Discovery BoxRomans 3:1-18
Context3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. 1 First of all, 2 the Jews 3 were entrusted with the oracles of God. 4 3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being 5 shown up as a liar, 6 just as it is written: “so that you will be justified 7 in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” 8
3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates 9 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? 10 (I am speaking in human terms.) 11 3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances 12 his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. 13 (Their 14 condemnation is deserved!)
3:9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
3:11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
3:12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 15
3:13 “Their throats are open graves, 16
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.” 17
3:14 “Their mouths are 18 full of cursing and bitterness.” 19
3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
3:16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
[3:2] 1 tn Grk “much in every way.”
[3:2] 2 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D2 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few
[3:2] 4 tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.
[3:4] 5 tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.
[3:4] 6 tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.
[3:4] 7 tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.
[3:4] 8 tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.
[3:5] 9 tn Or “shows clearly.”
[3:5] 10 tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”
[3:5] 11 sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.
[3:7] 12 tn Grk “abounded unto.”
[3:8] 13 tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”
[3:8] 14 tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.
[3:12] 15 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.
[3:13] 16 tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”
[3:13] 17 sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.
[3:14] 18 tn Grk “whose mouth is.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[3:14] 19 sn A quotation from Ps 10:7.
[3:17] 20 sn Rom 3:15-17 is a quotation from Isa 59:7-8.
