Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 3:10
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
10. There is none, &c.] In Rom 3:10-18 we have a chain of Scripture quotations. The originals are found, verbally or in substance, in Psa 5:9; Psa 10:7; Psa 14:1-3; Psa 36:1; Psa 140:3; Pro 1:16; Isa 59:7. In the Alexandrine MS. of the LXX. of Psalms 14 (LXX. 13):3, appears a singular phenomenon: the Gr. is much ampler than the original Hebrew (for Which see E. V.), and is verbatim the same as the Gr. of Rom 3:12-18 of this chapter. There can be little doubt that this was the work of a copyist acquainted with this passage of St Paul. Rom 3:10 would better read: as it is written that there is none righteous, no, not one. The precise quotations would then begin at Rom 3:11. The words of Rom 3:10 are not found in the O. T., and read rather as a summary of what is to follow.
The awful charges of Rom 3:10-18 are specially pointed at the Jews: see Rom 3:19. The passages quoted are descriptive of Israelites, some of them of Israelites of the best days of Israel. What at least they establish is that the root of sin was vigorous in Jewish hearts, and that its fruits in Jewish lives were abominable in the sight of God. Meantime we must not narrow the reference too closely. The Apostle’s doctrine of human sinfulness (see e.g. Tit 3:3) is that the worst developments of individual sin only indicate the possibilities of the sinful heart in general. Passages like those cited here thus prove, not only what certain men were, but what man is. See Jer 17:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As it is written – The apostle is reasoning with Jews; and he proceeds to show from their own Scriptures, that what he had affirmed was true. The point to be proved was, that the Jews, in the matter of justification, had no advantage or preference over the Gentiles; that the Jew had failed to keep the Law which had been given him, as the Gentile had failed to keep the Law which had been given him; and that both, therefore, were equally dependent on the mercy of God, incapable of being justified and saved by their works. To show this, the apostle adduces texts to show what was the character of the Jewish people; or to show that according to their own Scriptures, they were sinners no less than the Gentiles. The point, then, is to prove the depravity of the Jews, not that of universal depravity. The interpretation should be confined to the bearing of the passages on the Jews, and the quotations should not be adduced as directly proving the doctrine of universal depravity. In a certain sense, which will be stated soon, they may be adduced as bearing on that subject. But their direct reference is to the Jewish nation. The passages which follow, are taken from various parts of the Old Testament. The design of this is to show, that this characteristic of sin was not confined to any particular period of the Jewish history, but pertained to them as a people; that it had characterised them throughout their existence as a nation. Most of the passages are quoted in the language of the Septuagint. The quotation in Rom 3:10-12, is from Psa 14:1-3; and from Psa 53:1-3. Psa 53:1-6 is the same as Psa 14:1-7, with some slight variations.
(Yet if we consult Psa 14:1-7 and Psa 53:1-6, from which the quotations in Rom 3:10-12 are taken, we shall be constrained to admit that their original application is nothing short of universal. The Lord is represented as looking down from heaven, (not upon the Jewish people only, but upon the children of men at large, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God); and declaring, as the result of his unerring scrutiny, there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
That the apostle applies the passages to the case of the Jews is admitted, yet it is evident more is contained in them than the single proof of Jewish depravity. They go all the length of proving the depravity of mankind, and are cited expressly with this view. We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, says Paul in Rom 3:9, that they are all under sin. Immediately on this, the quotations in question are introduced with the usual formula, as it is written, etc. Now since the apostle adduces his Scripture proofs, to establish the doctrine that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin, we cannot reasonably decide against him by confining their application to the Jews only.
In Rom 3:19 Paul brings his argument to bear directly on the Jews. That they might not elude his aim, by interpreting the universal expressions he had introduced, of all the pagan only, leaving themselves favorably excepted; he reminds them that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that were under it. Not contented with having placed them alongside of the Gentiles in Rom 3:9; by this second application of the general doctrine of human depravity, to their particular case, he renders escape or evasion impossible. The scope of the whole passage then, is, that all people are depraved, and that the Jews form no exception. This view is further strengthened by the apostles conclusion in Rom 3:20. Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his (Gods) sight.
If the words, says President Edwards, which the apostle uses, do not most fully and determinately signify an universality, no words ever used in the Bible are sufficient to do it. I might challenge any man to produce any one paragraph in the scriptures, from the beginning to the end, where there is such a repetition and accumulation of terms, so strongly, and emphatically, and carefully, to express the most perfect and absolute universality, or any place to be compared to it. – Edwards on Original Sin, – Haldanes Commentary.
There is none righteous – The Hebrew Psa 14:1 is, there is none that doeth good. The Septuagint has the same. The apostle quotes according to the sense of the passage. The design of the apostle is to show that none could be justified by the Law. He uses an expression, therefore, which is exactly conformable to his argument, and which accords in meaning with the Hebrew, there is none just, dikaios.
No, not one – This is not in the Hebrew, but is in the Septuagint. It is a strong universal expression, denoting the state of almost universal corruption which existed in the time of the psalmist. The expression should not be interpreted to mean that there was not literally one pious man in the nation; but that the characteristic of the nation was, at that time, that it was exceedingly corrupt. Instead of being righteous, as the Jew claimed, because they were Jews, the testimony of their own Scriptures was, that they were universally wicked.
(The design of the apostle, however, is not to prove that there were few or none pious. He is treating of the impossibility of justification by works, and alleges in proof that, according to the judgment of God in the Psa 14:1 Psalm, there were none righteous, etc., in regard to their natural estate, or the condition in which man is, previous to his being justified. In this condition, all are deficient in righteousness, and have nothing to commend them to the divine favor. What people may afterward become by grace is another question, on which the apostle does not, in this place, enter. Whatever number of pious people, therefore, there might be in various places of the world, the argument of the apostle is not in the least affected. It will hold good even in the millennium!)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. As it is written] See Ps 14:1-3; from which this and the two following verses are taken.
There is none righteous] This is true, not only of the Jews, but of the Gentiles; of every soul of man, considered in his natural and practical state, previously to his receiving the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no righteous principle in them, and, consequently, no righteous act can be expected from them; see on Ro 3:12. God himself is represented as looking down from heaven to see if there were any that feared and sought after him; and yet he, who cannot be deceived, could find none! And therefore we may safely conclude there was none to be found.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As it is written; viz. in several places of Scripture, which he quotes in the following verses, giving us the sense, though not so strictly tying himself to the words; and this is a proper proof, to the Jews at least, whom he had called a little before the keepers of these oracles.
There is none righteous, no, not one: the more general proof with which he begins, is taken out of Psa 14:3, and Psa 53:1, upon which places see the annotations.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10-12. As it is written, c.(Psa 14:1-3 Psa 53:1-3).These statements of the Psalmist were indeed suggested by particularmanifestations of human depravity occurring under his own eye; but asthis only showed what man, when unrestrained, is in his presentcondition, they were quite pertinent to the apostle’s purpose.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. The several passages cited here, and in some following verses, are taken out of the Psalms and Isaiah; and are brought to prove, not only that the Jews are no better than the Gentiles, being equally corrupt and depraved as they; but also to show the corrupt state and condition of mankind in general: and the words are not always literally expressed, but the sense is attended to, as in this passage; for in the original text of Ps 14:1, it is, “there is none that doth good”; from whence the apostle rightly infers, “there is none righteous”; for he that does not do good, is not righteous; and therefore if there is none on earth that does good and does not sin, there is none righteous upon earth, “no, not one” single person. The Jews allegorizing that passage in Ge 19:31, “there is not a man in the earth to come into us”, remark u on it thus,
“Urab qydu vya Nya, “there is not a righteous man in the earth”; and there is not a man that rules over his imagination.”
