ROM 10:3 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Because they don’t know what God’s righteousness is and they try to establish their own system, they weren’t covered by his righteousness.

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For not knowing about the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God.

UST This is because they are not aware of how God makes people righteous, and they try to make themselves righteous. This is why they refuse to subject themselves to the way God makes people righteous.

BSB Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish [their] own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

MSB Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish [their] own,[fn] they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

10:3 Literally their own righteousness; SBL and WH their own

BLB For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish the own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God.

AICNT For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own [righteousness],[fn] they did not submit to the righteousness of God.

10:3, righteousness: A(02) B(03) D(05) NA28[] THGNT ‖ Absent from some manuscripts. 𝔓46 ℵ(01) SBLGNT

OEB for, in their ignorance of the divine righteousness, and in their eagerness to set up a righteousness of their own, they refused to accept with submission the divine righteousness.

WEBBE For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn’t subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

LSV for not knowing the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God.

FBV They don't understand how God makes us right with him, and they try to make themselves right. They refuse to accept God's way of making people right.

TCNT For they do not understand the righteousness of God, and by seeking to establish their own [fn]righteousness, they have not submitted to God's righteousness.

10:3 righteousness 92.5% ¦ — SBL WH 3.7%

T4T They did not ◄submit themselves to/accept► the way that God erases the record of people’s sins. They did not want to recognize that way because they wanted him to do it their own way.

LEB For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own,[fn] they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

10:3 Some manuscripts have “their own righteousness”

BBE Because, not having knowledge of God's righteousness, and desiring to give effect to their righteousness, they have not put themselves under the righteousness of God.

Moff They would not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own.

Wymth Ignorant of the righteousness which God provides and building their hopes upon a righteousness of their own, they have refused submission to God's righteousness.

ASV For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

DRA For they, not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, have not submitted themselves to the justice of God.

YLT for not knowing the righteousness of God, and their own righteousness seeking to establish, to the righteousness of God they did not submit.

Drby For they, being ignorant of [fn]God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own [righteousness], have not submitted to the righteousness of [fn]God.

10.3 Elohim

RV For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

SLT For not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own justice, they have not been subjected to the justice of God.

Wbstr For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.

KJB-1769 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.

KJB-1611 For they being ignorant of Gods righteousnesse, and going about to establish their owne righteousnesse, haue not submitted themselues vnto the righteousnesse of God.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps For they beyng ignoraunt of Gods ryghteousnesse, and goyng about to stablyshe their owne righteousnesse, haue not ben obedient vnto the ryghteousness of God.
(For they being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and going about to stablyshe their own righteousness, have not been obedient unto the righteousness of God.)

Gnva For they, being ignorant of the righteousnes of God, and going about to stablish their owne righteousnes, haue not submitted themselues to the righteousnes of God.
(For they, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. )

Cvdl For they knowe not the righteousnes which auayleth before God, and go aboute to manteyne their awne righteousnes: and thus they are not subdued vnto the righteousnes, that is off value before God.
(For they know not the righteousness which auayleth before God, and go about to maintain their own righteousness: and thus they are not subdued unto the righteousness, that is off value before God.)

TNT For they are ignoraunt of the rightewesnes which is alowed before God and goo about to stablisshe their awne rightewesnes and therfore are not obedient vnto the rightewesnes which is of valew before God.
(For they are ignorant of the rightewesnes which is allowed before God and go about to stablisshe their own rightewesnes and therefore are not obedient unto the rightewesnes which is of valew before God. )

Wycl For thei vnknowynge Goddis riytwisnesse, and sekynge to make stidefast her owne riytfulnesse, ben not suget to the riytwisnesse of God.
(For they unknowing God’s righteousness, and seeking to make steadfast her own rightfulness/righteousness, been not subject to the righteousness of God.)

