Bible verse diagram

[dansims]

I need help diagraming a Bible verse. I've been out of school for 14 years so I need as much help as possible. I am even willing to pay for help if necessary.

Here is the verse:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16

My problem is with the verb "is." Does it apply to the phrase after the semi-colon. (i.e For it is...to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.") I would like to see it diagrammed to help unlock the meaning of this verse.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by dansims

I need help diagraming a Bible verse. I've been out of school for 14 years so I need as much help as possible. I am even willing to pay for help if necessary.

Here is the verse:

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16

My problem is with the verb "is." Does it apply to the phrase after the semi-colon. (i.e For it is...to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.") I would like to see it diagrammed to help unlock the meaning of this verse.

Bible verses are a bit poetic for diagramming. IMO, the verb "is" (with the subject "it") connects "the gospel of Christ" to "the power of God". The phrases "to the Jew" and "to the Greek" further define the phrase "to every one that believeth.

I would paraphrase the passage as:

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Until the day of salvation, the gospel of Christ is the power of God for all believers, Jew and Greek.

[dansims]

So is this info incorrect?

A person may use a semicolon to separate a list of items in a series containing commas. A semicolon can also be used to separate independent clauses if there are commas within the clauses. A semicolon can be used between independent clauses joined by words such as “for example,” however,” “therefore,” and “furthermore.” When writing a sentence such as Romans 1:16, the writer must have some basis for deciding whether to use two independent clauses with a semicolon between them, or two separate sentences with a period. It is usually best to divide the writing into two sentences. A semicolon is used only when the ideas in the two clauses are so closely related that a period would make too distinct a break between them.1 If separated into two sentences, the latter part of Romans 1:16 would read, “For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” and “For it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by dansims

So is this info incorrect?

A person may use a semicolon to separate a list of items in a series containing commas. A semicolon can also be used to separate independent clauses if there are commas within the clauses. A semicolon can be used between independent clauses joined by words such as “for example,” however,” “therefore,” and “furthermore.” When writing a sentence such as Romans 1:16, the writer must have some basis for deciding whether to use two independent clauses with a semicolon between them, or two separate sentences with a period. It is usually best to divide the writing into two sentences. A semicolon is used only when the ideas in the two clauses are so closely related that a period would make too distinct a break between them.1 If separated into two sentences, the latter part of Romans 1:16 would read, “For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” and “For it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

The rule about semicolons is correct. I would not have used it there in your passage. The words that follow it do not constitute a clause. I would not have used the colon where it appears either.

I would add two things. First, this and other Bible passages are translations. Second, they were written a long time ago, and rules and styles have changed since then.

[rewboss]

Here's a modern translation of Romans 1:16, from the New International Version:

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

The passage in the original post was from the Authorised Version, known in the US as the King James Version, which was written in the 17th century. Generally speaking, we now use less punctuation that we did back then, and we use colons and semicolons less often.

Today, we use the colon to indicate that what follows explains, balances, counterbalances or complements what came before. Notice how this better describes its use in the modern translation -- the phrase "first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" adds extra information to the phrase "everyone who believes".

[BelleB]

Hello,
Here is another translation with the text in context. It helps to search for the writer's style in the surrounding sentences of a passage.
(Romans 1:13-17) 13 But I do not want YOU to fail to know, brothers, that I many times purposed to come to YOU, but I have been hindered until now, in order that I might acquire some fruitage also among YOU even as among the rest of the nations. 14 Both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to wise and to senseless ones I am a debtor: 15 so there is eagerness on my part to declare the good news also to YOU there in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the good news; it is, in fact, God’s power for salvation to everyone having faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek; 17 for in it God’s righteousness is being revealed by reason of faith and toward faith, just as it is written: "But the righteous one—by means of faith he will live."--NWT (New World Translation of the Holy Sriptures)