First a word about chapter and verse divisions. When the books of the Bible were written, there were no chapter or verse divisions. As a matter of fact, there were no paragraph divisions and, as writing materials were very expensive, in order to save space and money there was no division between words, whether in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Where words divide is usually obvious. I know of only two or three places in all the Bible where there is a question as to where the words divide and the choice is not significant to the overall sense of the passage where it is found.
When in the Hebrew Scriptures, there are books numbered 1 and 2, such as First Samuel and Second Samuel, it was because the complete text did not fit onto one scroll and had to be continued onto a second scroll. Books were in scroll format in ancient times until, around the first century of our era, when someone got the idea of cutting the columns apart and then tying the resulting pages together. Thus the codex was born. It is the format we consider a book.
The Biblical texts were divided into chapters and verses in the Middle Ages to make finding passages easier. The idea was so practical, that it survived to our days. It is important to keep in mind that they are merely references introduced later for convenience. The texts should never be read as if each verse has a separate life and meaning. Rather texts should be read as a whole and interpreted accordingly.
Finally, we should always keep in mind that even in the first century, when the New Testament was written, few people owned books. They were just too expensive and rare until printing was invented, nearly fifteen hundred years later. Most people never had the text of Romans in their hands to read alone. Rather, as a letter to a specific group of people, it was read out loud in meetings. No wonder, then that Paul repeats himself and deals with his handful of topics from numerous angles. He paints enough different word pictures to make sense to just about every hearer and hopefully "get through" to all.
In chapter one of Romans, after the greeting and beginning in verse 8, Paul expresses his desire to visit Rome. He has heard of their faith and in his prayers always thanks God for that and intercedes for them. He makes clear that his intention of visiting them is firm, so that he can strengthen them in some way as well as doing the same among all nations (ethnic groups-there were no nations as we think of them back then). Then he makes an intriguing statement: he owes both Greek-speaking people and speakers of other languages (barbaroi), wise and not wise. Strictly speaking for myself, I interpret that, as a minimum, Paul is saying that God has commissioned him to tell the gospel of Jesus to all nations, inasmuch as it is possible for Paul to do so. He is saying he still has a lot of work to do to make that happen. There certainly may be further meanings to this saying which escape me.
In verses 16 and 17 Paul mentions the pairing of Jews and Greeks for the first time. He says that he is proud to proclaim the gospel (the high points of the life of Jesus, especially his death on the cross and return to life on the third day), calling it the power of God for salvation of the Jews first and then of the Greeks. Salvation means the redeeming power and intent of God to forgive our sins and bring us into fellowship with him and to obedience because we trust Jesus to be always who he said he was. Faith should be read as absolute trust because we know the character of God through Jesus. That is why Paul says that God's ethical goodness and power (that is, righteousness) is revealed from first to last and at all times through faith: God's faithfulness to us calling us to be faithful. Therefore, Paul concludes (and this is his theme): the righteous persons are those who trust. Those who trust will find life.
In my next post I will say a word as to why "to the Jews first and then to the Greeks" and I plan to deal with the remainder of Chapter 1.
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