Lessons # 95 and 96
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Humanity’s sinfulness (Rom 3:9-20)
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways, 17and the way of peace they do not know.”18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
We continue with our exposition of this section of Romans 3:9-20 that we indicated is concerned with humanity’s sinfulness. We stated that there are three assertions of Apostle Paul in our passage that summarize it. The first is that there is no exception to sinfulness. This assertion is derived from verse 9 that we expounded on in our last study. The second is that humanity’s sinfulness is attested by the OT Scripture as the apostle proved by citing various passages in the Scripture. This he did in verses 10 to 18. We started on this in our last study but have not completed it. The third assertion is that humanity’s sinfulness is specifically supported by some functions of the law as he discoursed in verses 19 and 20. From these assertions that summarize the section of Romans 3:9-20, we derived a message we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to convey to you. This message, as we stated previously, is that Humanity’s sinfulness is universal as attested by the Scripture and specifically supported by some functions of the law. As I already stated, we started with the second assertion in our last study by considering the first quotation of the apostle from the OT Scripture in verse 10 that reads There is no one righteous, not even one. This quotation we indicated is from the Septuagint of Ecclesiastes 7:20 with some modifications. So, we continue with the other quotations that support the second assertion of the apostle that we stated.
Again, the second assertion of the apostle in the passage we are studying is that humanity’s sinfulness is attested by the OT Scripture as he proved by citing various passages in the Scripture. The next quotation of the apostle consists of series of statements given in our passage of study, that is, Romans 3:11-13:
11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
Before we consider the quotation and its source(s), let me provide you an important information that you may or may not know, that is necessary in our exposition of this quotation. This information is especially important because the apostle’s quotation is from the Septuagint. This information is that you should be aware that there are two major types of editions of original language texts. The first type is known as an eclectic edition. An eclectic edition is one that attempts to recreate the earliest known text based on available manuscript evidence and text-critical principles. In other words, it combines the most accurate readings from multiple manuscripts to create a text that is believed to be the original. Thus, for the Septuagint (LXX), the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) is based on eclectic edition. The NT of the NIV is translated from an eclectic edition of text based on the latest editions of the Nestle-Aland/United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament. The second type of edition is known as diplomatic. This edition relies entirely on a single manuscript and is only supplemented from another manuscript when content is missing from the primary manuscript. The Lexham English Septuagint (LES) is based on a diplomatic edition since it is translated from Swete’s edition of the Septuagint that is based on the Codex Vaticanus that where content is missing is supplemented by other manuscripts such as Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Sinaiticus. The NASB is an example of diplomatic based text although its preface mentions consulting “the most recent light from lexicography, cognate languages, and the Dead Sea Scrolls,” this consultation doesn’t constitute an eclectic approach to the translation itself. The NT of the KJV for all practical purposes is a diplomatic edition since it is based on manuscript evidence available at the time, grouped under the category of Textus Receptus.
Why did I have to provide this information? You may wonder. It is because of variation in the readings of the possible source(s) of the apostle’s quotation in the passage we are studying. This is also because verses 11 and 12 of Romans 3 seemed to have been quoted from the Hebrew passage of Psalm 14:1–3 (LXX 13:1-3):
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. 2The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
This passage reads differently in two English versions of the Septuagint that are available to us. The NETS of the Septuagint of Psalm 13:1-3 (eclectic) reads:
1Regarding completion. A Psalm. Pertaining to David. The fool said in his heart, “There is no God.” They caused corruption and were abominable in their practices; there is no one practicing kindness; there is not even one. 2The Lord peered down from the sky on the sons of men to see if there was any who had understanding or who sought after God.
3All turned away, as well they became useless; there is no one practicing kindness; there is not even one.
The translation of the NETS is closer to the Hebrew Text of Psalm 14:1-3 from where the Septuagint was originally translated. The LES of Psalm 13:1-3 (diplomatic edition) reads:
For the end, a psalm of David.
