Romans 4:18

18 qui contra spem in spem credidit ut fieret pater multarum gentium secundum quod dictum est sic erit semen tuum

Romans 4:18 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 4:18

Who against hope believed in hope
Abraham believed the promise of God,

that he might become the father of many nations,
being assisted by a supernatural aid: "in hope"; of the fulfilment of it by the grace and power of God: "against hope": against all visible, rational grounds of hope; Sarah's womb and his own body being dead, but inasmuch as God had said it, he believed:

according to that which is spoken, so shall thy seed be;
his faith rested upon the word of God, which showed the nature of it, and that it was of the right kind.

Romans 4:18 In-Context

16 ideo ex fide ut secundum gratiam ut firma sit promissio omni semini non ei qui ex lege est solum sed et ei qui ex fide est Abrahae qui est pater omnium nostrum

17 sicut scriptum est quia patrem multarum gentium posui te ante Deum cui credidit qui vivificat mortuos et vocat quae non sunt tamquam ea quae sunt

18 qui contra spem in spem credidit ut fieret pater multarum gentium secundum quod dictum est sic erit semen tuum

19 et non infirmatus fide consideravit corpus suum emortuum cum fere centum annorum esset et emortuam vulvam Sarrae

20 in repromissione etiam Dei non haesitavit diffidentia sed confortatus est fide dans gloriam Deo