There is none righteous as Adam was, in a state of innocence; for all have sinned, and are filled with unrighteousness, and are enemies to righteousness; none are righteous by their obedience to the law of works; nor are there any righteous in the sight of God, upon the foot of their own righteousness, however they may appear in their own eyes, and in the sight of others; nor are any inherently righteous, for there is none without sin, sanctification is imperfect; nor is it, either in whole or in part, a saint’s justifying righteousness; indeed there is none righteous, no, not one, but those who are justified by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them.
u Midrash Haneelam in Zohar in Gen. fol. 68. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
As it is written ( ). Usual formula of quotation as in verse 4 with recitative added as in verse 8. Paul here uses a catena or chain of quotations to prove his point in verse 9 that Jews are in no better fix than the Greeks for all are under sin. Dr. J. Rendel Harris has shown that the Jews and early Christians had Testimonia (quotations from the Old Testament) strung together for certain purposes as proof-texts. Paul may have used one of them or he may have put these passages together himself. Verses 10-12 come from Ps 14:1-3; first half of 13 as far as from Ps 4:9, the second half from Ps 140:3; verse 14 from Ps 10:7; 15-17 from an abridgment of Isa 59:7f.; verse 18 from Ps 35:1. Paul has given compounded quotations elsewhere (2Cor 6:16; Rom 9:25; Rom 9:27; Rom 11:26; Rom 11:34; Rom 12:19). Curiously enough this compounded quotation was imported bodily into the text (LXX) of Ps 14 after verse 4 in Aleph B, etc.
There is none righteous, no, not one ( ). “There is not a righteous man, not even one.” This sentence is like a motto for all the rest, a summary for what follows.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1 ) “As it is written,” (kathos gegraptai) “Just as it has been written,” or recorded. This gives sanction to the inspiration, value, and trustworthiness of the Scriptures, “which can not be broken,” Joh 10:35.
2) “There is none righteous,” (hoti ouk estin dikaios) “That there is (exists) not a righteous man (person);” from Adam’s fall to Paul’s day, Gen 6:5; 1Ki 8:46; Psa 14:1-3; Ecc 7:20. “There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.”
3) “No, not one,” (oude eis) “Not even one;” This includes all in the unrighteous category of humanity, and excludes none, Psa 51:1-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. As it is written, etc. He has hitherto used proofs or arguments to convince men of their iniquity; he now begins to reason from authority; and it is to Christians the strongest kind of proof, when authority is derived from the only true God. And hence let ecclesiastical teachers learn what their office is; for since Paul asserts here no truth but what he confirms by the sure testimony of Scripture, much less ought such a thing to be attempted by those, who have no other commission but to preach the gospel, which they have received through Paul and others.
There is none righteous, etc. The Apostle, who gives the meaning rather than the entire words, seems, in the first place, before he comes to particulars, to state generally the substance of what the Prophet declares to be in man, and that is — that none is righteous; (98) he afterwards particularly enumerates the effects or fruits of this unrighteousness.
(98) Psa 14:1. The Hebrew is, “There is none that doeth good;” and the Septuagint, “There is none doing kindness, ( χρηστότητα), there is not even one, ( ὀυκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.)” So that the Apostle quotes the meaning, not the words.
The eleventh verse (Rom 3:11) is from the same Psalm; the Hebrew, with which the Septuagint agree, except that there is the disjunctive ἢ between the participles, is the following, — “Whether there is any one who understands, who seeks after God.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
10. Not one Not that none are regenerate and so righteous, but that none in nature’s condition are so.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The General Description Of Man’s Sinfulness (3:10-12).
These verses are very much a rough paraphrase of Psa 14:1-3 which runs as follows in MT:
“ There is none who does good. The Lord looked down from Heaven on the children of men to see if there were any who did understand, who did seek after God, they are all gone aside, they are together become filthy, there is none who does good, no, not one. ”
In LXX it reads, “ There is none who does goodness, there is not even so much as one. The Lord looked down from heaven on the sons of men, to see if there were any that understood, or sought after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become good for nothing, there is none who does good, no not one. ”
It will be noted that there is little difference between his words and theirs but that, where there is, Paul’s paraphrase is closer to LXX. The main difference lies in the fact that he omits ‘God looking down from Heaven to see if –’, replacing it with ‘there is’. The alteration from ‘good’ to ‘righteous’ is probably Paul’s in order to bring it into line with the subject that he is dealing with, the righteousness of God. The emphasis then is on the fact that there is none righteous in God’s eyes. There is none who is ‘in the right’. But this necessarily follows if they are not righteous.
The point of the citation is in order to bring out man’s universal sinfulness. All are included as sinners. None as they are in themselves do what is righteous, not even one. None understand. None seek after God. All have turned aside from the true path, all have become profitless, useless, good-for-nothing. None do good, no not one.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘As it is written,
There is none righteous,
No, not one,
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks after God,
They have all turned aside,
They are together become unprofitable,
There is none who does good,
No, not, so much as one. (Psa 14:1 b, Psa 14:2-3)
Their throat is an open sepulchre,
With their tongues they have used deceit, (Psa 5:9)
The poison of asps is under their lips (Psa 140:3),
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, (Psa 10:7)
Their feet are swift to shed blood, (Psa 59:7-8)
Destruction and misery are in their ways,
And the way of peace have they not known. (Isa 59:7 ff)
There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ (Psa 36:1)
It will be noted that this citation is in fact a miscellany of quotations taken from different parts of Scripture, and that it can be divided up into two sections. The first section is a general description of man’s sinfulness ending up with the fact that not a single person does good. It is a paraphrase of Psa 14:1 b, Psa 14:2-3. The second section is a series of citations which particularise individual sins.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 3:10-19. As it is written In these verses and quotations from Scripture, the Apostle is evidently giving a description of the general character and morals of the infidel Jews in his own time, when he wrote the Epistle; a description, which suits their case as exactly as the foregoing one of the degeneracy of the heathen world suits theirs, the passage being picked and chosen for the purpose; but the manner of representing it is different. In the case of the Gentiles, he speaks out plainly; for the Jews would freely enough attend to an account of their corruptions; and the Gentile, it is probable, would be more in danger of despising and neglecting whathe said, than of being disgusted at it. But had he used the Jews in the same open manner, it would have roused every passion and prejudice of the Jewish reader; and he could have expected no other but a rejection of his letter with indignation. To keep him therefore in temper, Hebrews 1 gives no intimation of his design, but enters upon it covertly,as it is written. 2. He couches the charge under Scripture expressions, and turns the eyes of the Jew rather to ancient facts, in which notwithstanding, as in a glass,he might see the very deformed complexion of the present Jews. 3. He uses the term law, in Rom 3:19. (which there signifies the whole Old Testament,) rather than Scriptures, as being of greater force and authority with the Jews; and then concludes in that general manner; We know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law; meaning the Jews, and suggesting the obligation that they were under to attend to a charge advanced against them out of their law, which they owned was of divine authority. This was sufficient for a Jew who was disposed to reflect, and at the same time avoids what might pervert his calm and sober reflections. It is farther observable, that these quotations from Scripture do not prove that these characters belonged to all the ancient Jews without exception: for there were at the same time in the nation persons of a different character; nor could the Apostle intend that they should be applied to every individual among the Jews in his own time; for then they would have included himself with the rest of the Apostles, and all the other Jews who had embraced the Christian faith, and were persons of undoubted piety and holiness. Nay, he could not suppose, that even his account of the corrupt morals of the heathen world, given in chap. Rom 1:18, &c. was true of them all, without exception. His own arguments, chap Rom 2:10; Rom 2:14-15; Rom 2:26-27 evince the contrary. It was sufficient to his purpose, if the generality of mankind were corrupt: for this appears ground sufficient for the rejection or excision of them, with regard either to temporal life, or the privileges of the church; that is to say, God might in justice have destroyed the wholeworld,whichwasgenerallyexceedinglyvicious,althoughthere were some few persons of piety and goodness in it (for whose happiness he easily could and certainly would have provided in the world to come through the alone merit of Christ). The Apostle is here speaking of bodies of people,of Jews and Gentiles in a collective capacity. In the affair of the golden calf, wherein the Israelites so corrupted themselves, Exo 32:7-8. God might justly have rejected and consumed them, and have made his promise good in the person of Moses and his posterity, as he proposed, Rom 3:10 though we have reason to think that there were some who had not engaged in that instance of idolatry and defectionfrom God; for we find that numbers appeared on the Lord’s side, Rom 3:26-29. In short, the Apostle is taking collective bodies of men into the church, or continuing them in it; in reference to which it is true, that those may not be taken into the church in this world, who yet shall be taken into the kingdom of heaven in the world to come; and many are now taken into the church, who shall for ever be excluded from happiness in the other world. Consequently a set of texts, which prove the general corruption of the Jewish nation, may be a good argument of their deserving to be rejected from the privileges of God’s church; or that it must be by grace alone, that they, in this general collective sense, could be continued in the visible church and special covenant of God, notwithstanding there might be among them some righteous persons, not involved in the general corruption; who, whether they were in the church, or out of it, would be taken care of in the great day of account;that is, whether they were or were not justified with regard to the donation and possession of church privileges, or the escaping of the wrath which would fall on the Jewish nation, when they were rejected, and their polity demolished,would certainly be justified, and saved in the day of judgment. In fine, we cannot have a just idea of the Apostle’s arguments, unless we keep in mind that he is arguing concerning the rejection of Jews, and the reception of Gentiles, in a general collective capacity, to the present privileges of the church and covenant of God; namely, in such a sense and capacity, that some good and righteous men might be left out among the rejected, and some unrighteous persons taken in among the elect and justified. See on Psa 14:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 3:10-18 . Conformity with Scripture of the charge referred to, . . . , so far (Rom 3:19 ) as this charge cuts off from the Jews every of Rom 3:9 .