1The foolish one spoke in his heart, “There is no God.” They destroy and are abhorred in their practices. There is no one doing goodness; there is not even one. 2The Lord looked out from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there is one who understands or one who seeks out God. 3All turned aside together. They became useless. There is not one doing goodness; there is not even one. Their throat is an opened grave. With their tongues they have dealt treacherously with one another. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are quick to pour out blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and they know not the way of peace. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Clearly, the two English versions of the LXX differ and so this will affect how we address the source(s) of the quotation of Apostle Paul in the passage of Romans 3:11-13. With this comment, we proceed to consider the first sentence of the second quotation of Apostle Paul that is from psalm in Romans 3:11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
The first sentence of second quotation of the apostle as stated in Romans 3:11 is different from either the Hebrew text or the Septuagint unless the apostle had a version of the Septuagint that is not available to us. Both the Hebrew text and Septuagint state a conditional statement that reads The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand. If the apostle did not have any version of the Septuagint that reads different from the ones available to us, it must mean that the apostle was directed by the Holy Spirit to state the result of Yahweh’s looking down on humanity. This means that the apostle stated what is a fact. But before we examine the fact the apostle stated, it is important to pay attention to the context of the quotation. The passage of the psalm the apostle quoted is concerned with someone that is described as “a fool.” The fool is one that denies the existence of God. This declaration of the apostle is quite similar to what the apostle had charged of humanity that is involved in idolatry. The apostle had previously stated that those who are fools are involved in idolatry as stated in Romans 1:22–23:
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Those who the apostle stated became fools were also those who were handed over to immoral conducts and depraved thoughts as the apostle mentioned in Romans 1:28:
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
This description of those who are fools because they were in idolatry and so punished by God is similar to what the psalmist said in the passage Apostle Paul quoted. For, the psalmist stated about spiritual or the moral corruption of those who are fools that deny existence of God in the sentence of Psalm 14:1 They are corrupt, their deeds are vile. Hence, the context of the psalm the apostle quoted described moral and spiritual condition of fools that deny the existence of God. Their spiritual condition is similar to those the apostle described as fools in that they reject the worship of God, the creator, and opted for idolatry.
All the same, the apostle quoted from the Septuagint of Psalm 13 in a modified fashion that supports his point concerning the universality of sinfulness of humanity since he wrote in Romans 3:11 there is no one who understands. This is an emphatic declaration by the apostle since the word no is translated from a negative Greek particle (ou) that is an objective negative that denies the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek particle (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. Hence, the apostle declares absolutely what he stated that is, there is no one who understands.
The word “understand” is translated from a participle of a Greek verb (syniēmi) that means to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice and so it means “to understand, to comprehend.” It is in the sense of grasping or understanding of what is in the Scripture that the word is used to describe the illumination of the minds of the disciples after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Luke 24:45:
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
The translators of the NIV rendered the word with the meaning “to realize” in connection with what Moses expected of the Israelites of the time of exodus to understand but they did not, as recorded in Acts 7:25:
Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.
This notwithstanding, in our passage of Romans 3:11, the word means “to understand” in the sense of “to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice.”
Be that as it may, the apostle quoted from Psalm 14:2 (LXX 13:2) there is no one who understands. We indicated that the word “no” is translated from a strong negative particle so that what the apostle states is that which is absolute in that he meant there is not one human that has insight or grasp something although, as in the psalm he quoted, there was no indication of what is not understood. However, the context implies that the apostle is concerned to declare that there is not a human being that has insight to God’s truth as to have influenced the person’s actions. If a person has insight into God’s truth, it must mean that God had worked on the individual in such a way to reveal His truth to the person. The fact is that the first sentence of second quotation of the apostle indicates the universal sinfulness of humans in that they do not know or have insight about God’s truth unaided by Him. This truth is also implied in the next sentence of the quotation of the apostle from the passage of psalm that he quoted. By the way, it is because people do not understand this truth that some think they have something to do with their salvation, when, in fact, no one can be saved without God working in the person to bring the individual to faith.
