Jas 2:21–24 is treated with James; the boundary between works and the verdict is set out in note.exegetical.Rom.2.6-Rom.2.16.judgment-according-to-works.