Romans 3

So then, is there any advantage in being a Jew? Is there any value in being circumcised?

1What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

NoteCircumcision was the cutting away of the foreskin, done to Jewish boys on the eighth day after birth. It was the physical mark of Israel's covenant with God, traced back to Abraham, which is why "the circumcision" can stand as plain shorthand for "the Jews," as it does in verse 30.

2Yes, much, in every way. First of all, the Jews were the ones trusted with God's own words.

2Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Note"Oracles" translates a Greek word for divine utterances or pronouncements. Paul means the Scriptures of Israel, and "committed" is the language of a valuable deposit handed over to a trustee for safekeeping.

3What if some of them did not believe? Does their lack of faith cancel God's faithfulness?

3For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

Note"The faith of God" in 1611 English means God's own faithfulness, his reliability in keeping his word, not anyone's faith in him. "Without effect" renders a verb meaning to cancel or put out of operation. The Greek turns on a single root throughout the verse: some proved unfaithful, but that does not undo God's faithfulness.

4Certainly not. Let God be true, even if every person turns out to be a liar. As the Scriptures say, "So that you may be proved right when you speak, and win your case when you are judged."

4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Note"God forbid" is how the KJV renders the Greek idiom me genoito, literally "may it not be," a sharp "absolutely not." God is not actually named in it. It recurs at verses 6 and 31 and all through Romans. The quotation is from Psalm 51:4, where "justified" means proved right or cleared, as a defendant is cleared in court. That courtroom sense of "justify" runs through this entire chapter.

5But if our wrongdoing makes God's rightness stand out, what should we say? Is God unfair to punish us? (I am arguing the way people argue.)

5But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

Note"Commend" here does not mean praise. In 1611 it could mean to set off or show to advantage, the way a dark background makes a bright color stand out. "Taketh vengeance" renders a phrase about inflicting wrath, a judge imposing a penalty, not personal revenge. "I speak as a man" flags that Paul is voicing an objection the way ordinary people argue, not stating his own view.

6Certainly not. If God were unfair, how could he judge the world at all?

6God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?

7Someone might say: if my lie makes God's truth stand out even more and brings him more glory, then why am I still judged as a sinner?

7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?

8Why not just say, "Let us do evil so that good will come of it"? Some people slander us by claiming that this is what we teach. The condemnation of such people is deserved.

8And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.

Note"Damnation" in 1611 meant condemnation, the sentence a judge hands down. It had not yet narrowed to mean eternal punishment specifically.

9What then? Are we any better off? Not at all. We have already brought the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.

9What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

NoteThe Greek verb here is genuinely disputed: it can be read as "are we better off?", "are we worse off?", or "do we have an excuse?" Translators divide. "We have before proved" means we have already brought the charge, in the legal sense, over the course of the preceding argument. "Gentiles" renders a word literally meaning Greeks, used broadly for everyone who is not Jewish.

10As the Scriptures say: "There is no one who is right with God, not even one.

10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

NoteVerses 10 to 18 are a chain of quotations strung end to end, a recognized Jewish way of building a scriptural case. They come from Psalm 14:1-3 (nearly identical to Psalm 53:1-3), Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140:3, Psalm 10:7, Isaiah 59:7-8, and Psalm 36:1. Paul quotes them in their Greek form, which differs here and there from the Hebrew.

11There is no one who understands. There is no one who looks for God.

11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12All of them have turned away. Together they have become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one."

12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Note"Gone out of the way" translates a word for turning aside off a road. "Become unprofitable" translates a verb used of milk going sour or food spoiling: gone useless, gone bad.

13"Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they tell lies." "The poison of snakes is under their lips."

13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

NoteA "sepulchre" is a tomb cut into rock and closed with a stone. The picture is of a grave left standing open, with the stench of what is inside coming out of it. An "asp" is a venomous snake, most likely the Egyptian cobra.

14"Their mouths are full of curses and bitter words."

14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

15"Their feet are quick to spill blood.

15Their feet are swift to shed blood:

16They leave ruin and misery behind them wherever they go.

16Destruction and misery are in their ways:

17And they have not known the way of peace."

17And the way of peace have they not known:

18"They have no fear of God before their eyes at all."

18There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Note"Fear of God" in the Hebrew Scriptures means reverence and awe that actually shapes conduct, the working assumption that God sees and will call people to account. It is closer to regard than to fright.

