Text -- Romans 10:1-9 (NET)

10:1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. 10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.” 10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 10:7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Rom 10:1

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

² tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Rom 10:2

¹ tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”

² tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.”

sn Their zeal is not in line with the truth means that the Jews’ passion for God was strong, but it ignored the true righteousness of God (v. 3; cf. also 3:21).

NET Notes: Rom 10:5

¹ sn A quotation from Lev 18:5.

NET Notes: Rom 10:6

¹ sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.

² sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.

NET Notes: Rom 10:7

¹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:13.

NET Notes: Rom 10:8

¹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.

NET Notes: Rom 10:9

¹ tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.