The recitative introduces citations from Scripture very various in character, which after the national habit (Surenhusius, . thes. 7) are arranged in immediate succession. They are taken from the LXX., though for the most part with variations, partly due to quotation from memory, and partly intentional, for the purpose of defining the sense more precisely. The arrangement is such that testimony is adduced for 1 st , the state of sin generally (Rom 3:10-12 ); 2 nd , the practice of sin in word (Rom 3:13-14 ) and deed (Rom 3:15-17 ); and 3 rd , the sinful source of the whole (Rom 3:18 ). More artificial schemes of arrangement are not to be sought (as e.g. in Hofmann), not even by a play on numbers. [776]
] There exists not a righteous person (who is such as he ought to be), not even one . Taken from Psa 14:1 , where the Sept. has instead of ; Paul has put the latter on purpose at once, in accordance with the aim of his whole argument, prominently to characterise the . as a want of . Michaelis regards the words as the Apostle’s own , “under which he comprehends all that follows.” So also Eckermann, Koppe, Kllner and Fritzsche. But it is quite at variance with the habit of the Apostle, after using the formula of quotation, to prefix to the words of Scripture a summary of their contents; and this supposition is here the more improbable, seeing that the Apostle continues in Rom 3:11 in the words of the same Psalm, with the first verse of which our passage substantially agrees.
Regarding see on 1Co 6:5 , and Stallbaum, a [777] Plat. Symp. p. 214 D.
Rom 3:11 is from Psa 14:2 , and so quoted, that the negative sense which results indirectly from the text in the Hebrew and LXX. is expressed by Paul directly: there exists not the understanding one (the practically wise, i.e. the pious one ; see Gesenius, Thes. s. v. ): there exists not the seeker after God (whose thoughts and endeavours are directed towards God, Heb 11:6 , and see Gesenius, s. v. ). The article denotes the genus as a definite concrete representing it. Compare Buttmann’s neut. Gr. p. 253 f. On the idea, which is also classical, of sin as folly , see Ngelsbach, Hom. Theol. VI. 2.
The form (so accentuated by Lachmann; compare Buttmann, I. p. 543), or (though the former is the more probable; compare Winer, p. 77 f. [E. T. 97], also Ellendt, Lex. Soph. II. p. 768), is the usual one in the Sept. (instead of , Psa 33:15 ). Psa 41:1 ; Jer 30:12 ; 2Ch 34:12 et al [778]
. ] stronger than the simple form; compare 1Pe 1:10 ; very frequent in the LXX.
Rom 3:12 . From Psa 14:3 closely after the LXX. , namely from the right way, denotes the demoralisation (see Gesenius, s. v. ), as does also , : they have become useless , corrupt, good for nothing, (Mat 25:30 ); Polyb. i. 14, 6, i. 48, 9. The following is correlative. This ( altogether ) . has still for its subject.
] The holds as far as to one (inclusively), so that therefore not one is excepted. Compare Jdg 4:16 . Hebraism, see Ewald, Lehrb. 217, 3. The Latin ad unum omnes is similar.
Rom 3:13 as far as . is from Psa 5:10 , and thence till from Psa 140:4 , both closely after the LXX. [779]
. . .] Estius: “Sicut sepulcrum patens exhalat tetrum ac pestiferum foetorem, ita ex ore illorum impuri, pestilentes noxiique sermones exeunt.” Comp Pelagius, Bengel, Tholuck, Mehring and Hofmann. But it is more in harmony with the further description, as well as the parallel in Jer 5:16 (where the quiver of the Chaldeans is compared with an open grave), to find the comparison in the point that, when the godless have opened their throats for lying and corrupting discourse, it is just as if a grave stood opened (observe the perfect ) to which the corpse ought to be consigned for decay and destruction. [781] So certainly and unavoidably corrupting is their discourse. Moreover , which is here to be taken in its original sense, (as organ of speech , not equivalent to , the gullet) is more forcibly graphic than , representing the speech as passionate crying . Compare , Dem. 323, 1, and , of crying lustily.
] they were deceiving . The imperfect denotes what had taken place as continuing up till the present time; and on this form of the third person plural, of very frequent occurrence in the LXX., see Sturz, Dial. Al. p. 60; Ahrens, Dial. II. p. 304, I. p. 237.
] The poison of asps , a figure for the insidiously corrupting. See similar passages in Alberti, Obss. p. 301.
Rom 3:14 is from Psa 10:7 , taken freely from the LXX., who however with their deviate from the Hebrew , because they either read it otherwise or translated it erroneously.
, figurative designation of the hateful nature . Comp Eph 4:31 ; Act 8:23 ; Jas 3:14 ; see Wetstein.
Rom 3:15-17 are from Isa 59:7-8 , quoted freely and with abbreviations from the LXX.
] Where they go, is desolation (fragments ) and misery , which they produce.
. .] i.e. a way on which one walks peacefully (the opposite of the , on which is . .), they have not known (2Co 5:21 ), it has remained strange to them.
Rom 3:18 is from Psa 36:1 . The fear of God , which would have preserved them from such conduct and have led them to an entirely different course, is not before their eyes. “There is objectivity ascribed to a condition which is, psychologically, subjective.” Morison.
[776] According to Hofmann the first and second parts consist each of seven propositions. Thus even the conclusion of ver. 12, , is to be reckoned as a separate proposition! How all the parallelism of Hebrew poetry is mutilated by such artifices!
[777] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[778] t al. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[779] The MSS. of the LXX. which read the whole passage vv. 13 18 at Psa 14:3 , have been interpolated from our passage in Christian times. See Wolf, Cur. on ver. 10.
