Romans 10:18-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have:
“Their voice has gone out to all the earth
and their words to the ends of the world.”(A)
19 Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,
“I will use those who are not a nation to make you jealous;
with a foolish nation I will provoke you.”(B)
20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,
“I have been found by those who did not seek me;
I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”(C)
21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”(D)
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Romans 10:18-21
New English Translation
18 But I ask, have they[a] not heard?[b] Yes, they have:[c] Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.[d] 19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand?[e] 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.”[f] 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.”[g] 21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”[h]
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- Romans 10:18 tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).
- Romans 10:18 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 (mē) 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.
- Romans 10:18 tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mē) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.
- Romans 10:18 sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.
- Romans 10:19 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).
- Romans 10:19 sn A quotation from Deut 32:21.
- Romans 10:20 sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.
- Romans 10:21 sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.
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