In verse 24 the emphatic element is the phrase by hope. There is some discussion as to whether Paul means by hope or “in this hope” (Revised Standard Version; see Moffatt “with this hope ahead”). In this context hope is close in meaning to “faith,” and so the rendering of the Good News Translation is more logical.

As most translators indicate, Paul uses the past tense of the verb “to be saved” in this verse: we were saved. To translate by a future tense is wrong (Jerusalem Bible “we shall be saved”), and even the use of the present (see Jerusalem Bible note “we are saved”) is misleading. Paul sometimes used this verb in a present tense (2 Corinthians 2.15), and more often in a future tense (5.9, 10), but in the present passage he uses the past tense, since his focus of attention is on the beginning of the salvation experience. Although the Christian hope is a confident expectation that God will do what he says (see 5.2), it is still something that will not be “seen” until the final day. And even though the Christian is confident that his hope will finally the realized, he must wait for it with patience. The word rendered patience in this passage is also translated as patience in 15.4, 5, but as endurance in 5.3. The word itself seems to have more of an active force than the English word “patience” suggests, and it may be more closely related to our concept of “endurance.”

It is particularly difficult in many languages to use hope without indicating who hopes. It is particularly complex to use hope merely as an expression of means without indicating the participants. Therefore, the first clause of verse 24 may require some recasting—for example, “for the fact that we were saved was because we hoped,” “for by our hoping we were saved,” or “because we looked forward with confidence God saved us.”

Since hope must frequently be expressed by some descriptive phrase such as “look forward to with confidence,” this may require some modification in the last part of the first sentence of verse 24—for example, “but if we already see what we have been looking forward to with confidence, then we are not really looking forward to it at all.” Similarly, the last sentence of verse 24 may be rendered as “for no one looks forward to something which he already sees” (in this way changing a rhetorical question into a statement). In line, then, with what has already been done in verse 24, verse 25 may be translated as “but if we look forward confidently for something which we do not see, then we do endure in our looking forward,” “… we do look forward with endurance,” “… steadfastly,” or “… not moving at all.” On the other hand, if hope is expressed by some highly idiomatic expression as, for example, “the power of the abdomen” (as it is in some languages), then quite naturally the structure of verses 24 and 25 will have to be considerably different.

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 .