The second sentence of the second quotation of the apostle is concerned with humans not on their own desiring to have any relationship with God as implied in the last clause of Romans 3:11 no one who seeks God. The Septuagint from which the apostle quoted reads or one who seeks out God. The word “or” in the English translation of the Septuagint is translated from a Greek particle (ē) that is used in the psalm quoted as a marker that conveys related and similar concept as what preceded it. However, the apostle omitted it since he quoted what is given in the Septuagint of the psalm he quoted as a fact and not conditional or supposition as in the Greek text from which he quoted. Thus, the apostle states absolutely no one who seeks God.
The word “seek” is translated from a Greek verb (ekzēteō) that may mean “to seek out” in the sense of “to exert effort to find out or learn something” as the word is used by the human author of Hebrews to indicate the blessing God bestows on those who earnestly seek Him as stated in Hebrews 11:6:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The word may mean “to seek out” in the sense of “to investigate, scrutinize” something as it is used by Apostle Peter to describe what the prophets of old did in searching to understand the promised salvation through the Messiah as stated in 1 Peter 1:10:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,
In our passage of Romans 3:11, the word has the sense of “to seek diligently,” that is, “to try to get, reach, or find something in a diligent or exact manner.”
To understand what the apostle meant in the clause of Romans 3:11 no one who seeks God, it will be necessary to understand what it meant in the OT Scripture to seek God. I mean it would be necessary to understand the verbal phrase seeks God as it is used in the OT Scripture. The meaning of the phrase seeks God, or its equivalent seek the Yahweh depends on the context. The verbal phrase may mean to pray to God and have Him answer as it is used to describe what the Israelites in exile could do as we read in Deuteronomy 4:29:
But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
The verbal phrase seek God may mean “to worship God” as that is the sense of the phrase in the command of King Asa to Judah in 2 Chronicles 14:4:
He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, and to obey his laws and commands.
To seek God may mean to endeavor to align one’s lifestyle in accordance with God’s word that begins with knowing His word and applying it so that a person may be conceived as seeking and living righteously as implied in Zephaniah 2:3:
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Seeking Yahweh here is described as involving seeking righteousness and humility. The things we have described regarding seeking God as understood in the OT are the things that the apostle would have meant. Of course, his focus would be on worshipping God. You see, when he preached the gospel in Athens, he indicated that God’s purpose in creation of humans is so that they will worship Him as implied in Acts 17:27:
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
The problem is that sin has blinded humans that it is impossible on their own to seek to worship God. Hence, the apostle when he asserted through the quotation from Psalm 14:2 (LXX 13:2) that there is no one who seeks God, he meant that the natural human that is spiritually dead does not seek things of God or is capable of seeking God. This, again, would prove that humans are sinful since a spiritually dead person could not desire any relationship with God. This brings us to the third sentence of the second quotation of the apostle.
The third sentence of the second quotation of the apostle from Psalm 14 (LXX 13) is given Romans 3:12 All have turned away. The word “all” is translated from a Greek adjective (pas) that may mean “all” or “every” or “any,” among other meanings. Quite often, when we encounter the word “all” or “everything” we usually think in terms of absolute totality but that is not necessarily the case. There would have been no need to consider this word that everyone seems to know what it means in the English except that the general understanding of people of the word “all”, creates problems for many in accepting specific teachings of the Scripture. Take for example, some people reject the doctrine of election because they say God is not willing for anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance, as we read in 2 Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
The problem with using this passage to deny election is at least twofold. The first is with the word anyone translated from the plural of a Greek pronoun (tis) that means “anyone, anything, someone; something, many a one or thing, any, some.” In the Greek text, it is in the plural, so it is best to translate it “some” or “certain ones.” This interpretation is supported by the fact the translators of NIV translated the same plural Greek pronoun “some” in the clause as some understand slowness and so one wonders why they did not translate it “some” instead of “anyone” the second time the word appears. This interpretation of the Greek word used with the meaning “some” or “certain ones,” immediately reveals that those that will not perish are not humanity in general but “certain ones” or “some.” The second problem is with the word everyone in the clause but everyone to come to repentance that is translated from the same Greek word that we said means “all, every, any.” The context of 2 Peter 3:9 suggests that the Greek word should be translated “all” and not “everyone” as we read in verbal phrase of 2 Peter 3:9 but everyone to come to repentance. If this translation is followed, it is easier to understand that “all” refers to the “some” or “certain ones” that God is not willing for them to perish but to repent. These certain ones are the elect to whom Apostle Peter mentioned in the beginning of his first epistle, specifically, in 1 Peter 1:1:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
God’s elect are those God is not willing to perish but to be saved; for all the elect will be saved as implied in the reason Apostle Paul gives for his laboring to preach the gospel in 2 Timothy 2:10:
Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
The point of this example in 2 Peter 3:9 is to show that the word “all” should not always be taken absolutely but its interpretation is context dependent. That aside, in our passage of Romans 3:11, the word is used with the meaning “each” as it pertains to totality of humanity with focus on its individual person. Anyway, the apostle quoted in Romans 3:12 All have turned away.
