God & Savior

Romans 5:4

perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:4
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Study notes

Perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.

Explanation

Paul continues a chain that began with suffering (5:3). Endurance proves and shapes a person's character, and that strengthens hope. Verse 5 says this hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured into our hearts.

Original language
  • ὑπομονὴ (hupomonē): perseverance
    Greek · Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · Strong's G5281 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Perseverance.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Romans 5:4, word 3

  • δοκιμήν (dokimēn): test
    Greek · Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · Strong's G1382 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Character: proven worth, like metal tested by fire.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Romans 5:4, word 4

  • ἐλπίδα· (elpida): hope
    Greek · Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · Strong's G1680 · text: NA28 (as recorded in TAGNT)

    Hope.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAGNT: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Romans 5:4, word 8

Cross-references
  • Romans 5:5 · Surrounding passage

    Hope does not disappoint us.

  • James 1:4 · Same theme

    Let perseverance finish its work.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Greek)

ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμήν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα·

  1. ἡhē“<the>”
    Article, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  2. δὲde“And”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  3. ὑπομονὴhupomonē“perseverance”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὑπομονή · “perseverance” · Strong's G5281
  4. δοκιμήν,dokimēn“character,”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from δοκιμή · “test” · Strong's G1382
  5. ἡhē“<the>”
    Article, nominative, singular, feminine · from ὁ · “the/this/who” · Strong's G3588
  6. δὲde“and”
    Conjunction · from δέ · “but/and” · Strong's G1161
  7. δοκιμὴdokimē“character”
    Noun, nominative, singular, feminine · from δοκιμή · “test” · Strong's G1382
  8. ἐλπίδα·elpida“hope;”
    Noun, accusative, singular, feminine · from ἐλπίς · “hope” · Strong's G1680
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Greek words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)