Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν εὑρηκέναι Ἀβραὰμ τὸν προπάτορα ἡμῶν κατὰ σάρκα;
Romans 4
The Example of Abraham
1What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?
In Kadiwéu, it is not possible to use a rhetorical question for the purpose of linking subjects as is done in Romans 4:1 in the Greek (and English) text. Instead, the translators translated the whole verse as “Our forefather Abraham, how did he become just (righteous) before God?” (Source: Glyn Griffiths in Notes on Translation June 1986, p. 25ff.)
See also here.
The Greek that is translated as “my Father” in English is translated in Matumbi as Tati’ bangu’ or “my fathers.” “Our Father” is translated as “our Fathers” (and likewise “our ancestor” as “our ancestors”). Matumbi uses a majestic plural as an honorific when addressing parents. (Source: Tim Macsaveny)
See also addressing one’s or someone else’s father humbly / respectfully in Japanese (父) and Father (address for God).
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 4:1:
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the writer of the letter and the readers).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
The name that is transliterated as “Abraham” in English means “father of a multitude,” “father of mercy,” “father of many nations.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In the vast majority of sign languages, including American Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “hold back arm” (referring to Genesis 22:12).
“Abraham” in American Sign Language (source )
In Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign for that demonstrates his new destiny. Previously, he had been called to wander from his home, and the name “Abram” reflected this movement (see here). The new sign name is in one location and stays there, showing Abraham will be given a land to call his own. At this time, Abraham was in the southern part of Canaan, which is shown on the base arm by the location near the elbow. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abraham” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .
In Tira it is transliterated as Abaram. The choice of this, rather than the widely-known “Ibrahim,” as used in the Tira translation of the Qu’ran, was to offset it against the Muslim transliteration which originates from Arabic. (Source: J.A. Naudé, C.L. Miller Naudé, J.O. Obono in Acta Theologica 43/2, 2023, p. 129ff. )
See also our ancestor Abraham and Abram.
Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Abraham .
Since Abraham was the father of the Jewish nation and was looked upon by them as being completely acceptable in God’s sight, it will strengthen Paul’s argument to point out that Abraham was put right with God through faith, rather than through obedience to the Law.
The translation of this verse is complicated by the presence of a textual problem. Some manuscripts omit altogether the words what was his experience? (see Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, An American Translation*). If these words are omitted, then the passage may be translated: “What, then, are we to say about Abraham, our racial ancestor?” Other manuscripts place these words (literally “what did he find?”) in such a position in the sentence that they are connected with the phrase that the Good News Translation renders racial (literally “according to the flesh”). In this case the words “according to the flesh” must be taken to mean something like “on his own,” and the entire verse then rendered: “What did Abraham our ancestor accomplish on his own (that is, without God’s grace)?” but apparently no modern translations follow this choice of text (La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée gives it as an alternative possibility, though accepting the same reading as the Good News Translation in his text).
Most modern English translations prefer the shorter text, apparently assuming that the longer texts are the result of including a marginal note in the text. On the other hand, the Zürich Bibel, Luther, and La Sainte Bible: Nouvelle version Segond révisée, along with the Good News Translation, are in accord with the UBS Committee as to the Greek text. In favor of the UBS text is the diversity of manuscript evidence, which gives strong support to their choice of text, while the shorter reading has very little manuscript support.
Verse 1 presents a number of translational problems. In the first place, the rhetorical questions may need to be expressed as statements, “we should now speak of Abraham, our ancestor. The following was his experience” or “… this was what happened to him.” However, a more difficult problem is involved in whether the inclusive or exclusive first person plural should be used in the phrase our racial ancestor. In his letter to the Romans Paul is obviously addressing an audience which is largely Gentile, as is clearly indicated in 1.6. Therefore it is necessary, in languages which do make a distinction in first person plurals, to use an exclusive form of “our” or to say “Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews.” Similarly, the editorial we in the rhetorical question should be changed to “I” in a number of languages.
In a number of languages it is both confusing, as well as superfluous, to translate “according to the flesh,” since a term for ancestor indicates specifically this kind of human relationship. Therefore, a term such as racial is often better omitted since it may constitute a misleading redundancy.
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 .