The expression “turned away” is translated from a Greek verb (ekklinō) that may mean “to keep away from” as the word is used in Apostle Paul’s instruction to the Romans regarding the kind of person they should avoid keeping company with as recorded in Romans 16:17:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
The word may mean “to cease, turn from” as Apostle Peter used it in his quotation from the OT Scripture in encouraging what a person who wants to enjoy God’s blessings on this planet must do as stated in 1 Peter 3:11:
He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
In our passage of Romans 3:12, the word has the sense of “to turn aside.”
The apostle’s quotation simply asserted All have turned away but there is no mention of the object from which all turned away. Nonetheless, it is from God the creator that all turned away. This we can deduce from the fact that the Hebrew verb (sûr) used in the psalm the apostle quoted in the Hebrew text is one that conveys the sense of deviating from duty or ethical instruction. Thus, the Hebrew verb is used to warn Israel against idolatry in Deuteronomy 11:16:
Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.
Prophet Jeremiah used the verb to describe the fate of the people of Israel that turned away from Yahweh probably in the sense they would be forgotten because they will be met with the punishment of death as described in Jeremiah 17:13:
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.
That aside, the assertion All have turned away in Romans 3:12 is a reminder that all humanity has turned away from their creator. God created humans in such a way that they were in right relationship with Him but beginning with Adam, humanity turned away from God. This echoes what the wise teacher declared in Ecclesiastes 7:29:
This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”
The point is that the apostle’s third sentence of the second quotation in Romans 3:12 All have turned away supports his major declaration of the universal sinfulness of humanity.
The fourth sentence of the second quotation of the apostle from Psalm 14 (LXX 13) is given in Romans 3:12 they have together become worthless. The expression “become worthless” is translated from a Greek verb (achreioomai) that is used in the Septuagint with the meaning “to destroy” to describe the destruction of Moab by Yahweh through the attack by Joram, king of Israel, and by Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, although the word is translated with the meaning “ruin” in 2 Kings 3:19:
You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”
Nonetheless, the Greek verb appears only once in the Greek NT, that is, our passage of Romans 3:12 where it means “to become depraved, worthless.” Humans have become depraved or worthless in that they fail to meet the purpose of God in creation, which is to worship Him. Hence, this fourth sentence of the second quotation of the apostle from psalm states that all humans are depraved, not meeting the purpose of their creation by God and so supports the apostle’s declaration regarding universality of sinfulness in humanity.
The fifth sentence of the second quotation of the apostle from Psalm 14 (LXX 13) is given in Romans 3:12 there is no one who does good, not even one. Literally, the Greek reads there is no one doing good, there is not even one. This is because we have a participle from a Greek verb (poieō) that may mean “to do, make” with various nuances. For example, the word may mean “to produce” as it is used in the command of John the Baptist to those who came to him for water baptism to show evidence of their repentance in Luke 3:8:
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
The word may mean “to practice” as it is used by the men that stirred up trouble for Apostle Paul that landed him and Silas in jail in Philippi; by asserting, they were advocating customs that the Romans should not participate in as we read in Acts 16:21:
by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
The word may mean “to undertake or do something that brings about a state or condition” so that it is used with the meaning “to make” to describe the peace the death of Christ established between Jews and Gentiles as stated in Ephesians 2:15:
by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.