[781] The metaphorical representation in classical passages, in which, e.g. , the Cyclops is termed ( Anth. Pal. xiv. 109, 3), or the vultures (Gorgias, ap. Longin . 3), is not similar.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1830
THE EXTENT OF MANS DEPRAVITY
Rom 3:10-20. It is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is un open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now 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. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.
THE Scriptures are the only and infallible source of divine knowledge. To them the Apostles continually refer in support of their doctrines. No subject is capable of more ample proof from them than that before us. St. Paul is shewing that all mankind are guilty and depraved. In confirmation of this he cites many passages from the Old Testament [Note: See Psa 14:1-3. Pro 1:16; Pro 1:18. Isa 59:7-8.]. From these, as stated and improved in the text, we are led to consider,
I.
The representation which the Scripture gives of our state
The testimonies here adduced, declare, that the most lamentable depravity pervades,
1.
All ranks and orders of men
There is none righteous, no, not one [Note: The Apostle has so arranged his quotations as to form a beautiful climax, every subsequent passage affirming more than that which precedes it.]
[Righteousness is a conformity of heart and life to the law of God. Where is the man on earth that possesses it by nature? Where is the man whose deviations from this standard have not been innumerable?]
There is none that understandeth
[The natural man has no discernment of spiritual things [Note: 1Co 2:14.]: his practical judgment is in favour of sin and the world.]
There is none that seeketh after God
[The things of time and sense are diligently pursued; but who ever cultivates divine knowledge, or seriously inquires after God [Note: Job 35:10.]?]
All are gone out of the way
[Men universally prefer the way of self-righteousness to that of faith in Christ, and that of sin and self-indulgence to holiness and self-denial. No one that sees them would imagine that they really intended to tread in the steps of Christ and his Apostles.]
They are together become unprofitable
[God has formed us for his own glory, and each others good: but unregenerate men never attempt to answer these ends of their creation [Note: They may do good to the bodies of men; but never shew any real solicitude about their souls. Indeed, how should they, when they care not for their own souls?]: hence they are justly compared to things worthless and vile [Note: Luk 14:34-35 and Joh 15:6.].]
There is none that doeth good, no, not one
[Nothing is really good, which is not so in its principle, rule, and end [Note: The fear and love of God are the principle, the Scriptures the rule, and Gods glory the end of Christian obedience, 1Co 10:31.]. But where is the action of any natural man that will stand this test?]
2.
All the faculties and powers of men
[Nothing is more offensive than an open sepulchre [Note: Mat 23:27.]; or more venomous than an asp; yet both the one and the other fitly represent the effusions of a carnal heart: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak: deceit, calumny, invective, yea, in many instances, the most horrible oaths and execrations will proceed from it [Note: No less than four expressions, and those exceeding strong, are sued to declare the evils of the tongue.]. Hence that awful description of the human tongue [Note: Jam 3:6.] From words we are ready also to proceed to actions, yea, even the most cruel and atrocious. Who that sees with what readiness nations engage in war, will question the declaration in the text? Hazael revolted at the idea of murder, when warned of his readiness to commit it; yet notwithstanding his present feelings, how swift were his feet to shed blood [Note: 2Ki 8:12-13. with ib. ver. 15 and 13:7.]! How many at this day are impelled by shame even to destroy their own offspring! How frequently do men engage in duels on account of the slightest injury or insult! And in how many instances might we ourselves, when irritated and inflamed, have committed murder in an unguarded moment, exactly as others have done, who in a cooler hour would have shuddered at the thought! The instance of David, who, though a man after Gods own heart, murdered Uriah, and many others with him, to conceal his shame, is sufficient of itself to shew us what the best of men might commit, if left to themselves [Note: 2Sa 11:14-17.]. Well we may apply to this subject that humiliating language of the prophet [Note: Isa 1:5-6.] Thus, God himself being witness, instead of walking in paths of peace and safety, we all by nature prefer the ways which bring destruction and misery both on ourselves and all around us [Note: Psa 36:1.]. The whole of our state is properly summed up in this, that there is no fear of God before our eyes; so entirely are our understandings blinded, and our hearts alienated from him, by means of our innate depravity [Note: ver. 16 and 17. relate primarily to the evil which men do to others, though they may include what they do to themselves. See Isa 59:7-8.].]
This humiliating view of our state should lead us to consider,
II.
The inferences to be deduced from it
Those which the Apostle suggests in the text will suffice for our attention at this time:
1.
We are all guilty before God
[It seems inconceivable to many, that they should really be obnoxious to everlasting misery in hell: and they will plead their own cause with zeal and eloquence: if they concede it with respect to some more heinous transgressors, they will deny it in reference to themselves. But God has taken care that every mouth should be stopped. It is not possible to express the universality of mens wickedness more strongly than it is expressed in the words before us [Note: None, no, not one; none; none; none, no, not one; all; all together; every mouth; even all the world. Can any, after this, fancy himself an exception?]. All then must become guilty before God, and acknowledge their desert of his wrath and indignation; they must feel their desert of condemnation, as much as a man that has been condemned for parricide feels the justice of the sentence which is pronounced against him. O that we might all be brought to such unfeigned contrition! We should then be not far from the kingdom of God [Note: Psa 51:17.].]
2.
We can never be justified by any works of our own
[We know that what the law saith, it saith unto them that are under the law. Now the law saith, Do this and live: transgress it and thou shall die [Note: Rom 10:5. Gal 3:10.]; but it speaks not one word about mitigating its demands to the weak, however weak, or its penalties to the guilty, however small the measure of their guilt. How then can any man be justified by the works of the law? Can a man be guilty, and not guilty? or can he be condemned by the law, and yet justified by it at the same time, and in the same respects? Let all hope then, and all thought, of justification by the law be put away from for us ever. God has provided a better way for our justification, namely, through the blood and righteousness of his dear Son [Note: Rom 3:21-22.]: and to lead us into that way was the intention of the Apostle in citing the passages that have already been considered. Let us improve his humiliating representation for this salutary end; so shall we be justified freely by grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus [Note: Rom 3:24.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Ver. 10. As it is written ] What the prophets had said of some particular people or person is here applied to the whole race of mankind, because by nature there is never a better of us. , . (Eras. Adag.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10 18. ] Proof of this universal sinfulness from the Scripture , said directly ( Rom 3:19 ) of the Jews, but a portion including, and taken for granted of, the Gentiles. Compare throughout the LXX (reff.).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 3:10 . The long series of quotations, beginning with this verse, has many points of interest. The with which it is introduced, shows that the assertion of indiscriminate sinfulness which the Apostle has just made, corresponds with Scripture testimony. It is as if he had said, I can express my opinion in inspired words, and therefore it has God upon its side. The quotations themselves are taken from various parts of the O.T. without distinction; no indication is given when the writer passes from one book to another. Thus Rom 3:10-12 are from Psa 14:1-3 ; Rom 3:13 gives the LXX of Psa 5:9 ; Rom 3:14 corresponds best to Psa 10:7 ; in Rom 3:15-17 there is a condensation of Isa 59:7 f.; and in Rom 3:18 we have part of the first verse of Psa 36 . No attention whatever is paid to the context. The value of the quotations for the Apostle’s purpose has been disputed. It has been pointed out that in Psa 14 , for instance, there is mention of a people of God, “a generation of the righteous,” as well as of the godless world; and that in other passages only the contemporaries of the writer, or some of them, and not all men in all times, are described. Perhaps if we admit that there is no possibility of an empirical proof of the universality of sin, it covers the truth there is in such comments. Paul does not rest his case on these words of Scripture, interpreted as modern exegetical science would interpret them. He has brought the charge of sin against all men in chap. Rom 1:17 , in announcing righteousness as the gift of the Gospel; in chap. Rom 1:18-32 he has referred to the facts which bring the charge home to Gentile consciences; in chap. 2 he has come to close quarters with evasions which would naturally suggest themselves to Jews: and in both cases he has counted upon finding in conscience a sure ally. Hence we do not need to lay too heavy a burden of proof on these quotations: it is enough if they show that Scripture points with unmistakable emphasis in the direction in which the Apostle is leading his readers. And there can be no doubt that it does so. As Gifford well says on Rom 3:18 : “In the deep inner sense which St. Paul gives to the passage, ‘the generation of the righteous’ would be the first to acknowledge that they form no exception to the universal sinfulness asserted in the opening verses of the Psalm”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Rom 3:10 . . There is something to be said for the idea that this is Paul’s thesis, rather than a quotation of Psa 14:3 .Psa 14:3Psa 14:3 is correctly quoted in Rom 3:12 , and the Apostle would hardly quote it twice: , too, seems chosen to express exactly the conclusion to which he means to come in Rom 3:20 . Still, the words come after : hence they must be Scripture, and there is nothing they resemble so much as a free rendering of Psa 14:3 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
The quotation (Rom 3:10-18) is from several passages, of O.T. All refer to the same subject. Figure of speech Gnome (App-6). verses: Rom 3:10-12 (general) are from Ecc 7:20. Psa 14:2, Psa 14:3; Psa 53:2, Psa 53:3-4; verses: Rom 3:13-18 (particular) are from Psa 5:9-10; Psa 140:3; Psa 10:7. Isa 59:7, Isa 59:8. Psa 36:1. Verification of these references, from the standpoint of Paul’s argument, throws much light upon the O.T. passage, in which they occur.
