It is important to point out that the argument here is a continuation of the one begun in verse 27. To Paul’s question (What, then, can we boast about?) two answers are given. Paul says a man has nothing to boast about because (1) a man is put right with God only through faith, and not by doing what the Law commands; and (2) God is not only the God of the Jews, but he is also the God of the Gentiles.

There is a complex and subtle problem involved in the phrases the God of the Jews and the God of the Gentiles. This might appear to be the same kind of construction as so-called possessives “my God” or “our God” rendered in some languages as “the God in whom I believe” or “the God in whom we believe.” However, it would not make sense to say “is God only the God in whom the Jews believe?” In some languages one must restructure this relation somewhat more explicitly as “is God related only to the Jews?” or “does God exist only for the sake of the Jews?” Quite naturally in languages for which such rhetorical questions are not possible, one must employ a statement—for example, “God of course exists for both Jews and Gentiles.”

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 .