God’s Word Translation
Romans 5:4
4endurance creates character, and character creates confidence.
Romans 5:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
- New International Version (NIV)perseverance, character; and character, hope.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
- New King James Version (NKJV)and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Context of Romans 5:4
2Through Christ we can approach God and stand in his favor. So we brag because of our confidence that we will receive glory from God. 3But that’s not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, endurance creates character, and character creates confidence. 5We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people.
Read all of Romans 5Romans 5:4 word by word
ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Romans 5:4
- Romans 15:4Everything written long ago was written to teach us so that we would have confidence through the endurance and encouragement which the Scriptures give us.
- 2 Corinthians 1:4He comforts us whenever we suffer. That is why whenever other people suffer, we are able to comfort them by using the same comfort we have received from God.
- 2 Corinthians 4:8In every way we’re troubled, but we aren’t crushed by our troubles. We’re frustrated, but we don’t give up.
- 2 Corinthians 6:9as unknown although we are well-known, as dying although, as you see, we go on living. We are punished, but we are not killed.
- James 1:12Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
- 1 Peter 1:6You are extremely happy about these things, even though you have to suffer different kinds of trouble for a little while now.
- 1 Peter 5:10God, who shows you his kindness and who has called you through Christ Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, strengthen you, make you strong, and support you as you suffer for a little while.
- Joshua 10:24When they brought them to Joshua, he called for all the men of Israel. He told the officers who had gone with him, “Come forward and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So that’s what they did.
- 1 Samuel 17:34David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
- Psalms 27:2Evildoers closed in on me to tear me to pieces. My opponents and enemies stumbled and fell.
- Psalms 42:4I will remember these things as I pour out my soul: how I used to walk with the crowd and lead it in a procession to God’s house. ⌞I sang⌟ songs of joy and thanksgiving while crowds of people celebrated a festival.
- Psalms 71:14But I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more.
- 2 Timothy 4:16At my first hearing no one stood up in my defense. Everyone abandoned me. I pray that it won’t be held against them.
Commentaries on Romans 5:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And patience, experience - ̓, Full proof, by trial, of the truth of our religion, the solidity of our Christian state, and the faithfulness of our God. In such cases we have the opportunity of putting our religion to the test; and, by every such test, it receives the deeper sterling stamp. The apostle uses here also a metaphor taken from the purifying, refining, and testing of silver and gold. Experience, hope - For we thus calculate, that he who has…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And patience, experience - Patient endurance of trial produces experience. The word rendered “experience” ( ́ dokimēn) means trial, testing, or that thorough examination by which we ascertain the quality or nature of a thing, as when we test a metal by fire, or in any other way, to ascertain that it is genuine. It also means approbations, or the result of such a trial; the being approved, and accepted as the effect of a trying process. The meaning is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4See also James 1:2–4; 1 Peter 1:6–7. The similarities in these passages indicate early Christian teaching common to all three of these writers.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-43-4. we glory in tribulation also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience--Patience is the quiet endurance of what we cannot but wish removed, whether it be the withholding of promised good (Ro 8:25), or the continued experience of positive ill (as here). There is indeed a patience of unrenewed nature, which has something noble in it, though in many cases the offspring of pride, if not of something lower. Men have been known to endure every form of…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 5:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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