There . . . one. Literally: There is not (Greek. ou) a righteous (man), not even one.
righteous. Greek. dikaios. App-191. Compare Rom 1:17.
no, not. Greek. oude.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10-18.] Proof of this universal sinfulness from the Scripture, said directly (Rom 3:19) of the Jews, but a portion including, and taken for granted of, the Gentiles. Compare throughout the LXX (reff.).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 3:10. , as) That all men are under sin, is very clearly proved from the vices which always, and everywhere, have been prevalent [have stalked abroad] among mankind; just as, also, the internal holiness of Christ is displayed in [pourtratyed by means of] the innocency of His words and actions. Paul therefore quotes, with propriety, David and Isaiah, although it is concerning the people of their own times that they complain, and that accompanied with an exception in favour of the godly [some of whom are always to be found], Psa 14:4, etc. For that complaint describes men such as God looking down from heaven finds them to be, not such as He makes them by His grace.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 3:10
Rom 3:10
as it is written,-[Paul had just affirmed the guilt of the Jews from their living experiences; he now confirms this declaration in the strongest terms by an appeal to their own Scriptures to show that what he had affirmed was true; and since it was conceded that the Gentiles were gross sinners, it then follows, in regard to sin, that the Jews were no better than the Gentiles and that they were all equally dependent on the mercy of God. The passages quoted show that this characteristic of sin was not confined to any particular period of Jewish history, but pertained to them as a people; that it had characterized them throughout their existence as a nation.]
There is none righteous, no, not one;-In picturing the widespread wickedness, David said: Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God. They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Psa 14:2-3). This language is used to show how things appeared to the observer, and that, in proportion to the whole, very few honored God, and no nation honored him. It would be difficult to settle upon a time when this was not literally true of the Jewish people. [In regard to sin, it follows that the Jews were no better than the Gentiles. This is the point to be settled. The word righteous as here used means to be wholly free from sin-free from it in the sense of never having committed it. In this acceptation the citation is strictly true. There is none absolutely righteous. Therefore, all are under sin. This is what Paul had charged, and what is shown by the language quoted to be absolutely true. His declaration the Jews might deny, but not their own Scripture. The Jews, then, do not excel the Gentiles.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
righteous
(See Scofield “Rom 10:10”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
As it is: Rom 3:4, Rom 11:8, Rom 15:3, Rom 15:4, Isa 8:20, 1Pe 1:16
There: Psa 14:1-3, Psa 53:1-3
none: Rom 3:23, Job 14:4, Job 15:14, Job 15:16, Job 25:4, Jer 17:9, Mat 15:19, Mar 7:21, Mar 7:22, Mar 10:18, 1Co 6:9, 1Co 6:10, Gal 5:19-21, Eph 2:1-3, Eph 5:3-6, Col 3:5-9, 1Ti 1:9, 1Ti 1:10, 2Ti 3:2-5, Tit 3:3, 1Jo 1:8-10, Rev 21:8, Rev 22:15
Reciprocal: Exo 32:24 – So they Psa 14:3 – all gone Psa 19:9 – The fear Psa 33:1 – ye righteous Isa 53:6 – All we Isa 57:12 – General Isa 59:13 – speaking Mic 7:2 – is perished Mat 9:13 – to call Mat 12:34 – how Joh 7:19 – yet Joh 10:34 – in Rom 1:29 – filled Jam 3:2 – in Jam 5:16 – a righteous
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
-12
Rom 3:10-12. This paragraph describes the character of both Jews and. Gentiles as nations and not as individuals. We know that the word one does not mean an individual, for that would contradict some facts of sacred history. The scripture plainly teaches that Abel and Job were righteous individuals (Heb 11:4; Job 1:8), and they were Gentiles. And the righteousness of Daniel and many other individuals of the Jewish nation is too well known to need references. So the paragraph means that there was not one nation as a whole that was righteous. That is, neither one of the nations was so righteous that God chose it in preference to the other as the Jews pretended.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 3:10-18. As it is written. This formula here introduces a number of Old Testament quotations, describing the moral corruption of the times of David and the prophets. Human nature being essentially the same always and everywhere, the description holds good universally, but the application here is to the Jews first, afterwards to all the world (Rom 3:19). In Psalms 14 the general application is most obvious, hence it is quoted first The arrangement is such that testimony is adduced: 1st, for the state of sin generally (Rom 3:10-12); 2d, the practice of sin in word (Rom 3:13-14) and deed (Rom 3:15-17); and 3d, the sinful source of the whole(Rom 3:18). Meyer. Rom 3:10.
There is none righteous, etc. The citation from Psa 14:1-3 (covering here Rom 3:10-12) varies from the LXX. especially in this verse, which begins with the last clause of Psa 14:1. Hebrew: there is not a doer of good. LXX: there is not (one) doing good, there is not even one. Righteous is substituted, to contrast with under sin.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, How the apostle proves his assertion; namely, That both Jew and Gentile were under the guilt both of original and actual transgression, from the testimony of David, Psalms 14 where the state of corrupt nature is described, and the natural condition of all men declared, till they are either restrained or renewed by the grace of God: There is none righteous, no not one. Which words are true in several respects:
1. There is none originally righteous, no not one; none righteous in their first plantation in the world, until they are transplanted into the body of Christ, wrought and fashioned by his Holy Spirit.
2. There is none efficiently righteous, no not one: None have a righteousness of their own making, but of God’s. The righteousness of justification and sanctification both are from Christ, not from ourselves; we are his workmanship, not our own.
3. There is none meritoriously righteous, no not one; none that can deserve or demand anything as a due debt at God’s hand; but the most rigorous and holy saints are but unprofitable servants.
4. There is none perfectly and completely righteous, no not one; but inchoatively only: None righteous in a strict and legal sense, but in a gospel and qualified sense only: He that doeth righteousness is righteous, in the account of God; and, as such, shall be accepted and rewarded by him.
Observe, 2. How the apostle proves the corruption of mankind in general, by an induction of particulars. He surveys him in all the principal faculties of his soul, and members of his body; his understanding, will and affections; his eye, hand, tongue, and feet all corrupted and depraved: Their mouth is full or cursing, and bitter speeches: Their heart an open sepulchre, gaping after, and devouring the good name of their neighbours, and belching out filthy, ill scented, and unsavoury words against them. They seek not God in anything they do, and there is no fear of God, no respect of God before their eyes.