Section 4:1–12
God considers/calls people righteous like he did with Abraham
God called Abraham righteous because he believed what God told him (Genesis 15:1–6). In this section, Paul used that example to show that all people must believe in God for him to call them righteous. He did that for Abraham before Abraham was circumcised. So that shows that God makes people right with himself because they believe in him and not because they are circumcised.
Here are other possible headings for this section:
The Example of Abraham (Good News Translation)
-or-
God called Abraham righteous because he believed
-or-
Abraham is/as an example of how to become righteous before God
-or-
The lesson/model of God calling Abraham righteous because he believed God
Paragraph 4:1–3
4:1a–b
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered?: This is a rhetorical question. It introduces a new subject, the example of Abraham. It causes the listener to think about what the answer might be. Translate this rhetorical question with that meaning. Here are some ways:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
What can we say that we have discovered about our ancestor Abraham? (God’s Word)
• As a statement. For example:
So then, here is what we can say about our ancestor Abraham according to human/natural descent:
What then shall we say: The word then indicates a connection to previous verses. It introduces an example of being justified by faith alone (3:28).
In some languages, the conjunction must be first in the clause. For example:
Then, what shall we say
that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered: There are two issues here.
Issue 1: The text
There is a textual issue here.
(1) Most very old Greek manuscripts have the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has discovered.
(Berean Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, NET Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, King James Version)
(2) One very old Greek manuscript omits this word.
(Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Handbook Good News Translation recommends it.
Issue 2: Meaning
There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as has discovered :
(1) It means discover or learn here. For example:
Abraham…discovered in this matter (New International Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, New Living Translation (2004), NET Bible, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, God’s Word, King James Version, New Century Version)
(2) It means attain here. For example:
was gained by Abraham (New Revised Standard Version)
(English Standard Version, New Revised Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).
The Greek is literally “Abraham to have discovered.” It is not passive. Here are other ways to translate this clause according to option (1) and interpretation (1) above:
Abraham…What was his experience? (Good News Translation)
-or-
Abraham…has found? (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Abraham…learned about faith? (New Century Version)
Abraham: Abraham was an important Jewish ancestor, the first of God’s chosen people. God selected him to be the father of a great nation and established his covenant with him. He was greatly respected by the Jews and they called themselves “sons of Abraham.”
our forefather:
The word forefather refers to an ancestor of long ago. Some Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
our ancestor (NET Bible)
-or-
the father of our people (New Century Version)
The Greek literally says “our forefather according to the flesh.” The Berean Standard Bible does not translate the phrase “according to the flesh,” but it means “as a human being” here, as in 1:3. It emphasizes the physical rather than spiritual. Here are other ways to translate the phrase “according to the flesh”:
humanly speaking, (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
by natural descent (Revised English Bible)
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4.1-8
Selon les textes de l’AT (Gen 17.1-27) Dieu a fait une alliance avec Abram, lui promettant un héritage et une grande descendance. En ce temps-là, Abram et sa femme Sara étaient très âgés et toujours sans enfant. Mais Abram a eu confiance dans le Seigneur et Sara a eu un fils. Abram, renommé Abraham (Gen 17.5), devient le grand partriarche du peuple d’Israël. Dans cette section, Paul affirme que c’est grâce à sa foi qu’Abraham a été considéré comme juste par Dieu, et non à cause de son obéissance à la loi de Moïse. Voir Gen 15.6 ; Rom 4.3. Dans cette section c’est à partir de questions pertinentes que Paul amène son auditoire à comprendre son enseignement.
Il faut noter que les rabbins juifs recouraient souvent à une méthode d’exégèse consistant à rapprocher les passages de la Bible hébraïque où figurent le même mot. Ils utilisaient le second passage pour éclairer le sens qu’avait le mot dans le premier passage. Dans cette section, on notera que le verbe compter figure d’abord dans le texte de Gen cité et en Rom 4.3, puis Paul le reprend en Rom 4.4, Rom 4.5 et Rom 4.6. En Rom 4.7, le même verbe apparaît dans la citation du Ps 32.1-2, d’après l’ancienne version grecque. Paul crée ainsi des leitmotivs et renforce ses arguments concernant l’importance de la foi et de la grâce.
La Traduction œcuménique de la Bible a pour sous-titre Abraham le croyant et d’autres L’exemple d’Abraham (Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie). Mais dans beaucoup de langues, une phrase sera mieux comprise, par exemple, « L’histoire d’Abraham montre l’importance de la foi ».
