Romans 3

Romans · Chapter 3

Romans 3:7

1What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?2Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.3For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?4God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.5But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)6God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?8And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.9What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.13Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:14Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:15Their feet are swift to shed blood:16Destruction and misery are in their ways:17And the way of peace have they not known:18There is no fear of God before their eyes.19Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.20Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.29Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.31Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?However, if my falsehood accentuates God’s truthfulness, to the increase of His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?But if the truth of God through my lie abounded unto his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Romans 3:1-8The faithfulness of God

About Romans 3The Jews have the advantage that "unto them were committed the oracles of God," and whatever men do, "let God be true, but every man a liar." Yet "both Jews and Gentiles... are all under sin," for "There is none righteous, no, not one," and "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified." "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested," for "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," so "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," and this does not void the law but establishes it. Romans 3:2Romans 3:4Romans 3:9Romans 3:10Romans 3:20Romans 3:21Romans 3:23Romans 3:24Romans 3:28Romans 3:31

Who, where and when in this chapter

Original Greek words

EnglishGreekSay itStrong'sMeaning
IfεἰeiG1487G
if

εἰ (ei) εἰ, conjunctive particle, used in conditions and in indirect questions. I. Conditional, if; 1. with indic, expressing a general assumption; (a) pres.: before indic, pres., Mat.11:14, Rom.8:25, al.; before imperat., Mrk.4:23 9:22, Jhn.15:18, 1Co.7:9, al.; before fut. indic., Luk.16:31, Rom.8:11, al.; before pf. or aor., with negation in apodosis, Mat.12:26, Rom.4:14, al.; similarly, before impf., Luk.17:6, Jhn.8:39; before quæst., Mat.6:23, Jhn.5:47 7:23 8:46, 1Pe.2:20; (b) fut.: Mat.26:33, 1Pe.2:20; (with) pf.: Jhn.11:12, Rom.6:5, al.; …

howeverδὲdeG1161
then

δέ (de) δέ (before vowels δ᾽; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, see WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96), post-positive conjunctive particle; 1. copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mat.1:2ff., 2Co.6:15, 16, 2Pe.1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Rom.3:21, 22, 9:30, 1Co.2:6, Gal.2:2, Php.2:8; in transition to something new, Mat.1:18, 2:19, Luk.13:1, Jhn.7:14, Act.6:1, Rom.8:28, 1Co.7:1 8:1, al.; in explanatory parenthesis or addition, Jhn.3:19, Rom.5:8, 1Co.1:12, Eph.2:4, 5:32, al.; ὡς δέ, Jhn.2:9; καὶ . . . δέ, but also, Mat.10:18, Luk.1:76, Jhn.6:51, Rom.11:23, al.; …

truthἀλήθειαalētheiaG0225
truth

ἀλήθεια (alētheia) ἀλήθεια, -ας, ἡ (ἀληθής), [in LXX chiefly for אֱמֶת (on which, see Cremer, 627f.), אֱמוּנָה ;] truth (see DB, iv, 818f.). 1. Objectively, "the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter" (Cremer, 86): Rom.9:1, al.; of religious truth, Rom.1:25, al.; esp. of Christian doctrine, Gal.2:5, al.; ἀ. θεοῦ, Rom.15:8. 2. Subjectively, truthfulness, truth, not merely verbal (cl.), but sincerity and integrity of character: Jhn.8:44, 3Jo.3. …

of GodθεοῦtheouG2316
God

θεός (theos) θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Act.19:37 only; see M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mat.27:46; cf. Deu.3:24, al.), [in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc. ;] a god or deity, God. 1. In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Act.28:6, 1Co.8:4, 2Th.2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Gal.4:8, al. 2. Of the one true God; …

inἐνenG1722
in/on/among

ἐν (en) ἐν, prep, (the most frequently of all in NT), with dative (= Heb. בְּ, Lat. in, with abl.). I. Of place, with dative of thing(s), of person(s), in, within, on, at, by, among: ἐν τ. πόλει, Luk.7:37; τ. οφθαλμῷ, Mat.7:3; τ. κοιλίᾳ, Mat.12:40; τ. ὄρει, 2Pe.1:18; τ. θρόνῳ, Rev.3:21; τ. δεξιᾷ τ. θεοῦ, Rom.8:34; ἐν ἡμῖν Abbott-Smith has ὑμῖν., Luk.1:1; of books, ἐν τ. βιβλίῳ, Gal.3:10; τ. νόμῳ, Mat.12:5, al.; ἐν τοῖς τ. Πατρός, in my Father's house (RV; cf. M, Pr., 103), Luk.2:49; trop., of the region of thought or feeling, ἐν τ. καρδίᾳ (-αις), Mat.5:28, 2Co.4:6, al.; τ. συνειδήσεσιν, 2Co.5:11; af …

