ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Romans 1.25

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

23. and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. 24. Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:

25. for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

  1. For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: 27. and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due. (Romans 1:23-27, ASV)
WEB

23. and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. 24. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves,

25. who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

  1. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. (Romans 1:23-27, WEB)
KJV

23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. more: or, rather

  1. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. (Romans 1:23-27, KJV)
YLT

23. and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of fowls, and of quadrupeds, and of reptiles. 24. Wherefore also God did give them up, in the desires of their hearts, to uncleanness, to dishonour their bodies among themselves;

25. who did change the truth of God into a falsehood, and did honour and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed to the ages. Amen.

  1. Because of this did God give them up to dishonourable affections, for even their females did change the natural use into that against nature; 27. and in like manner also the males having left the natural use of the female, did burn in their longing toward one another; males with males working shame, and the recompense of their error that was fit, in themselves receiving. (Romans 1:23-27, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the mixed Jewish and Gentile house churches at Rome, a congregation Paul had neither founded nor yet visited
  • Location: composed at Corinth, addressed to Rome
  • Time period: c. AD 57

Theological reading

They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator. The verse compresses Paul's whole account of idolatry into a single transaction, and the word for it is commercial: metallasso, to exchange one thing for another.

Three features repay attention. The definite article in the Greek gives the lie rather than a lie, which suggests a specific falsehood rather than error in general, most plausibly the primal substitution of creature for Creator that Genesis 3 narrates. The pairing worshipped and served covers both inward reverence and outward service, so the charge is not confined to formal religion. And the object is the creature, which makes the category far wider than carved images. Anything made can occupy the slot.

That breadth is the passage's contemporary force. Idolatry on this definition does not require a temple, only a created thing given the weight that belongs to the Creator, which is why the codex treats consumerism, nationalism, and self-worship under the same head. See Idolatry.

The closing doxology, who is blessed for ever, Amen, is not decoration. Paul interrupts an indictment to bless the God being slandered, and the same reflex appears at 9:5. It marks the passage as worship rather than mere analysis, and it sets the tone the argument keeps: the exchange is tragic because of who is being exchanged.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Guides:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.