Luth Denn sie erkennen die Gerechtigkeit nicht, die vor GOtt gilt, und trachten, ihre eigene Gerechtigkeit aufzurichten, und sind also der Gerechtigkeit, die vor GOtt gilt, nicht untertan.
(Because they/she/them recognise/realise the justice not, the before/in_front_of God gilt, and strive/aspire, their/her own justice on/in/toprepare, and are also the/of_the justice, the before/in_front_of God gilt, not subject/subservient.)

ClVg Ignorantes enim justitiam Dei, et suam quærentes statuere, justitiæ Dei non sunt subjecti.[fn]
(Ignorantes because justice of_God, and his_own seeking statuere, justice of_God not/no are subjects. )

10.3 Ignorantes enim Dei justitiam. Non qua Deus justus, sed quæ homini inest ex Deo. Justitiæ Dei non sunt subjecti. Hæc est justitia Dei, quæ non in præcepto legis quo timor incutitur, sed in adjutorio gratiæ Christi constituta est.

10.3 Ignorantes because of_God justice. Not/No which God just, but which to_man inest from to_God. Justitiæ of_God not/no are subjects. This it_is justice of_God, which not/no in/into/on command law where fear incutitur, but in/into/on helper thanks of_Christ constituta it_is.

UGNT ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν.
(agnoountes gar taʸn tou Theou dikaiosunaʸn, kai taʸn idian dikaiosunaʸn zaʸtountes staʸsai, taʸ dikaiosunaʸ tou Theou ouⱪ hupetagaʸsan.)

SBL-GNT ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ⸀ἰδίαν ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν·
(agnoountes gar taʸn tou theou dikaiosunaʸn, kai taʸn ⸀idian zaʸtountes staʸsai, taʸ dikaiosunaʸ tou theou ouⱪ hupetagaʸsan;)

RP-GNT Ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν.
(Agnoountes gar taʸn tou theou dikaiosunaʸn, kai taʸn idian dikaiosunaʸn zaʸtountes staʸsai, taʸ dikaiosunaʸ tou theou ouⱪ hupetagaʸsan.)

TC-GNT Ἀγνοοῦντες γὰρ τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν [fn]δικαιοσύνην ζητοῦντες στῆσαι, τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν.
(Agnoountes gar taʸn tou Theou dikaiosunaʸn, kai taʸn idian dikaiosunaʸn zaʸtountes staʸsai, taʸ dikaiosunaʸ tou Theou ouⱪ hupetagaʸsan. )

10:3 δικαιοσυνην 92.5% ¦ — SBL WH 3.7%

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 9:30–10:4: Many Gentiles believe but many Jews do not

In this section Paul compared the Gentiles to the Jews. Some Gentiles believed in Jesus and God made them righteous, but the Jews tried to obey the law of Moses to become righteous. They stumbled over who Jesus was as the Messiah, because he did not fit their ideas of what the Messiah should be.

Paul explained that he wanted the Jews to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The Jews were enthusiastic to follow God, but they did not understand the right way to become righteous.

Here are other possible headings for this section:

The Jews followed the wrong way to become righteous

The Jews followed the Laws of Moses but did not believe in Jesus as the Christ/Messiah

10:3a–c

This verse begins with a Greek conjunction that is often translated as “for.” Here, this conjunction indicates that not submitting to God’s righteousness was the reason that the Jews had zeal without proper knowledge (10:2). The BSB leaves this connection implicit. Consider how you might introduce this kind of reason in your language.

Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness: The main point here is they did not submit to God’s righteousness. The rest of this verse (they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own) are reasons that contributed to not submitting.

In some languages the connections will be more clear if the reason comes after the result. For example:

They did not submit to God’s righteousness, because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own

10:3a

Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness

For, on the basis of them not knowing the righteousness from God
For they did not know the way that God makes people right with himself.

