Read Romans 15 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Greek Testament has no Hebrew paragraph divisions. This is my outline of of Romans so far:
1:1-7, Greeting and benediction;
1:8-15, Desire to visit Rome;
1:16-17, Theme of the letter: the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God;
1:18-5:21, Justification and the righteousness of God;
6:1-8:39, Sanctification and the righteousness of God;
9:1-11:36, God’s righteousness and Israel;
12:1-15:13, Practical application of God’s righteousness;
12:1-21, Filled with the Spirit for service, not conformed to the world but to God’s will;
13:1-14, Be subject to governing authorities, to love, and to the Lord Jesus Christ;
14:1-15:7, Proper conduct in differences of practice in gray areas;
15:8-14, For edification with a servant’s heart (Messiah being our example) admonishing one another in knowledge;
15:14-16:27, Conclusion.
Romans 15:1-14 Chiastic Structure:
The central axis shines a spotlight on a startling truth: Messiah Yeshua has received me. The New King James says He accepted me. The Greek word is Strong’s G4355, proslambanō, προσλαμβάνω, a verb meaning, “to receive, granting access to one’s heart” in this context. The translators of the Hebrew Bible into Greek used proslambanō for Strong’s H622 אסף asaph, a primitive verb meaning “to scrape together, to gather.” The ancient pictographs are aleph + sin + pey.
aleph א = the ox head, thus strength, power, leader;
sin ס = the thorn, thus grab, hate, protect;
pey פ, ף = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge.
Interestingly enough, one of the sin + pey cognates, according to the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, is “bowl.” To understand why, we have to understand that the sin sometimes carried the meaning of turning, since if one encounters a thorn along the way, one turns away from it to avoid it. Now a bowl is made when clay is turned (sin) on the potter’s wheel and a lip or edge (pey) is formed along the top rim. Bowls are vessels used to gather the contents of something together. The parable being told by the Hebrew Root Word is of a great (aleph) gathering (sin + pey) together.
To accept, according to Webster’s, is to receive willingly or favorably; to give admittance or approval to; to undertake or assume an obligation. Messiah Yeshua has gathered us together, willingly giving us admittance into His heart; and because He has, we are to gather each other into our hearts. Isn’t that beautiful?
If there are questions, this is a good resources:
God accepts me as I am – Christine Miller
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