Romans 4:17
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Romans 4:17 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”
King James Version · Public Domain“(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“who is father of us all (according as it hath been written--`A father of many nations I have set thee,') before Him whom he did believe--God, who is quickening the dead, and is calling the things that be not as being.”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Romans 4:17 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 17:4“As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
- Genesis 17:16And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- Genesis 17:20As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
- Genesis 25:1Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah,
- Genesis 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Isaiah 43:6I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth—
- Isaiah 44:7Who then is like Me? Let him say so! Let him declare his case before Me, since I established an ancient people. Let him foretell the things to come, and what is to take place.
- Isaiah 48:13Surely My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I summon them, they stand up together.
- Isaiah 49:12Behold, they will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Aswan.”
- Isaiah 55:12You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
- Matthew 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- John 5:21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.
- John 5:25Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
- John 6:63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
- Acts 15:18that have been known for ages.’
- Romans 3:29Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
- Romans 4:2If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.
- Romans 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
- Romans 8:29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- Romans 9:26and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
- 1 Corinthians 1:28He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
- 1 Corinthians 15:45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- 1 Timothy 6:13I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).