In our passage of Romans 3:12, the word means “to do” in the sense of “to behave in a certain way.” The participle used is to characterize humanity in general as not doing good.
The word “good” is translated from a Greek noun (chrēstotēs) that means “goodness, generosity, kindness.” The word carries the meaning of the quality of being helpful or beneficial. In our passage of Romans 3:12, it has the sense of “goodness or kindness,” that is, “goodness especially characterized by being warmhearted, considerate, humane, and sympathetic.” The word is used in the Septuagint to describe God as being good, as for example, in the petition of the psalmist to Yahweh not to remember the sins of his youth in the Septuagint of Psalm 25:7:
Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
The same Greek word is used in the Septuagint by the psalmist to describe the greatness of Yahweh’s goodness in Psalm 31:19:
How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
Anyhow, the apostle’s quotation from Psalm 14 (13 LXX) is simply to state that there is no human that does good. Someone may argue that there are people who show kindness or goodness to others, but it must be understood that such goodness or kindness does not measure up to divine standard. This point is one that Prophet Isaiah stated in Isaiah 64:6:
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Our righteous act is compared to what the NIV and majority of our English versions translate filthy rags. I suppose that this translation does not produce the shock value Yahweh wanted to convey to Israel and so to all of us. The translators who used the phrase filthy rags or polluted garment of the ESV are being euphemistic so that may leave readers not to comprehend how God views human righteous acts or good deeds. The word “filthy” of the NIV is translated from a Hebrew word (ʿiddāh) that means “menstruation, woman’s period, i.e., the action of a discharge of blood and tissue debris from the uterus, with the associative meaning of ceremonial uncleanness and undesirable filth.” The word “rags” is translated from a Hebrew word (běḡěḏ) that may mean “garment, apparel, i.e., any clothing of a general kind.” Thus, the Hebrew expression translated filthy rags in the NIV literally reads “garment of menstruation.” The NET correctly translated the Hebrew as “a menstrual rag” although the reading “menstrual cloth” of the LEB is even better. If we understand that our good deeds are viewed by God as that which is offensive as the menstrual cloth, we will have no illusion regarding human goodness. It is not that humans do not carry out acts that are helpful to others, but these acts are not considered by God good enough to have right relationship with Him. To me, a practical demonstration of this truth that although humans can do good that benefits others but that such does not mean that they please God or that they can have right standing with God because of the universal human sinfulness, is the conversion of Cornelius. Of course, Cornelius was involved in good deeds because he had been influenced by Judaism and so the OT Scripture so that his good deeds were not a natural outflow of his inner being but influence of OT Scripture. The whole ordeal that involved him is described in Acts 10:1–5:
1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
I am not going to exegete this passage but simply to make two important observations. The first is that Cornelius’ prayers and good deeds are described as a memorial offering before God. The word “memorial” is translated from a Greek noun (mnēmosynon) that means “a memorial offering,” that is “an offering that presents a worshiper to God.” The implication is that God recognized that Cornelius, based on the light he had received through Judaism, was seeking to gain His favor but such good deeds are not good enough, so to speak. The second is that if Cornelius was to send for Peter to come and give him the gospel, his human good deeds are not sufficient to gain God’s favor. Hence, although people may strive to do good but such goodness come from sinful people and so anything that comes from a sinful person that has not received God’s gift of righteousness through faith in Christ would certainly not be good enough as far as God is concerned. There is not a human being prior to salvation that is involved in doing good as approved by God or the good that will please Him. This aside, the apostle’s fifth sentence of the second quotation of the apostle from psalm is given in Romans 3:12 there is no one who does good, not even one proves the universal sinfulness of humanity since there is not one person that is good by God’s standard. This brings us to the next sentence in the apostle’s quotation from the OT Scripture.
