to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
promise
ἐπαγγελίανepangelian
G1860
an announcement (for information · noun — accusative singular feminine
God
θεοῦtheou
G2316
figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
unbelief
ἀπιστίᾳ,apistia
G570
faithlessness · noun — dative singular feminine
but
ἀλλ᾽all᾽
G235
properly · conjunction
strong
ἐνεδυναμώθηenedunamōthē
G1743
to empower · verb — aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
faith
πίστει,pistei
G4102
persuasion · noun — dative singular feminine
giving
δοὺςdous
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
glory
δόξανdoxan
G1391
glory (as very apparent) · noun — accusative singular feminine
God
θεῷtheō
G2316
figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Daniel 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened…
2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am wea…
2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 7:9 And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
Isaiah 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will…
2 Kings 7:19 And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 4:17-22
Having observed when Abraham was justified by faith, and why, for the honour of Abraham and for example to us who call him father, the apostle here describes and commends the faith of Abraham, where observe,
I. Whom he believed: God who quickeneth. It is God himself that faith fastens upon: other foundation can no man lay. Now observe what in God Abraham's faith had an eye t - o that, certainly, which would be most likely to confirm his faith concerning the things promised: - 1. God who quickeneth the dead. It was promised that he should be the father of many nations, when he and his wife were now as good as dead (Heb 11:11, Heb 11:12), and therefore he looks upon God as a God that could bre…
He staggered--hesitated
not . . . but was strong in faith, giving glory to God--as able to make good His own word in spite of all obstacles.
Adam Clarke on Romans 4:19
He considered not his own body now dead - He showed at once the correctness and energy of his faith: God cannot lie; Abraham can believe. It is true that, according to the course of nature, he and Sarah are so old that they cannot have children; but God is almighty, and can do whatsoever he will, and will fulfill his promise. This was certainly a wonderful degree of faith; as the promise stated that it was in his posterity that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed; that he had, as yet, no child by Sarah; that he was 100 years old; that Sarah was 90; and that, added to the utter improbability of her bearing at that age, she had ever been barren before. All these were so many reason…
He staggered not at the promise of God,.... There is no reason to stagger at, or hesitate about any of the promises of God, since they are made by him that cannot lie; his faithfulness is engaged to perform them; with him all things are possible; every promise is in Christ, yea and amen, and never did any fail; and yet so it is, that some of God's children,
through unbelief, do stagger at the promises of God; thinking either that they are too great for them, or demur upon them through difficulties which attend them:
but so did not Abraham, he
was strong in faith; nothing moved him, no difficulties discouraged him, he made no demur upon the promise, nor had the least hesitation in his mind…
The Church Fathers
Abraham doubted neither the impossibility of old age nor the greatness of the promise.
Paul says that Abraham "gave glory to God" when he was attacking those who were seeking their own glory in the sight of men by doing the works of the law.
For God neither gave any proof nor made any sign, but there were only bare words promising such things as nature did not hold out any hopes of. Yet still he says, "he staggered not." He does not say, "He did not disbelieve," but, "He staggered not," that is, he neither doubted nor hesitated though the hindrances were so great. From this we learn, that if God promise even countless impossibilities, and he that heareth doth not receive them, it is not the nature of things that is to blame, but the unreasonableness of him who receiveth them not. "But was strong in faith." See the pertinacity of Paul. For since this discourse was about them that work and them that believe, he shows that the believer works more than the other, and requires more power, and great strength, and sustains no common degree of labor. For they counted faith worthless, as having no labor in it. Insisting then upon this, he shows that it is not only he that succeeds in temperance, or any other virtue of this sort, but he that displays faith also who requires even greater power. For as the one needs strength to beat off the reasonings of intemperance, so hath the faithful also need of a soul endued with power, that he may thrust aside the suggestions of unbelief. How then did he become "strong?" By trusting the matter, he replies, to faith and not to reasonings: else he had fallen. But how came he to thrive in faith itself? By giving glory to God, he says.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Justification — A forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them…
Glorifying God · .Relying on his promises — .Relying on his promises
Justification · 23:6; — 23:6;
Promises Of God, The · Saints: Stagger not at — Saints: Stagger not at
Resurrection · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Righteousness · By faith — By faith
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Romans 4:19-22
19. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
19. Ac fide minime debilitatus, non consideravit suum ipsius corpus jam emortuum, centenaries quum fere esset, nec emortuam vulvam Sar?:
20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
20. Nec vero in Dei promissionem nec emortuam vulvam Sarre: per incredulitatem disquisivit; sed roboratus est fide, tribuens gloriam Deo;
21. And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
21. Ac certe persuasus, quod ubi quid promisit, possit…
whether or not we live according to the law of Moses (literally not only those who are of the law): The Jews were of the law in that their covenant with God included the law of Moses and they were to live according to it.
