Romans 10
1 Family, what would be my heart’s desire and my request to God on behalf of Israel is for liberation.a 2 I vouch for them that they are passionate about God, but it is not based on understanding. 3 Since they do not understand God’s justiceb and they are seeking to set up their own justice, they have not cooperatedc with God’s justice. 4 Christ is the aim of the Torah, which results in justice for everyone who is faithful.
5 Moses writes about justness that is from the Torah, “The person does these things will have life through them.”d 6 However, justness that is from faithfulness says it this way: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to the heavens?’e (to lead Christ downward) 7 or ‘Who will go down to the bottomless place?’f (to lead Christ up from among the dead).” 8 What does it say instead? “What was spoken is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”g (that’s the discussion of faithfulness that we announced). 9 You see, if you openly acknowledge with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and trust in your heart that God raised him from among the dead, you will be liberated. 10 That’s because if you trust it in your heart, the result is justness, and if you openly acknowledge it with your mouth, the result is liberation. 11 The scripture says, everyone who places their trust in him will not be shamed.”h 12 You see, there is no distinction between a Jewish person and a Greek person since they have the same Lord who richly provides for all who call on him. 13 “All who call on the name of the Lord will be liberated.”i
14 Then, how would they call on someone whom they have not trusted? How would they trust someone they haven’t heard? How would they hear without someone being a herald? 15 How would they be a herald if they weren’t sent? Just as it is written, “How delightful are the footstepsj of those who announce the triumphant messagek of good thingsl.”m 16 However, not everyone listened to the triumphant message. Isaiah says, “Lord, who has trusted what they heard from us?”n 17 Then, trust is from what is heard, but what is heard is heard through what is spoken abouto Christ. 18 However, I ask, “Is it certain they didn’t hear it?” To the contrary! “Their voices have gone out to the whole earth, and what they have spoken has gone out to the boundaries of inhabited land.”p 19 Nevertheless, I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses says, “I will make you jealous because of those who aren’t even a people group;q because of a group of people who don’t understand, I will anger you.”r 20 And Isaiah says with courage, “I was found by those who didn’t look for me, appeared clearlys for those who did not ask for me”t 21 but says to Israel “All day I reached my hands out to an antagonisticu people who refused to be persuadedv.”w
FOOTNOTES:
a Traditionally, ‘salvation’
b Traditionally, ‘righteousness’
c Traditionally, ‘submitted’ or ‘were subject’
d Quotation of Leviticus 18:5
e Quotation of Deuteronomy 30:12
f Reference of Deuteronomy 30:13; however, the original Hebrew and Septuagint (Greek translation) of Deuteronomy 30:13 refer to crossing the sea. This word changes it to the bottomless, which can refer to the deep sea, and it can also refer to a lake in Hades, the Greek underworld where the dead reside (not specific to good or bad, reward or punishment, but all the dead), and it can refer to a chasm in Tartarus, which is a part of Hades in Greek mythology that is specific to torment for evil people after they die. While Deuteronomy 30:13 refers to crossing the sea to find the commandment that will lead to life as being unnecessary, this Greek rendering here, seems to refer to the Greek mythology of Hades (probably not Tartarus), but still as it being an unnecessary step to find Christ there because what has been spoken by God is already nearby.
g Quotation of Deuteronomy 30:14
h Quotation of Isaiah 28:16
i Quotation of Joel 2:32
j Literally ‘how beautiful are the feet’
k Or ‘news of victory’ or literally, ‘good news’ or traditionally, ‘gospel.’ The historical context of this phrase was the message being announced to a city by a herald who ran ahead of a returning king or general after a battle, telling the residents that their champion had been victorious in battle, inviting them to greet the returning hero outside the city and escort them inside in triumph.
l While most translations omit the ‘good/beneficial things,’ it is present in the Greek here and in the Isaiah passage. Most translations conflate it with the ‘good’ part of ‘good news.’ However, some do include it: “glad tidings of good things” (KJV) and “good news of good things” (NASB).
m Reference to Isaiah 52:7
n Quotation of Isaiah 53:1
o This seems to be a an ‘objective genitive’ meaning that word Christou (‘of Christ’) is indicating what the action implied in the noun rema (‘word’ or ‘sentence’ or ‘what is spoken’) is acting on. There are other possible grammatical constructions that this instance could be, but the context of the herald bringing news of an arriving and victorious king seem to clearly indicate that it is a message about Christ that is in view here.
p Quotation of Psalm 19:4
q Traditionally, ‘nation.’ This is the word often translated as ‘Gentile.’
r Quotation of Deuteronomy 32:21
s Or ‘was illuminated’ or ‘had light shined on’ or ‘was revealed’
t Quotation of Isaiah 65:1
u The word has to do with ‘speaking against’ and can be in the sense of contradicting, arguing, and refuting, or it can be in the sense of declaring one’s opposition, taking a position against someone or something.
v Traditionally, ‘who refuse to be persuaded’ is translated as ‘disobedient.’ However, it is about not being convinced about something, which could be about following a command, but it can also be about an idea or way of thinking.
w Reference to Isaiah 65:2