Romans 9:31

Romans 9:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
• New International Version (NIV)but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.
• English Standard Version (ESV)but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
• New King James Version (NKJV)but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.

Context of Romans 9:31

29And Isaiah said the same thing in another place: “If the Lord of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of our children, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah.” 30What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Romans 9:31 word by word

Ἰσραὴλ δὲ διώκων νόμον δικαιοσύνης εἰς νόμον οὐκ ἔφθασεν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl · IsraelG2474
• which followed afterδιώκωdiōkō · to pursueG1377
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• of righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• hathφθάνωphthanō · to precede/arriveG5348
• notοὐou · noG3756
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519

Cross-references for Romans 9:31

• Romans 9:30What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place.
• Romans 10:2I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal.
• Galatians 3:21Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.
• Philippians 3:6I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
• Romans 3:20For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
• Romans 4:14If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.
• Romans 11:7So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened.
• Galatians 3:10But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”
• Galatians 5:3I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses.
• James 2:10For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

Commentaries on Romans 9:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31But Israel, which followed after - But the Jews, who have hitherto been the people of God, though they have been industrious in observing a rule by which they supposed they could secure the blessings of God's peculiar kingdom, yet have not come up to the true and only rule by which those blessings can be secured.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 30-33Verses 30-33 The Gentiles knew not their guilt and misery, therefore were not careful to procure a remedy. Yet they attained to righteousness by faith. Not by becoming proselytes to the Jewish religion, and submitting to the ceremonial law; but by embracing Christ, and believing in him, and submitting to the gospel. The Jews talked much of justification and holiness, and seemed very ambitious to be the favourites of God. They sought, but not in the right…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31who pursued a law of righteousness: The phrase law of righteousness is an idiom. It means trying to become righteous by obeying the law. Paul is describing people who believed that careful law-keeping could put them in a right relationship with God.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 30-3130-31. What shall we say then?--"What now is the result of the whole?" The result is this--very different from what one would have expected. That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained--"attained" to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith--As we have seen that "the righteousness of faith" is the righteousness which justifies (see on Ro 3:22, &c.), this verse must mean that "the Gentiles, who while strangers to Christ…Read the comment
• Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 3131. But Israel, by pursuing, etc. Paul openly states what seemed incredible, — that it was no wonder that the Jews gained nothing by sedulously following after righteousness; for by running out of the way, they wearied themselves in vain. But in the first place it seems to me that the law of righteousness is here an instance of transposition, and means the righteousness of the law; (There seems to be no necessity for this transposition. “A law (not the…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 9:31

• Faith
• Jesus Continued
• Justification
• Predestination
• Salvation
• Unbelief
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Israel
• Israel, Israelites
• Jacob, Israel
• Continual
• Fault
• Resist
• Arrive
• Attain
• Bible, the
• Election

Commentaries on Romans 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• 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