Romans 10:5-21 study

Romans 10:5-21, My Translation

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 10

5 Μωϋσῆς γὰρ γράφει ὅτι τὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ὁ ποιήσας ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτῇ. 6 ἡ δὲ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη οὕτως λέγει· Μὴ εἴπῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου· Τίς ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν; τοῦτʼ ἔστιν Χριστὸν καταγαγεῖν· 7 ἤ· Τίς καταβήσεται εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον; τοῦτʼ ἔστιν Χριστὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναγαγεῖν. 8 ἀλλὰ τί λέγει; Ἐγγύς σου τὸ ῥῆμά ἐστιν, ἐν τῷ στόματί σου καὶ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, τοῦτʼ ἔστιν τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ὃ κηρύσσομεν.

5 For Moses writes regarding the righteousness which is from the law that, “the man shall do it and shall live by it.”[1] 6 But regarding the righteousness from faith, he speaks this way: “Do not say in your heart,[2] ‘Who shall ascend into heaven?’”[3] (That is, to bring Christ down); 7 “nor ‘Who shall descend into the abyss?”[4] (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead.) 8 But what does he say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,”[5] (that is, the word of faith which we proclaim).

[1] Leviticus 18:5. There are difficult textual and translation issues in this verse. My translation seeks to capture the meaning of the Hebrew, which Paul may also have been doing, though the Hebrew uses the plurals statutes and judgments, while Paul substitutes the term righteousness.

[2] Deuteronomy 9:4

[3] Deuteronomy 30:12

[4] Deuteronomy 30:13

[5] Deuteronomy 30:14

NOTES

The one who does them shall live by them — in the OT, the Jews lived (remained alive) by obeying God’s regulations; this does not teach works salvation for the Jews.

In the NT, the one who does them shall live by them means that if someone now wants to be saved apart from Christ, the only way is by perfectly keeping the law.

It is by keeping the ritual laws and just decrees of God that the people could continue living with God in their midst; because if God’s holiness comes into contact with what is unclean, it brings death.

Who shall ascend into heaven — who will go back up the mountain to receive God’s law? This indicates that Christ is the embodiment and fulfillment of God’s law.

Who shall descend into the abyss is the Greek translation of the phrase who shall cross the sea (probably the Red Sea), meaning who will go back to Egypt and get it?

But they didn’t need to climb a mountain or cross a sea to hear and obey God’s word. What He was asking them to do was not beyond their physical ability — but it was beyond their moral ability.

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 10

9 ὅτι ἐὰν ὁμολογήσῃς ἐν τῷ στόματί σου κύριον Ἰησοῦν, καὶ πιστεύσῃς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ὅτι ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, σωθήσῃ· 10 καρδίᾳ γὰρ πιστεύεται εἰς δικαιοσύνην, στόματι δὲ ὁμολογεῖται εἰς σωτηρίαν· 11 λέγει γὰρ ἡ γραφή· Πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων ἐπʼ αὐτῷ οὐ καταισχυνθήσεται. 12 οὐ γάρ ἐστιν διαστολὴ Ἰουδαίου τε καὶ Ἕλληνος, ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς κύριος πάντων, πλουτῶν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους αὐτόν· 13 Πᾶς γὰρ ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου σωθήσεται.

9 Because if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10 For with the heart it[6] is trusted, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed, leading to salvation; 11 for the Scripture says, “Everyone who is trusting in Him will not be put to shame.”[7] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of them all, generous toward all who call upon Him.[8] 13 For, “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”[9]

[6] The subject of the two passive verbs in v. 10 (“is trusted” and “is confessed”) seems to be the statement from v. 9, “Jesus is Lord.” So the heart’s trust in Jesus as Lord leads to righteousness, and the mouth’s confession of Jesus as Lord leads to salvation.

