These verses are intended to use a specific illustration from the life of Abraham to show how he believed and hoped when there was no more hope. In Greek these three verses are one sentence, and as one can readily understand, they have to be rather radically restructured in order to sound natural in English. From an exegetical point of view, these verses are not particularly difficult, and therefore they require only a few comments. The emphatic element in the Greek sentence structure is a clause rendered but his faith did not weaken.

Almost one hundred years old may be rendered in a number of different ways—for example, “he was not yet one hundred years old,” “he lacked only a little of being one hundred years old,” “he had one hundred years not yet,” or “in a little while he would be one hundred years old.” An expression such as “he was not yet one hundred years old” might seem to focus upon “youngness” rather than “oldness,” but in many languages “almost” can only be expressed in terms of “not yet” or “not quite.”

His faith did not weaken may be rendered positively as “his trust in God continued strong.” The clause when he thought of his body may be made somewhat more emphatic as “even when he thought of his body,” or, in the form of direct discourse, “even when he thought to himself, My body is practically dead,” or “even when he said to himself, My body is dead, as it were, almost.” The final clause the fact that Sarah could not have children is, of course, also a part of Abraham’s thought and therefore may be incorporated as part of the direct discourse—for example, “even when he said to himself, My body is almost dead and my wife Sarah cannot give birth to children,” “… cannot have a baby,” or “… cannot produce a baby from her womb.”

His faith did not leave him, and he did not doubt God’s promise is literally “he did not doubt the promise of God by unbelief” (see New English Bible “never doubted God’s promise in unbelief”). It is interesting to observe what other modern translations in English do with this passage. The Revised Standard Version, which often employs a formal translation, rendered this passage rather dynamically: “no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God”; while An American Translation*, which often uses very contemporary English, renders: “he did not incredulously question God’s promise.”

In a number of languages one cannot speak of “faith leaving a person.” One may, of course, “no longer trust” or “give up believing,” so that an equivalent may be “Abraham did not give up believing” or, expressed positively, “Abraham kept on believing.” In some languages it is difficult to express doubt about a promise except by means of some direct discourse—for example, “he did not say, God’s promise is impossible” or “he did not reason in himself, What God has promised cannot possibly happen.” Because of the relation of verse 20 to verse 19, it may be appropriate to introduce the two expressions with regard to faith and doubt with some such connective as “moreover” or “furthermore.”

The clause which the Good News Translation renders his faith filled him with power is understood in this same sense by most modern translations (see, for example, Phillips “he drew strength from his faith” and Jerusalem Bible “drew strength from faith”); but some take it to mean either that Abraham grew strong in faith, or that his faith was confirmed and so strengthened (see Moffatt “his faith won strength”).

Because of the contrast between the first and second parts of verse 20, one may introduce the latter part by some adversative conjunction—for example, “but rather his faith filled him with power.” However, the expression his faith filled him with power may more frequently be expressed as “he became strong because of his faith” or “… because he trusted God.”

In some languages praise to God can only be expressed as direct discourse—for example, “he said, God, you are wonderful” or “he said to God, You are great.”

In verse 21 the Greek does not explicitly mention God (see New English Bible “in the firm conviction of his power to do what he had promised”), though many modern translations make the reference to God explicit: he was absolutely sure that God would be able to do what he had promised.

An expression such as he was absolutely sure may be expressed in some languages as direct discourse—for example, “he said to himself with confidence, God is surely able to do what he has promised me.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .