Logos Bible Study

Romans 10:8–18

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10:8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”9 (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 10:9because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord10 and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness11 and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.1210:11For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”1310:12For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 10:13For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.14

10:14How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them15? 10:15And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely16 is the arrival17 of those who proclaim the good news.”1810:16But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”1910:17Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word20 of Christ.21

10:18But I ask, have they22 not heard?23 Yes, they have:24 Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.25

Read in Logos
Romans 10:14: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Footnotes

  1. 9 A quotation from Deut 30:14.
  2. 10 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,” 6 (1985): .
  3. 11 Grk “believes to righteousness.”
  4. 12 Grk “confesses to salvation.”
  5. 13 A quotation from Isa 28:16.
  6. 14 A quotation from Joel 2:32.
  7. 15 Grk “preaching”; the words “to them” are supplied for clarification.
  8. 16 The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.”
  9. 17 Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news.
  10. 18 A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.
  11. 19 A quotation from Isa 53:1.
  12. 20 The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rhēma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.
  13. 21 Most (א1 A D1 Ψ 33 1881 𝔐 sy) have θεοῦ (theou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Christou; found in 𝔓46vid א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 lat co). External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rhēma Christou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression. The genitive could be understood as either subjective (“Christ does the speaking”) or objective (“Christ is spoken about”), but the latter is more likely here.
  14. 22 That is, Israel (see the following verse).
  15. 23 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 (mē) 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 μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (), , for discussion.
  16. 24 Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mē) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.
  17. 25 A quotation from Ps 19:4.