The apostle suts up all with this, because want of the fear of God before our eyes, is the fountain from which all other evils do proceed and flow. The fear of God is the bridle and curb which restrains from sin; where that is wanting, all iniquity abounds; where that is present and prevalent, it keeps the soul close to God, I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me. Jer 32:32
We usually depart far, yea, run fast from those we fear; but the true fear of God will make us cleave close unto him, because love is intermixed with it, and renders it a delightful fear.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 10-12. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become useless; there is none that doeth good, no, not even one.
These six sentences are taken from Psa 14:1-3. At the first glance, this psalm seems to be depicting the wickedness of the Gentiles only; comp. Rom 3:4 : They eat up my people, as if they were eating bread. But on looking at it more closely, it is clear that the term my people denotes the true people of Jehovah, the afflicted (Rom 3:6), in opposition to the proud and violent as well within as without the theocracy. This delineation therefore applies to the moral character of man, so long as he remains beyond the influence of divine action.
Ver. 10 contains the most general statement. Instead of the word righteous, there is in the Hebrew: the man that doeth good, which comes to the same thing.
The two terms which follow in Rom 3:11 have a more particular sense. The first is related to the understanding: the knowledge of the Creator in His works; the second to the will: the aspiration after union with this perfect being. The Sinat., like most of the Mjj., reads the article before the two participles. This article is in keeping with the meaning of the psalm. God is represented as seeking that one man and not finding him. We may accentuate as an unusual participle of , or , from the verb , which sometimes takes the place of the verb .
In the case where positive good is not produced (seeking after God), the heart immediately falls under the dominion of evil; this state is described in general terms, Rom 3:12.
, to deviate, to go in a bad way, because one has voluntarily fled from the good (Rom 3:11). , to become useless, unfit for good, corresponds to the Hebrew alach, to become sour, to be spoiled.
The sixth proposition reproduces, by way of resum, the idea of the first. Mankind resembles a caravan which has strayed, and is moving in the direction opposite to the right one, and whose members can do nothing to help one another in their common misery (do good).
Here begins a second and more particular description, that of human wickedness manifesting itself in the form of speech.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one;
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
10. As has been written, that there is none righteous, no, not one, i. e., not a single one of the above classes, i. e., Jews and Greeks who are all under sin, i. e., all church members of all ages and nations so far as the efficacy of membership, water baptism, church rites and legal obedience are concerned. Since these things, though all right in their places, never did have any power to justify a soul; therefore they leave all their votaries in their sins both actual and original, on the same plane with the unregenerate heathen.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 10
The passage which follows, Romans 3:10-19, is composed of several distinct Psalms 5:9,10:7,14:1-3,36:1,140:3; Isaiah 59:7-8, taken from various parts of the Old Testament, principally from the book of Psalms, and applied here by the apostle as descriptive of the moral condition of the Jews. The language is considerably varied from the originals.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
SECTION 9 THE JEWS ARE CONDEMNED BY THEIR OWN LAW
CH. 3:10-20
According as it is written, There is not a righteous man, not even one. There is not an understanding one: there is not a man who seeks out God. All have turned away: together they have become useless. There is none that does kindness: there is not even one. An opened grave, their throat is: with their tongues they were beguiling. Poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Quick are their feet to pour out blood ruin and calamity are in their ways: and a way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
But we know that so many things as the Law says, to those in the Law it speaks, in order that every mouth may be shut, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Because from works of law will no flesh be justified in His sight: for through law comes knowledge of sin.
Paul will now prove that the accusation in Rom 3:9, which sums up the result of the argument of DIV. I., is in harmony with the ancient Scriptures: according as it is written: cp. Rom 3:4; Rom 1:17. This he does by grouping together, without mentioning the human authors, five passages from the Psalms and one from the Book of Isaiah. The first asserts universality of sin in the Psalmists day: four others imply that the sin even of circumcised Jews is hateful to God and will receive punishment: and the last confirms the teaching of Rom 1:21 that outward sin arises from inward neglect of God. Paul quotes for the most part word for word from the LXX. The differences between the quotations and the original text do not affect the argument. Examination will show that in each case the ancient writer means all, and more than all, Pauls argument requires.
Rom 3:10-12. From Psa 14:1-3, repeated in Psa 53:1-3. God looks down from heaven to see if there are any who show their intelligence by seeking to know and please Him. Here is the result. His eye cannot detect one righteous man. Not one acts wisely, or makes it the object of life to find out God. All have strayed from the right path: all have together failed to attain their Makers purpose. Not even one does good. Evidently the Psalmists words include Jews as well as Gentiles. Consequently Pauls charge in Rom 3:9 is but a repetition of an O.T. declaration about Jews and Gentiles of an earlier day.
Rom 3:13-17. Descriptions of bad men.
An opened grave: so Jer 5:16. So deadly were the arrows of the Chaldeans that the quiver from which they came seemed like a grave opened to receive the dead whom the arrows slew. But more deadly than arrows are the words of the men described in Psa 5:9. They encourage or provoke to acts of violence and bloodshed: the opening of their mouth involves the opening of a grave to receive those whose death will result from their words. Hence, in the vividness of Eastern imagination, their throat is called a grave opened to receive the slain. David himself, if not with his lips yet with his pen, dug a grave for Uriah: 2Sa 11:14. That the word throat denotes here, as in Psa 115:7, an organ of speech, is proved by the words tongues and lips following.
Beguiling: their tongues being used as instruments of guile. This made their words as dangerous and deadly as poison of asps, which lies concealed under their lips: word for word from Psa 140:3. The Psalmist cries for deliverance from bloody and deceitful men. He is afraid of their secret plots. The lips with which the plots are communicated to others, and thus matured, are as deadly to him as the poison of a serpent. He appeals to God against them, and calls for their destruction.
Whose mouth etc.: from Psa 10:7 : a description of proud men who lay snares for the poor and innocent, and expect to escape, saying that God has forgotten their deeds and will not punish. The Psalmist appeals to God as one who beholds mischief and spite, and will requite it. This teaching of the Psalms is confirmed by a quotation from Isa 59:7-8. Here are men whose feet are quick when their purpose is to shed blood. If you trace their steps, you find that they have left behind them ruin and calamity. War and violence are their only element: and a way of peace they have not known. Yet these men were Israelites: for the prophet declares (Isa 59:2) that their sins have separated them from their God. Therefore, in his view, God is angry with the sins even of those who possess the Law and bear in their bodies the seal of the covenant.
Rom 3:18. An explanation of the conduct described in the foregoing quotations: from Psa 36:1. As the writer ponders the transgression of the wicked, he learns its cause, absence of fear of God. He is not before their eyes as an object inspiring fear: hence their wickedness.
The real force of the above quotations lies not so much in the words quoted as in the entire context, and in the fact that such quotations might be indefinitely multiplied. They are a fair sample of the entire O.T., and prove its complete agreement with the teaching of Romans 2. For the bad men here described were undoubtedly Jews.
On what principle, and with what precise object, did Paul select these quotations? We cannot conceive that he gives here a universal, or even a comparatively fair, description of the nation. He has rather gathered together into one awful picture the very darkest lines of the many delineations of character contained in the Jewish Scriptures. The men before us are of the worst kind. The opening of their mouths is the opening of a grave: they are deadly as vipers: their language is a curse: the prospect of murder hurries them on with rapid steps: where they have been, destruction and calamity are: and how to walk so as to be at peace, they know not. The delineations form one picture: Rom 3:13-14 describe their words; Rom 3:15-17, their actions; and Rom 3:18 gives the cause of the whole. Paul has, in my view, put together this mosaic of sin in order to prove that the O.T. teaches that Jewish privileges do not in themselves save even from the lowest depths of sin. He does not say that the objector in Romans 2 is as bad as these men. But whatever he pleads for himself these men might have pleaded. These bad men, whose names are forgotten but in whose character is plainly written the condemnation of God, arise from oblivion to declare that outward privileges, even though they come from God, and outward connection with the people of God, do not necessarily save.