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who live under the law. This is so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Note"Under the law" means inside the law's jurisdiction, among the people it addresses and holds answerable. "That every mouth may be stopped" is a courtroom image: the accused stands there with nothing left to say in his own defense.

20So no one will be made right in God's sight by doing what the law says. What the law does is make us aware of sin.

20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Note"No flesh" is a Hebrew way of saying "no human being," with "flesh" standing for mortal, creaturely humanity. "The deeds of the law" renders a phrase usually given as "works of the law," and its scope is debated: some read it as everything the law commands, others as particularly the observances that marked Jews off from everyone else, such as circumcision, food rules, and sabbath keeping.

21But now God has shown a way to be right with him that does not come through the law. The law and the prophets themselves bear witness to it.

21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Note"Without the law" means apart from the law, independently of it, not in defiance of it. "Manifested" means brought out into the open, made visible. "The law and the prophets" is a standard name for the Jewish Scriptures as a whole. "The righteousness of God" is a phrase readers have long taken more than one way: God's own just character, God's action to set things right, or the standing of being right with God that he grants. The Greek permits each, and the phrase recurs through this chapter.

22This way of being right with God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, and it is for everyone who believes. There is no difference between people,

22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Note"The faith of Jesus Christ" is among the most argued-over phrases in Paul. The Greek construction can mean "faith in Jesus Christ," which is the reading the plain rendering follows, or "the faithfulness of Jesus Christ," meaning his own faithful obedience. The grammar by itself does not decide it.

23because everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God.

23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Note"Come short" translates a verb meaning to lack, to fall behind, to fail to reach a mark. "Glory" here carries its Hebrew background of weight, splendor, and visible honor.

24They are made right with God as a free gift, by his undeserved kindness, through the payment that sets them free, which is in Christ Jesus.

24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Note"Freely" means as a gift, at no cost to the one receiving it, not "generously." "Grace" translates a word for favor shown to someone with no claim to it. "Redemption" translates a word for buying a person out of slavery or captivity by paying a ransom; it carries both the idea of a price paid and of the release that follows.

25God put him forward as the sacrifice that deals with sin, and this comes through faith in his blood. God did this to show that he is right, because in his patience he had passed over sins committed in the past.

25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

Note"Propitiation" translates the Greek hilasterion, a word with two live senses that scholars still weigh against each other. It can mean a sacrifice that turns away anger, and it is also the Greek name for the gold cover of the ark of the covenant in the innermost room of the sanctuary, where blood was sprinkled once a year on the Day of Atonement (older English Bibles call that the mercy seat). "Through faith in his blood" is also ambiguous in Greek: "in his blood" may attach to "faith" or to "set forth." "Remission of sins that are past" uses a noun meaning passing over or letting go unpunished for the time being, which is not the ordinary word for forgiveness. "Forbearance" means holding back, restraint in not acting.

26He did it to show that he is right at this present time: that he himself is just, and that he makes right the person who has faith in Jesus.

26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

NoteIn Greek "just" and "justifier" are built from one root, dikaios and the verb formed from it. English cannot hold the wordplay: God is himself in the right, and he is the one who puts others in the right.

27So where does that leave bragging? It is shut out. By what rule? By a rule about doing works? No, by the rule of faith.

27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Note"Boasting" here means having grounds to claim standing before God, not merely talking big. "By what law?" uses "law" in the sense of rule or operating principle rather than the law of Moses; the same Greek word does both jobs, and Paul is trading on that.

28So we conclude that a person is made right with God by faith, apart from doing what the law says.

28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

29Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not also the God of the other nations? Yes, of the other nations too,

29Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:

30since there is only one God. He will make the circumcised right with him by faith, and the uncircumcised right with him through that same faith.

30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

Note"The circumcision" and "uncircumcision" are shorthand for Jews and non-Jews. Paul switches prepositions, "by faith" for the one and "through faith" for the other; most read this as stylistic variation reinforcing that the route is one and the same for both.

31So do we cancel out the law by this faith? Certainly not. Instead, we uphold the law.

31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

Note"Make void" translates a verb meaning to cancel or put out of operation, the same verb used of God's faithfulness in verse 3. "Establish" is its opposite here: to set upright, confirm, keep in force.