1 Brothers and sisters,tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13. my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelitestn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. is for their salvation.
2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God,tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.” but their zeal is not in line with the truth.tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.” sn Their zeal is not in line with the truth means that the Jews’ passion for God was strong, but it ignored the true righteousness of God (v. 3; cf. also 3:21).
3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”sn A quotation from Lev 18:5.
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart,sn A quotation from Deut 9:4. ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”sn A quotation from Deut 30:12. (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?”sn A quotation from Deut 30:13. (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”sn A quotation from Deut 30:14. (that is, the word of faith that we preach),
9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordtn 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,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112. and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousnesstn Grk “believes to righteousness.” and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”
11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.
12 For 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.
14 How 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 themtn Grk “preaching”; the words “to them” are supplied for clarification.?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timelytn The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see BDAG 1103 s.v. ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.” is the arrivaltn Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news. of those who proclaim the good news.”sn A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.
16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.
17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached wordtn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rJhma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word. of Christ.tc Most mss (א1 A D1 Ψ 33 1881 Ï sy) have θεοῦ (qeou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Cristou; found in Ì46vid א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 pc lat co). External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rJhma Cristou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression.tn 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.
18 But I ask, have theytn That is, Israel (see the following verse). not heard?tn 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 (mh) 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 BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion. Yes, they have:tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering. Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.
19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand?tn Grk “Israel did not ‘not know,’ did he?” The double negative in Greek has been translated as a positive affirmation for clarity (see v. 18 above for a similar situation). First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.”sn A quotation from Deut 32:21.
20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.”sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.
21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.
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