myἐμῷemōG1473
I/we

ἐγώ (egō) ἐγώ, genitive, etc., ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ (enclitic μου, μοι, με), pl. ἡμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς, of person(s) pron. I. (a) The nom. is usually emphatic, when expressed as subjc, as in Mat.3:11, Mrk.1:8, Luk.3:16, al. But often there is no apparent emphasis, as Mat.10:16, Jhn.10:17; ἰδοὺ ἐ. (= Heb. הִנֵּנִי, cf. 1Ki.3:8), Act.9:10; ἐ. (like Heb. אֲנִי), I am, Jhn.1:23 (LXX), Act.7:32 (LXX). …

lieψεύσματιpseusmatiG5582
falsehood

ψεῦσμα (pseusma) ψεῦσμα, -τος, τό (ψεύδω), [in Aq., Th.: Job.34:6, Pro.23:3; in Sm.: Job.13:4, al. ;] a lie, falsehood: Rom.3:7 (Plat., Plut. al.).† (AS)

aboundedἐπερίσσευσενeperisseusenG4052
to exceed

περισσεύω (perisseuō) περισσεύω (περισσός), [in LXX: 1Ki.2:33 (מַרְבִּית), 1Ki.2:36 Ecc.3:19 (יָתַר ni., יוׄתֵר), Tob.4:16, Sir.10:27 11:12 19:24, Sir 30:38 (Sir.33:29), 1Ma.3:30 * ;] I. Prop., intrans., 1. of things, to be over and above the number (Hes.), hence, (a) to be or remain over: Mat.14:20 15:37, Luk.9:17, Jhn.6:12-13; (b) to abound, be in abundance: Mrk.12:44, Luk.12:15 21:4, Act.16:5, Rom.3:7 5:15, 2Co.1:5 8:2 9:12, Php.1:26. 2. Of persons, (a) to abound in, have in abundance: 1Co.14:12 15:58, Php.4:12, 18; with genitive, Luk.15:17 T; …

toεἰςeisG1519
toward

εἰς (eis) εἰς, prep. with accusative, expressing entrance, direction, limit, into, unto, to, upon, towards, for, among (Lat. in, with accusative). I. Of place. 1. After verbs of motion; (a) of entrance into: Mat.8:23, 9:7, Mrk.1:45, Luk.2:15, 8:31, al.; (b) of approach, to or towards: Mrk.11:1, Luk.6:8, 19:28, Jhn.11:31, 21:6, al.; (with) before pl. and collective nouns, among: Mrk.4:7, 8:19, 20, Luk.11:49, Jhn.21:23, al.; …

gloryδόξανdoxanG1391
glory

δόξα (doxa) δόξα, -ης, ἡ (δοκέω), [in LXX very frequently for כָּבוֹד, also for הוֹד ,פִּפְאֶרֶת, etc., 25 words in all ;] in cl., 1. expectation, judgment, opinion (4Ma.5:18). 2. opinion, estimation in which one is held, repute; in NT, always good opinion, hence reputation, praise, honour, glory: Luk.14:10, Jhn.12:43, Heb.3:3; opposite to αἰσχύνη, Php.3:19; to ἀτιμία, 2Co.6:8; δ. κ. τιμή, Rom.2:7, 10 1Pe.1:7, 2Pe.1:17; ζητεῖν, Jhn.5:44 7:18 8:50, 1Th.2:6; λαμβάνειν, Jhn.5:41, 2Pe.1:17, Rev.5:12; διδόναι δ. τ. θεῷ (cf. נָתַן כָּבוֹד לַיהוָֹה, Jer.13:16, al.), Luk.17:18, Jhn.9:24, Act.12:23, Rom.4:20, …

of Him,αὐτοῦ,autouG0846
it/s/he

αὐτός (autos) αὐτός, -ή, -ό, determinative pron., in late Gk. much more frequently than in cl. (WM, 178f.; Jannaris, HGG, §1399). 1. Emphatic (so always in nom. exc. when preceded by the art., see infr., iii); (1) self (ipse), expressing opposition, distinction, exclusion, etc., αὐ. ἐκχυθήσεται, Luk.5:37; αὐ. ἐγινώσκεν, Jhn.2:25; αὐ.ὑμεῖς, Jhn.3:28; καὶ αὐ. ἐγώ, Rom.15:14; αὐ. Ἰησοῦς, Jhn.2:24; αὐ. καὶ οἱ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, Mrk.2:25; ὑμεῖς αὐ., Mrk.6:31; esp. (as freq in cl.) αὐ. ὁ, Mat.3:4, Mrk.6:17, Jhn.16:27, 1Th.3:11, al.; in late Gk., sometimes weakened, ἐν αὐτῇ τ. ὥρᾳ, in that hour, Luk.10:21 (M, Pr., 91; …

whyτίtiG5101
which?

