Romans 10:15

10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely ¹  is the arrival ²  of those who proclaim the good news.” ³ 

Romans 10:18

10:18 But I ask, have they ⁴  not heard? ⁵  Yes, they have: ⁶  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ⁷ 

[10:15]  ¹ tn The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see BDAG 1103 s.v. ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.”

[10:15]  ² tn Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news.

[10:15]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.

[10:18]  ⁴ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ⁶ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.