[7] Isaiah 28:16

[8] Psalm 145:18-19

[9] Joel 2:32

NOTES:

To say that Jesus is Lord is to say that He is Yahweh, or in other words, He is God. Verse 13 also reaffirms this truth.

salvation is from the Jews but not only for the Jews; rather, everyone (Jew or Gentile) who calls on the name of Yahweh will be saved.

In salvation there is both an internal as well as an external expression of faith. The confession “Jesus is Lord” may have been a confession people made at baptism.

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 10

14 Πῶς οὖν ἐπικαλέσωνται εἰς ὃν οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν; πῶς δὲ πιστεύσωσιν οὗ οὐκ ἤκουσαν; πῶς δὲ ἀκούσωσιν χωρὶς κηρύσσοντος; 15 πῶς δὲ κηρύξωσιν ἐὰν μὴ ἀποσταλῶσιν; καθὼς γέγραπται· Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων τὰ ἀγαθά. 16 ἀλλʼ οὐ πάντες ὑπήκουσαν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ· Ἠσαΐας γὰρ λέγει· Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσεν τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; 17 ἄρα ἡ πίστις ἐξ ἀκοῆς, ἡ δὲ ἀκοὴ διὰ ῥήματος Χριστοῦ.

14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom they did not trust? And how shall they trust in Him of whom they did not hear? And how shall they hear without someone proclaiming? 15 And how shall they proclaim unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How timely[10] are the feet of those who are proclaiming the gospel of good things!”[11] 16 But not all heard and obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who trusted in what is heard from us?”[12] 17 Consequently, faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

[10] Or pleasing, or beautiful. The root of the word ὡραῖοι here is ὥρα (hour/time) so that’s likely the emphasis (opportune, at the right time), but it can refer to physical appearance as well.

[11] Isaiah 52:7; Nahum 1:15

[12] Isaiah 53:1

Notes:

Faith only happens where God’s Word is active, but it does not automatically result from hearing.

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 10

18 Ἀλλὰ λέγω, μὴ οὐκ ἤκουσαν; μενοῦνγε· Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν. 19 ἀλλὰ λέγω, μὴ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἔγνω; πρῶτος Μωϋσῆς λέγει· Ἐγὼ παραζηλώσω ὑμᾶς ἐπʼ οὐκ ἔθνει, ἐπʼ ἔθνει ἀσυνέτῳ παροργιῶ ὑμᾶς. 20 Ἠσαΐας δὲ ἀποτολμᾷ καὶ λέγει· Εὑρέθην ἐν τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν. 21 πρὸς δὲ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ λέγει· Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα.

18 But I say, did Israel not hear? No, on the contrary,[13] “To all the earth went out their voice, and to the ends of the world went out their words.”[14] 19 But I say, did Israel not know? Yes, they did.[15] First, Moses says, “I will make you jealous by what is not a nation; by a senseless nation I will make you angry.”[16] 20 Then Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who were not trying to find Me; I became visible to those who were not asking for Me.”[17] 21 But to[18] Israel he says, “For the entire day I held out my hands to a people who disobey and speak against Me.”[19]

[13] The Greek uses a double negative here, something to the effect, “didn’t they not hear? On the contrary…” with the implied answer being a triple negative, “no, they didn’t not hear.”

[14] Psalm 19:4

[15] Again, a double negative to the effect, “didn’t Israel not know?” with the implied answer being a triple negative, “no, they didn’t not know.”

[16] Deuteronomy 32:21

[17] Isaiah 65:1

[18] Or about/concerning

[19] Isaiah 65:2

Notes:

God told Israel ahead of time what He was going to do. He revealed to them that they would rebel and the Gentiles would receive mercy. (Think of Jonah — a true story but also a parable for Israel of how they were rejecting their God but the Gentiles were repenting and receiving mercy)

Here Paul cites from the Writings (Psalm 19:4), the Law (Deut 32:21), and the Prophets (Isa 65:1-2). By this he shows that all of Scripture (the OT) testifies to Israel’s culpability in refusing the gospel.