Que dirons-nous donc d’Abraham, notre ancêtre ? Qu’a-t-il obtenu selon la chair ? : la traduction de ce verset se heurte à quelques problèmes d’ordre textuel et d’autres problèmes concernant la traduction. Une première difficulté concerne l’omission dans certains manuscrits de l’expression traduite par Qu’a-t-il obtenu (litt. « avoir trouvé »). Ainsi la Bible de Jérusalem se limite aux mots « Que dirons-nous donc d’Abraham, notre ancêtre selon la chair ? » Mais en accord avec la majorité des manuscrits grecs, la plupart des versions suivent le texte long, Qu’a-t-il obtenu ? avec le verbe obtenir ou « trouver ».
Par ailleurs, quelques manuscrits placent le verbe « trouver » ou obtenir avant les mots « Abraham notre ancêtre » et d’autres le placent après. Les versions diffèrent, avec Segond Révisée, Nouvelle Bible Segond, La Bible du Semeur, Osty-Trinquet optant pour la première possibilité et Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, optant pour la deuxième. La version Traduction œcuménique de la Bible dit Qu’a-t-il obtenu selon la chair ? mais la Nouvelle Bible Segond dit « Que dirons-nous donc d’Abraham, notre ancêtre selon la chair ? Qu’a-t-il obtenu ? ». Étant donné l’incertitude du texte original, les traducteurs sont libres de présenter le texte comme ils le veulent sans que ceci affecte beaucoup le sens. « Nous devons parler maintenant d’Abraham, notre ancêtre. Voici ce qui lui est arrivé en tant qu’homme ».
Que dirons-nous donc d’Abraham : Paul aime parler à la première personne du pluriel pour interpeller son auditoire. Dans la majorité des langues, ce style sera apprécié. Voir Rom 1.5. La conjonction οὖν oun (donc) marque le début de cette section. La Parole de Vie propose « Maintenant qu’est-ce que nous allons dire sur Abraham, notre ancêtre ? »
Abraham, notre ancêtre… selon la chair : Abraham voir Gen 17.5.
Le mot grec pour ancêtre (προπάτωρ propatôr) ne se trouve qu’ici dans le NT et renvoie aux ancêtres lointains. Les traducteurs pourront trouver un autre mot ou utiliser le même mot qu’ils utilisent ailleurs : « père » ou « grand-père ». Dans beaucoup de langues, il sera superflu de dire « notre ancêtre selon la chair », car ce terme impliquerait déjà ce genre de relation humaine. C’est pour cela que certaines versions l’omettent. Voir Parole de Vie. Mais c’est une expression fréquente chez Paul et son occurrence ici sous-entend que Paul va revenir sur cette idée dans sa discussion.
Quant à l’expression notre ancêtre, faut-il la comprendre au sens inclusif, se référant à Paul et à tous ceux à qui il s’adresse, y compris les non-Juifs, ou au sens exclusif, se référant à Paul et à un nombre limité de ses compagnons ou lecteurs juifs ? Dans cette lettre, Paul s’adresse à un auditoire large, composé de Juifs et de non-Juifs. Il semble donc important de garder notre ici, qui implique que Abraham est l’ancêtre de tous les croyants.
Si une question rhétorique n’est pas naturelle dans la langue cible, on pourrait dire « Tournons-nous maintenant vers (l’exemple d’) Abraham, notre ancêtre ».
Qu’a-t-il obtenu selon la chair : le verbe « trouver » peut avoir deux sens ici, soit « qu’est qui lui est arrivé ? », soit « qu’est-ce qu’il a obtenu ? » Si les traducteurs choisissent l’interprétation de la Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, on pourrait dire : est-ce qu’il a obtenu quelque chose « en tant qu’homme » (Bible en français courant), « par sa propre force » ou « par lui-même » (Parole de Vie) ? Si possible, le traducteur gardera la question, la réponse implicite étant « Rien ! ». Si la question n’est pas naturelle dans la langue cible, on pourrait dire « Parlons maintenant d’Abraham, notre ancêtre. Voici ce qui lui est arrivé en tant qu’homme ».
Source: Margot, Jean-Claude & Zogbo, Lynell. La lettre aux Romains – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.
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