Because: Here this word introduces the reason for the Jews’ misguided zeal.Morris (page 379).

they were ignorant of: There are several ways to interpret the Greek word that the BSB translates as were ignorant of:

Here it means not knowing what something is. For example:
they did not know (NIV) (NIV, GNT, NASB, NCV)
Here it means seeing something but not being clear about what it is or what it does. For example:
don’t understand (NLT) (NLT, GW, CEV)
Here it means seeing something but then paying no attention to it. For example:
ignoring (NET) (NET, REB)
Here it means seeing something but not knowing what it is. For example:
Not recognizing (NJB) (NJB)
Here it means not knowing that something exists. For example:
being ignorant of (RSV) (BSB, RSV, ESV, KJV, NABRE)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it seems like the best fit here.

God’s righteousness: There are several ways to interpret these words:

Here they refer to God giving someone the status of righteous. For example:
the righteousness that comes from God (NET) (RSV, NIV, NET, NABRE)
Here they refer to God being righteous. For example:
God’s righteousness (NASB) (BSB, NIV11, NASB, KJV, ESV)
Here they refer to God making someone’s relationship with him right. For example:
God’s way of making people right with himself (NLT) (GNT, NJB, NLT, NCV)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it is opposite to the Jews trying to make themselves righteous (10:3b).

10:3b

and sought to establish their own,

and on the basis of they seeking to inaugurate/begin their own righteousness,
They worked hard to make their own way. They follow/obey the rule/law to being right with God according to their own rules.

sought: This word here refers to making an effort to accomplish something.BDAG (page 428), sense (3) says, “to devote serious effort to realize one’s desire or objective.” The Jews worked hard to establish a righteousness that they thought was right. Here are other ways to translate this word:

strove-afterTagbanwa Back Translation on TW.

worked hard

establish their own: Here the word establish refers to setting something up as permanent. Here the words their own refers to a righteousness that they decided was the right kind. Here are other ways to translate this word:

set up their own way (GNT)

make themselves right in their own way (NCV)

enact their own plan for that

make their own road/way to their own righteousness

10:3c

they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

they did not put themselves under the righteousness that God has.
So they did not humble themselves to be under the righteousness from which God acts/behaves.

submit: This word refers to putting oneself under the command of another. Here are other ways to translate this word:

humbled (lit. lowered) themselvesKankanaey Back Translation on TW.

give themselvesBased on the Madak NT, Papua New Guinea.

God’s righteousness: There are two ways to interpret these words:

Here they refer to God being righteous. For example:
God’s righteousness (NET) (BSB, RSV, NIV, ESV, NASB, KJV, NET, REB, NABRE)
Here they refer to God making a person’s relationship with him right. For example:
God’s way of putting people right (GNT) (GNT, NJB, NCV, NLT, GW)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it works best with the word “submit.” This is a different meaning for righteousness than in 10:3a. Paul sometimes used the same word or phrase with different meanings (for example, “Israel” in 9:6).

This clause indicates that the Jews did not humble themselves under God’s righteous ways.

In some languages the verb “submit” cannot naturally connect to a quality like God being right. If that is true in your language, you may want to explain the connection in your language. For example:

they did not submit to the right ways of God

they did not submit to God, who/he is always righteous

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀγνοοῦντες Γάρ τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην καί τήν ἰδίαν ζητοῦντες στῆσαι τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν)

For indicates that what follows this word explains what came before it. Here, For indicates that what follows is the reason for what Paul said in the previous verse. Use a natural way in your language for indicating a reason. Alternate translation: [This is due to the fact that]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην & τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ

See how you translated the righteousness of God in [1:17](../01/17.md).

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of righteousness, you could express the same idea with a verbal form. Alternate translation: [being righteous on their own]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐχ ὑπετάγησαν

˱to˲_the righteousness ¬the ˱of˲_God not ˱they˲_˓were˒_subjected

Here Paul speaks of the righteousness of God as if it were a person to whom someone could submit. He means that they refused to attain righteousness in the way God requires, which is by faith. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [they refuse to receive the righteousness of God attained according to his way]

Parallel ROM 10:3

Section 9:30–10:4: Many Gentiles believe but many Jews do not

10:3a–c

10:3a

10:3b

10:3c