ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Romans 10.17

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

15. and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things! 16. But they did not all hearken to the glad tidings. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

17. So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

  1. But I say, Did they not hear? Yea, verily, Their sound went out into all the earth, And their words unto the ends of the world. 19. But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, With a nation void of understanding will I anger you. (Romans 10:15-19, ASV)
WEB

15. And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16. But they didn’t all listen to the glad news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

17. So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

  1. But I say, didn’t they hear? Yes, most certainly, “Their sound went out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” 19. But I ask, didn’t Israel know? First Moses says, “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, with a nation void of understanding I will make you angry.” (Romans 10:15-19, WEB)
KJV

15. And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? our report: Gr. the hearing of us? report: or, preaching?

17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

  1. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. 19. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. (Romans 10:15-19, KJV)
YLT

15. and how shall they preach, if they may not be sent? according as it hath been written, 'How beautiful the feet of those proclaiming good tidings of peace, of those proclaiming good tidings of the good things!' 16. But they were not all obedient to the good tidings, for Isaiah saith, 'Lord, who did give credence to our report?'

17. so then the faith [is] by a report, and the report through a saying of God,

  1. but I say, Did they not hear? yes, indeed, 'to all the earth their voice went forth, and to the ends of the habitable world their sayings.' 19. But I say, Did not Israel know? first Moses saith, 'I will provoke you to jealousy by [that which is] not a nation; by an unintelligent nation I will anger you,' (Romans 10:15-19, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul
  • Audience: the Roman church, Jewish and Gentile believers
  • Location: written from Corinth
  • Time period: c. AD 57, before the journey to Jerusalem with the collection

Theological reading

Faith has an entry point, and it is a sense modality. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."

The Greek is compressed: ara hē pistis ex akoēs, hē de akoē dia rhēmatos Christou. The noun akoē does double duty across the passage, naming both the act of hearing and the thing heard, the report. Translations have to choose, and the ambiguity is probably deliberate, since Paul has just quoted Isaiah 53:1, "who has believed our report (akoē)?", in verse 16.

The chain in verses 14 to 17 runs backward. Calling on requires believing; believing requires hearing; hearing requires a preacher; preaching requires a sending. Read forward, it is a commission. Read backward, as Paul writes it, it is an argument that faith is not self-generated. It arrives through a channel, from outside, borne by a report that someone had to carry.

Why this matters to the codex's epistemology. The verse locates the origin of faith in ordinary human perception. That has two consequences that pull against opposite errors.

Against the charge that religious belief is groundless or self-produced: on the New Testament's own account it is neither. It is a response to something received, and the receiving is hearing. Whether the report is true is a separate question, and the right one to argue about.

Against an over-rationalized apologetic: the verse does not say faith comes from argument. It says it comes from hearing the word of Christ. Argument clears obstacles and defends the report's credibility; the text does not make it the generative cause. See Faith and Reason.

Textual note. Some manuscripts read rhēmatos Theou ("word of God") rather than rhēmatos Christou ("word of Christ"). The Christou reading is preferred by the major critical editions and is the harder reading. The theological difference is not large, but the variant should be known rather than discovered by an opponent.

Background. The primacy of hearing is not a Pauline innovation. Deuteronomy 4:12 makes the point at the foundation: at Horeb Israel heard a voice and saw no form, and the entire prohibition of images is built on that observation.

Key words

Cross-references

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

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.