Rom 3:19. A principle which both readers and opponents know, and which gives divine authority to the foregoing quotations. That quotations from the Psalms and the Book of Isaiah are spoken of as a voice of the Law, implies that these books are an authoritative declaration of Gods will concerning mans conduct and of the principles on which He governs, and will judge, the world; and prove that in Pauls view even mans cry to God for deliverance, e.g. Psalms 140, was also in some real sense Gods voice to man.
To those in the Law: those to whom the sacred books were given, and to whom they were therefore the moral element of life and action. Cp. 1Co 9:21 : in law of Christ.
It speaks: consequently the foregoing quotations are Gods voice to Paul s readers.
In order that etc.: purpose for which the words quoted from the Psalms and the Book of Isaiah were written.
Every mouth shut: without excuse for sin. It recalls the excuses in Romans 2.
All the world: Jews and Gentiles, without exception.
Under judgment: exposed to punishment, because without excuse for their sin. Paul here asserts that God gave the Law, which finds in the O.T. permanent literary embodiment, in order that every man may stand before Him silent and condemned, i.e. in conscious and helpless exposure to punishment. Notice that this purpose of the Law of Moses, of which the teaching of the prophets was a divinely-inspired exposition, is identical with the purpose of Gods manifestation of Himself in Nature, as stated in Rom 1:20 : that they nay be without excuse. We need not infer that this was the only purpose of these revelations: see Psa 119:105.
This purpose was far from the thought of the writers of the Psalms. It therefore implies that these last had an Author and purpose greater than the human authors and their immediate purpose. It therefore confirms the proof, afforded by the use of the term the Law to describe the quoted Psalms, that in them spoke One greater than man.
Rom 3:20. Because etc.: a universal principle stated in order to explain how the Law brings all men silent and guilty before God, and thus explaining why God used this means for this end. These words recall Psa 143:2. The writer prays God not to enter into judgment with him, on the ground that in His sight no living person is or will be counted righteous. That no one will, implies that no one can be justified.
From works of law: actions in obedience to a written prescription, looked upon as a source or means of the judges approval.
Flesh: the material of which our bodies are composed: see note under Rom 8:11. Since it is the only form in which human nature presents itself to us, all flesh includes all mankind. It represents humanity as limited by the conditions imposed by the material of the bodies in which we live and through which we act. We shall learn from Rom 6:12 that the sin which prevents our justification by works has its throne in the flesh.
This universal denial excludes justification by works both in this life and at the bar of God.
For through law etc.: explanation and confirmation of the foregoing assertion. That these words are neither explained nor proved, reveals Pauls confidence that they need neither explanation nor proof. They appeal to the experience of all. We find that all progress in knowledge of the Law reveals a law which we have broken. It is true that in Christ we find deliverance from the power and stain of sin: consequently, by revealing with increasing clearness our own sinfulness and thus driving us to Christ for salvation, the Law leads us day by day to closer conformity to the will of God. But this is wrought by the Gospel, and only indirectly by the Law; not by obedience to a command, but by belief of the Gospel. Now, if the Law reveals disobedience in all to whom it is given, it cannot justify. For justification through law can be obtained only by obedience. Therefore, by imparting knowledge of sin, the Law reveals its own powerlessness to justify.
Rom 3:20 gives complete proof of the assertion in Rom 3:19 that consciousness of guilt is not only an actual result of the Law but the purpose and end for which it was given. God gave to men commands which He knew they would not obey; and threatened punishment in case of disobedience. What was His purpose in so doing? Not directly to produce obedience. For, if so, the Law was a failure: and Gods foreknowledge makes it inconceivable that He would use means which He knew would not succeed. We are therefore, even apart from his apostolic authority, compelled to accept Pauls assertion that the actual result of the Law was also its designed result. God gave it in order to make us conscious of our lost state, and thus to prepare us for a revelation of righteousness through Christ. In ages to come, we shall look back upon the Law, not as a failure, but as a guardian-slave (Gal 3:24) who led us to Christ, and as an essential link of the chain which raised us from sin to eternal obedience and blessedness.
Notice how much Rom 3:19-20 increase the force of the foregoing quotations. In the quoted words the Law speaks, and declares how God will treat those to whom it is given: and Gods purpose in giving the Law was precisely the purpose which, by the arguments of DIV. I., Paul has sought to accomplish.
THE LAW. A law is a setting forth, by an authority claiming to determine and limit the action of men, of what they are to do and not to do. So Pro 3:1 : My son, forget not my law, but let thy heart keep my commands. The state claims this right over its citizens; and therefore its enactments are called laws. And, since without penalties enactments are powerless, the laws of the state announce both what the citizens are to do and not to do and the punishment of disobedience. The laws of an absolute monarch are an announcement of the principles on which he will treat his subjects.
On the ultimate foundation of law in the inborn moral sense of man, see the important quotation on p. 79. {Rom 2:15}
To Israel God was the only King and Lawgiver and Judge. Consequently, in the Bible, unless otherwise stated, the word law denotes always the Law of God.
In Gen 26:5 God says, Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My ordinances, and My laws. At Sinai God gave to Israel, through the agency of Moses, a body of definite prescriptions, to be henceforth their national law, and the basis of Gods future dealings with the nation whom He had joined to Himself by solemn covenant. A rudimentary code of civil law is said to have been written by Moses at Sinai: Exo 24:4. Statutes of sacrificial worship were added, each called a law: Lev 6:9; Lev 6:14; Lev 6:25. In the plains of Moab, shortly before his death, Moses restated the Law, wrote it, and publicly gave the book to Israel as the authoritative standard of the will of God, according to which the people were to live and according to which they will be rewarded or punished: Deu 31:9; Deu 31:26. Henceforth we read of the Book of the Law: Jos 1:8; Jos 8:34; 2Ki 22:8; 2Ki 22:11; Neh 8:1. The Book itself, as being the authoritative and only permanent embodiment of Gods will, is called the Law: 1Ki 2:3; 1Ch 16:40; 2Ch 23:18; 2Ch 31:3; 2Ch 35:26; Ezr 3:2. Hence the term the Law became, and is still with the Jews, the common title of the Pentateuch: Rom 3:21; Luk 24:44; Act 24:14.
The ordinances given in the wilderness are attributed to Moses in 1Co 9:9; Heb 9:19; Heb 10:28; Luk 2:22; Luk 24:44; Joh 1:17; Joh 1:45; Joh 7:19; Joh 7:23; Act 13:39; Act 15:5. A narrative in Genesis is quoted in Gal 4:21 as the Law. In Rom 3:10-18; Joh 10:34, quotations from the Psalms and one from the Book of Isaiah have the authority of the Law; these books being thus placed on a level with the Pentateuch. Thus extended, the Law denotes in the N.T., unless otherwise defined, the Jewish Scriptures looked upon as a rule of life given by God to man, and as a declaration of the principles of Gods government of the world.
