The Meaning of Romans 4:13 Explained

Romans 4:13

KJV: For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

YLT: For not through law is the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith;

Darby: For it was not by law that the promise was to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world, but by righteousness of faith.

ASV: For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  the promise,  that he should be  the  heir  of the world,  [was] not  to Abraham,  or  to his  seed,  through  the law,  but  through  the righteousness  of faith. 

What does Romans 4:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

God gave His promise to bless the Gentiles through Abraham long before He gave the Mosaic Law. Consequently it was wrong for the Jews to think that the blessing of the Gentiles depended on their obedience to the Law. It depended on God"s faithfulness to His promise. God gave that promise to Abraham not because of his obedience but because of his faith. The giving of that promise even antedated Abraham"s circumcision.

Context Summary

Romans 4:9-15 - This Blessedness Is For All
In Abraham's case it is clear that he was justified when he was still a Gentile. The initial badge of Judaism was stamped upon him long after he had believed God. The Apostle lays great stress on this order of time: first faith, then obedience, and afterward circumcision, that made him the father and founder of the Jewish people. Justification is imputed to him in the first stage-not in circumcision, not even in obedience, but in the simple act of believing God, as we have it in Genesis 15:6. We do not hear of circumcision till Genesis 17:1-27.
Clearly, then, if we Gentiles have Abraham's faith, we may also claim the same justifying righteousness, though we have not received any outward rite. And also, we may be reckoned among his children. If we enter into the meaning of these earlier stages of the patriarch's life, we may claim the promises made to him in uncircumcision. Count them up; they are yours. We, too, may become heirs of the world; in us also, because we are his seed, all mankind may be blessed. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 4

1  Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness;
10  before he was circumcised
13  By faith only he and his seed received the promise
16  Abraham is the father of all who believe
24  Our faith also shall be credited to us as righteousness

Greek Commentary for Romans 4:13

That he should be the heir of the world [το κληρονομον αυτον ειναι κοσμου]
The articular infinitive But where is that promise? Not just Genesis 12:7, but the whole chain of promises about his son, his descendants like the stars in heaven, the Messiah and the blessing to the world through him. In these verses (Romans 4:13) Paul employs (Sanday and Headlam) the keywords of his gospel (faith, promise, grace) and arrays them against the current Jewish theology (law, works, merit). [source]
Heir of the world [κληρονόμον κόσμου]
See on divided by lot, Acts 13:19; and see on inheritance, 1 Peter 1:4. “Paul here takes the Jewish conception of the universal dominion of the Messianic theocracy prefigured by the inheritance of Canaan, divests it of its Judaistic element, and raises it to a christological truth.” Compare Matthew 19:28, Matthew 19:29; Luke 22:30. The idea underlies the phrases kingdom of God, kingdom of Heaven. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 4:13

Romans 4:13 That he should be the heir of the world [το κληρονομον αυτον ειναι κοσμου]
The articular infinitive But where is that promise? Not just Genesis 12:7, but the whole chain of promises about his son, his descendants like the stars in heaven, the Messiah and the blessing to the world through him. In these verses (Romans 4:13) Paul employs (Sanday and Headlam) the keywords of his gospel (faith, promise, grace) and arrays them against the current Jewish theology (law, works, merit). [source]
Titus 3:7 That we might be made heirs [ινα κληρονομοι γενητωμεν]
Purpose with ινα — hina and first aorist passive of γινομαι — ginomai See note on Romans 4:13; Romans 8:17. [source]
Titus 3:7 We should be made heirs [κληρονόμοι γενηθῶμεν]
Κληρονόμος heironly here in Pastorals. A favorite idea of Paul. See Romans 4:13; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29. Heirship of eternal life is the result of justification. So, clearly, 2Corinthians href="/desk/?q=2co+5:5&sr=1">2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:14. [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 4:13 mean?

Not for through [the] Law the promise [was] - to Abraham or the descendants of him that heir he should be [of the] world but [the] righteousness of faith
Οὐ γὰρ διὰ νόμου ἐπαγγελία τῷ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ τὸ κληρονόμον αὐτὸν εἶναι κόσμου ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνης πίστεως

διὰ  through 
Parse: Preposition
Root: διά  
Sense: through.
νόμου  [the]  Law 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: νόμος  
Sense: anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command.
ἐπαγγελία  promise  [was] 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ἐπαγγελία  
Sense: announcement.
τῷ  - 
Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Ἀβραὰμ  to  Abraham 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἀβραάμ  
Sense: the son of Terah and the founder of the Jewish nation.
σπέρματι  descendants 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: σπέρμα  
Sense: from which a plant germinates.
αὐτοῦ  of  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
τὸ  that 
Parse: Article, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
κληρονόμον  heir 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: κληρονόμος  
Sense: one who receives by lot, an heir.
εἶναι  should  be 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
κόσμου  [of  the]  world 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: κόσμος  
Sense: an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.
δικαιοσύνης  [the]  righteousness 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: δικαιοσύνη  
Sense: in a broad sense: state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God.
πίστεως  of  faith 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: πίστις  
Sense: conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it.