τίς (tis) τίς, neut., τί, genitive, τίνος, interrog. pron., [in LXX for מָה ,מִי ;] in masc. and fem., who, which, what?; in neut., which, what?, used both in direct and in indirect questions. I. I. As subst., 1. 1. masc., fem.: τίς; who, what?, Mat.3:7 26:68; Mrk.11:28, Luk.9:9, al. mult.; with genitive partit., Act.7:52, Heb.1:5, al; before ἐκ (= genitive partit.), Mat.6:27, Luk.14:28, Jhn.8:46; = ποῖος, Mrk.4:41 6:2, Luk.19:3, Act.17:19, al.; = πότερος (M, Pr., 77), Mat.21:31 27:17, Luk.22:27, al.; = ὅς or ὅστις (rare in cl.; cf. Bl., §50, 5; M, Pr., 93), Act.13:25. …

stillἔτιetiG2089
still

ἔτι (eti) ἔτι adv., yet, as yet, still; 1. of time; (a) of the present (adhuc): Mrk.5:35, 1Co.3:3 15:17, Gal.1:10, al.; (b) of the past, mostly with impf.: Mat.12:46, Luk.8:49 15:20, Jhn.20:1, Act.9:1, Rom.5:6, 8, 2Th.2:5, Heb.7:10 9:8, al.; (with) of the future: Luk.1:15, 2Co.1:10; (d) with a neg.: Mat.5:13, Luk.16:2 20:36, Heb.10:2, Rev.3:12 20:3, al. …

also I myselfκἀγὼkagōG1473
I/we

ἐγώ (egō) ἐγώ, genitive, etc., ἐμοῦ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ (enclitic μου, μοι, με), pl. ἡμεῖς, -ῶν, -ῖν, -ᾶς, of person(s) pron. I. (a) The nom. is usually emphatic, when expressed as subjc, as in Mat.3:11, Mrk.1:8, Luk.3:16, al. But often there is no apparent emphasis, as Mat.10:16, Jhn.10:17; ἰδοὺ ἐ. (= Heb. הִנֵּנִי, cf. 1Ki.3:8), Act.9:10; ἐ. (like Heb. אֲנִי), I am, Jhn.1:23 (LXX), Act.7:32 (LXX). …

asὡςhōsG5613
as/when

ὡς (hōs) ὡς, adverbial form of the relative pron. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. I. As relat. adv. of manner, as, like as, just as, even as; 1. with a demonstrative, like οὕτως, expressed or understood: οὕτως . . . ὡς, Mrk.4:26, 1Co.3:15, Eph.5:28, Jas.2:12, al.; ὡς . . . οὕτως, Act.8:32, 1Co.7:17, al.; elliptically (sc. οὕτως, οὕτω), with nom., Mat.6:29, al.; with accusative, Mat.19:19, Mrk.12:31, al.; with prep., Mat.26:55, Mrk.14:48, Luk.22:52, Jhn.7:10, al.; with verb., Jhn.15:6, 2Co.3:1, Eph.2:3, 1Th.5:6, al.; with ptcp. (the ptcp. however not having the special force wh. it has in cl.; see Bl., §73, 5; 74, 6), Mat. …

a sinnerἁμαρτωλὸςhamartōlosG0268
sinful

ἁμαρτωλός (hamartōlos) ἁμαρτωλός, -όν (ἁμαρτάνω), [in LXX chiefly for רָשָׁע ;] sinful, a sinner: of all men, 1Ti.1:15; of those especially wicked, 1Ti.1:9, 1Pe.4:18; p1., Mat.9:10-13 11:19 26:45, al. (see MM, VGT, see word; Cremer, 102, 634) (AS)

am judged?κρίνομαι;krinomaiG2919
to judge

κρίνω (krinō) κρίνω, [in LXX chiefly for שׁפט, also for ריב ,דּין, etc. ;] 1. to separate, select, choose (cl.; in LXX: 2Ma.13:15). 2. to approve, esteem: Rom.14:5. 3. to be of opinion, judge, think: Luk.7:43, 1Co.11:13; before τοῦτο ὅτι, 2Co.5:14; with accusative and inf., Act.16:15; with accusative and pred., Act.13:46 26:8. 4. to decide, determine, decree: with accusative, Act.16:4, Rom.14:13, 1Co.7:37, 2Co.2:1; with inf. (Field, Notes, 167), Act.20:16 25:25, 1Co.2:2 5:3, Tit.3:12 (cf. 1Ma.11:33, Wis.8:9, al.); with accusative and inf., Act.21:25 27:1. …

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.