Looking now at the contents of these books, we notice that one spirit animates the whole. Its voice is, Do this and live. This is the essence of law: and this principle assumes authoritative form in the Old Covenant and in the Jewish Scriptures. The written word is the body, this principle is the spirit, of the Law. Hence the apparent variety in the use of the word. Just as the word man refers sometimes to bodily form, at other times to mental and moral character, so the term the Law refers sometimes to the Pentateuch and the other Holy Scriptures, and at other times to the great principle which inspires these ancient writings, viz. that God will treat men according to their deeds. The special reference must in each case be determined by the context. But in all cases the underlying meaning is the same. It is unsafe to rely in a translation upon the presence or absence of the definite article. But in the original the anarthrous term law refers, I believe, almost always to the general principle, Do this and live; and the Law to the historical and literary form in which this principle took shape in the ears and eyes and thoughts of Israel.
We have already met the word law in various connections of thought. We saw in Rom 2:12 that possession of the Law separated mankind into two great theological divisions; that (Rom 2:13) not those who hear, but those who obey, the words written therein will be justified; that (Rom 2:17; Rom 2:20; Rom 2:23) in possession of the Book some trusted for salvation, and thought themselves wise because instructed from its pages; and that (Rom 2:24) by transgressing the written word they brought dishonour to God. The contents of the Book were written in the hearts of the Gentiles, who thus became to themselves, in some measure, what the Book was to the Jews: Rom 2:14. By this means Gentiles sometimes accomplish, without having read them, the purpose for which the written commands were given to Israel: Rom 2:27. The great purpose of the Law, wrought out unconsciously by its human agents, was to leave all men without excuse for sin; and, because by nature none are able to obey it, to bring all men under conscious liability to punishment.
A threefold purpose is, in this epistle, attributed to the Law; viz. that (Rom 5:20) through it the one sin of Adam might multiply itself into the many sins of his children, that (Rom 3:19) all sinners and therefore all men may be without excuse for sin and may know that God will punish them, and that (Rom 7:13) they may become conscious of the indwelling and irresistible power of sin which prevents them from doing what they know to be right and even wish to perform. In other words, the Law was given to Israel and written in the hearts of all men, in order to bring about in all men actual personal sin, and consciousness of inward bondage and of coming punishment. These are the divinely-chosen and mysterious steps to a glorious goal, viz. actual obedience to the will of God, begun imperfectly on earth and to be fully realised in the life to come.
But beyond these first steps the Law cannot lead us.
DIVISION I., embracing Rom 1:18 to Rom 3:20, is a proof of the assertion in Rom 1:18. The proof and the defence of it against prevalent objection are now complete. By pointing to Gods revelation of Himself in Nature, and to the immoral results of ungodliness, Paul proved in Rom 1:19-32 that God is angry with all ungodliness and sin. And if so, since all are sinners, God is angry with all men: Rom 2:1. In Rom 2:2, Paul repeats, after complete proof, the assertion in Rom 1:18. To expect exemption from this universal principle because of Gods forbearance, is a mark of ignorance: Rom 2:3-11. No reason for such expectation is found either in (Rom 2:12-24) the Law or in (Rom 2:25-29) circumcision. Yet the possession of the Law is to the Jew an advantage which the unbelief of the mass of the nation does not set aside: Rom 3:1-4. Their unbelief will but demonstrate the righteousness of God; yet even this will not save them from punishment: Rom 3:5-8. In Rom 3:9, Paul triumphantly combines the assertion in Rom 1:18 and its universal application in Rom 2:1-2. In Rom 3:10-20, he shows that what he has proved agrees with the teaching of the ancient Scriptures.
DIV. I. was introduced to show that the righteousness revealed in the Gospel by faith proves the Gospel to be a power of God to save all that believe. The proof is now complete. Paul has shown us a world perishing because of Gods anger against sin: therefore, if the good news from God announces Gods favour towards all that believe, it is indeed to them the mighty arm of God stretched out to save.
Notice the clearness and force of Pauls arguments. They rest in part on great principles which commend themselves to the moral sense of all, and which underlie the teaching of the entire Old Testament; and in part on social facts within the immediate observation of Pauls readers, and to some extent, even at this distance of time, within our own observation. If we admit the principles and facts, Pauls arguments compel us to admit his conclusions. Notice also that, just as in Rom 2:6; Rom 2:13; Rom 2:24; Rom 2:29; Rom 3:4 he shows that the principles from which his conclusions are drawn are in harmony with the Old Testament, so in Rom 3:10-18 he shows that his conclusions are in harmony with the same. So conclusive is his reasoning that we have forgotten the apostolic authority of the reasoner. If Div. I. were only a fragment from an unknown author, it would still carry complete conviction.
Observe carefully Pauls use of the Jewish Scriptures. He nowhere appeals to isolated or difficult texts. Each passage is a representative of many others teaching the same truth. Examination proves that each quotation fairly involves the principle it was adduced to support. We may well take this great teacher as a pattern of Old Testament exposition.
In DIV. I., Paul has not carried us above the level of the Old Covenant. He has only gathered into one focus whatever the ancient Scriptures, looked upon as law, said and proved in former days. The name of Christ has occurred only once; and then not as the Saviour, but as the Judge, of the world. DIV. I. bears to the rest of the epistle the relation which the Old Covenant bears to the New. It is therefore a testimony to the permanent moral worth of the Old Testament.
We have heard the Law: it has pronounced our condemnation and made us conscious of our need of salvation. And, since God is angry with all sin, no salvation will supply our need except one which makes us free from the guilt, the power, and the stain of sin.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
Paul was writing to a primarily Gentile congregation, so he concluded rather than began his argument with an appeal to Scripture. Contrast the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews who took the opposite approach when he addressed a primarily Jewish readership. The collection of passages Paul used both affirmed the universality of sin (Rom 3:10-12) and showed its pervasive inroads into all areas of individual and corporate life (Rom 3:13-18).
In Rom 3:10-12 statement of the universality of sin opens and closes the passage. Sin has affected human intellect, emotions, and volition: all aspects of human personality. Note the repetition of "none" as well as "all" and "not even one," all universal terms. In Rom 3:13-18 Paul described the words (Rom 3:13-14), acts (Rom 3:15-17), and attitudes (Rom 3:18) of man as tainted by sin.
This passage is one of the most forceful in Scripture that deals with the total depravity of man. Total depravity does not mean that every person is as bad as he or she could be. It means that sin has affected every part of his or her being and consequently there is nothing anyone can do to commend himself or herself to a holy God.
"Depravity means that man fails the test of pleasing God. He [sic] denotes his unmeritoriousness in God’s sight. This failure is total in that (a) it affects all aspects of man’s being, and (b) it affects all people." [Note: Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, pp. 218-19.]
The statement that "there is none who seeks after God" (Rom 3:11) means that no one seeks God without God prompting him or her to do so (cf. Joh 6:44-46). It does not mean that people are constitutionally incapable of seeking God. People can and should seek God (Act 17:26-27), and they are responsible for not doing so.
"Paul’s portrayal of the unrighteous person may seem overly pessimistic to many contemporaries. After all, do we not all know certain individuals who live rather exemplary lives apart from Christ? Certainly they do not fit the description just laid out. Although it may be true that many of our acquaintances are not as outwardly wicked as the litany would suggest, we must remember that they are also benefactors of a civilization deeply influenced by a pervasive Judeo-Christian ethic. Take away the beneficent influence of Christian social ethics and their social behavior would be considerably different." [Note: Mounce, p. 110.]
Rom 3:18 concludes the quotations by giving the root problem (cf. Rom 1:18-32).
"It is no kindness, but a terrible wrong, to hide from a criminal the sentence that must surely overtake him unless pardoned; for a physician to conceal from a patient a cancer that will destroy him unless quickly removed; for one acquainted with the hidden pitfalls of a path he beholds someone taking, not to warn him of his danger!" [Note: Newell, pp. 85-86.]
". . . this collection of OT quotations illustrates the various forms of sin, the undesirable characteristics of sinners, the effect of their action, and their attitude toward God. This is the same picture that Paul himself has been painting." [Note: Mickelsen, p. 1191.]