The sixth sentence of the apostle’s second or third quotation from the OT Scripture is given in Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves. We used the expression “second or third quotation” because there is the question of what source the apostle quoted. I mean there is a problem regarding the source of this quotation since this is not part of Psalm 14 in the Hebrew text, but it is a sentence found in Psalm 5:9 (10 LXX):
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.
However, the sentence in Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves is part of verse 3 of Psalm 13 in the Septuagint that is available to us. Although this sentence is part of Psalm 5:9 in the Hebrew text, but if the Septuagint of Psalm 13 from which the LES is translated is one that the apostle had, then he quoted from it. If it is not, he might have quoted from Psalm 5:9 (10 LXX) in the Septuagint. This would mean that there is a third source of his quotation. It is for this reason we used the expression “second or third quotation.” Regardless of his actual source of quotation, one thing that is clear is that the apostle quoted from the Scripture either in a version of the Septuagint we have or a version that he had that did not include what is given in the Septuagint of Psalm 13:3 that we have so that he quoted from Psalm 5:9 (10 LXX). In any event, the apostle’s quotation is given in the sentence of Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves.
The word “throat” is translated from a Greek noun (larygx) that appears only here in the Greek NT that refers to throat that in humans is an organ of speech. Throat is used in imagery in the OT Scripture. Throat may convey tiredness or weariness as the psalmist used it to describe his condition because he was petitioning God for help as we read in Psalm 69:3:
I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Prophet Jeremiah used it to describe exhaustion experienced by runners who did not stop for rest or for water in Jeremiah 2:25:
Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
Prophet Jeremiah also used it to describe a threatened life of Judah in Jeremiah 4:10:
Then I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats.”
In our passage of Romans 3:13, the word “throat” is used as an imagery for the inner life of humans as implied in the sentence of Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves.
The word “open” is translated from the participle of a Greek verb (anoigō) that may mean “to open” in the sense of moving something from a shut or closed position as what an angel did before he freed the apostles in jail as stated in Acts 5:19:
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
The word may mean “to open” in the sense of to render something readily accessible so that what was inside is made accessible as the tombs of the believers that were opened when Jesus Christ died on the cross as we read in Matthew 27:52:
The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
The word may mean “to open” in the sense of “to be candid” as was the attitude of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians as stated in 2 Corinthians 6:11:
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.
In our passage of Romans 3:13, the word has the sense of “to open,” that is, “to having been unsealed.” It is used to describe graves since we have the phrase open graves.
The word “grave” is translated from a Greek noun (taphos) that means “grave, tomb” as a site for interment of dead bodies. The grave in the OT Scripture is that which renders a person ceremonially unclean as stated in Numbers 19:16:
“Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
The grave conveys darkness as implied in Job’s complaint in Job 17:13:
If the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in darkness,
In Romans 3:13, graves were not used in a physical sense of the place of interment of dead bodies but as that which produce uncleanliness or contamination of others. Hence, when the apostle quoted in Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves he meant to state that humans due to sinfulness utter things that cause others to be defiled or they utter offensive words that cause defilement. Opened graves emit bad odors so human speeches are capable of offensive words that defile others. This should not be difficult to accept when we consider what Jesus Christ said about what makes a person unclean in Matthew 15:10–11:
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’”
The thing that comes out of human mouths could depress and harm others as implied in the comparison of reckless words to a sword in Proverbs 12:18:
Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
The Holy Spirit through James makes clear that our tongues that communicate words to others are in fact agents of corruption of a person as stated in James 3:6–8:
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
No human can be said to be perfect in their use of their tongues so that that in a sense conveys that all humans are sinful. That aside the universality of human sinfulness is supported by the apostle’s quotation of Romans 3:13 Their throats are open graves. There is more to our passage, but we are out of time, so let me close with a reminder of the message we are considering which is Humanity’s sinfulness is universal as attested by the Scripture and specifically supported by some functions of the law