Romans 10:3

Romans 10:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
• New Living Translation (NLT)For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

Context of Romans 10:3

1Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 5Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”

Romans 10:3 word by word

ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην ζητοῦντες στῆσαι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• being ignorant ofἀγνοέωagnoeō · be ignorantG50
• God’sθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• going aboutζητέωzēteō · to seekG2212
• to establishἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
• their ownἴδιοςidios · one's own/privateG2398
• haveὑποτάσσωhupotassō · to subjectG5293
• notοὐou · noG3756

Cross-references for Romans 10:3

• Romans 1:17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
• Romans 3:22This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
• Romans 5:19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
• Romans 9:30What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
• Psalms 71:15My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long— though I know not how to relate them all.
• Isaiah 51:6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail.
• Isaiah 56:1This is what the Lord says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
• Jeremiah 23:5“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.
• Daniel 9:24“Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
• John 16:9about sin, because people do not believe in me;
• 2 Corinthians 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
• 2 Peter 1:1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
• Romans 9:31but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.
• Isaiah 57:12I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
• Isaiah 64:6All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
• Luke 10:29But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Commentaries on Romans 10:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3For - being ignorant of God's righteousness - Not knowing God's method of saving sinners, which is the only proper and efficient method: and going about to establish their own righteousness - seeking to procure their salvation by means of their own contriving; they have not submitted - they have not bowed to the determinations of the Most High, relative to his mode of saving mankind, viz. through faith in Jesus Christ, as the only available sacrifice for…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For they being ignorant - The ignorance of the Jews was voluntarily, and therefore criminal. The apostle does not affirm that they could not have known what the plan of God was; for he says Romans 10:18-21 that they had full opportunity of knowing. An attentive study of their own Scriptures would have led them to the true knowledge of the Messiah and his righteousness; see John 5:39; compare Isaiah 53:1-12, etc. Yet the fact that they were ignorant…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3God’s righteousness: See 1:17; 3:21–26. Paul uses this phrase to explain Israel’s failure using the core message of the gospel. God showed his righteousness through the work of Jesus Christ. However, most Jews did not understand what God was doing. This was partly because they were focused on keeping the law as a way to establish their own righteousness, rather than trusting what God had done through Christ.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness--that is, for the justification of the guilty (see on Ro 1:17). and going about--"seeking" to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God--The apostle views the general rejection of Christ by the nation as one act.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 10:3

• Bigotry
• Justification
• Religion
• Salvation
• Self-Righteousness
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Confession
• Difference
• Establish
• Faith
• Justification
• Provoke
• Rich
• Zeal

Commentaries on Romans 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings