10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[Lev. 18:5 ] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[Deut. 30:12] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[Deut. 30:13] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[Deut. 30:14] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” [Isaiah 28:16 (see Septuagint)] 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[Joel 2:32]
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”[Isaiah 52:7 ]
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”[Isaiah 53:1 ] 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”[ Psalm 19:4]
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”[Deut. 32:21]
20 And Isaiah boldly says,
“I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”[Isaiah 65:1]
21 But concerning Israel he says,
“All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.”[Isaiah 65:2 ]
NOTES:
10:1–13 Despite Israel’s lack of faith in God’s act in
Christ, Paul does not abandon hope for her salvation (Rom 10:1). However,
Israel must recognize that the Messiah’s arrival in the person of Jesus Christ
means the termination of the Mosaic law as the criterion for understanding
oneself in a valid relationship to God. Faith in God’s saving action in Jesus
Christ takes precedence over any such legal claim (Rom 10:6).
10:4 The Mosaic legislation has been superseded by God’s
action in Jesus Christ. Others understand end here in the sense that Christ is
the goal of the law, i.e., the true meaning of the Mosaic law, which cannot be
correctly understood apart from him. Still others believe that both meanings
are intended.
10:5–6 The subject of the verb says (Rom 10:6) is
righteousness personified. Both of the statements in Rom 10:5, 6 derive from
Moses, but Paul wishes to contrast the language of law and the language of
faith.
10:7 Here Paul blends Dt 30:13 and Ps 107:26.
10:9–11 To confess Jesus as Lord was frequently quite
hazardous in the first century (cf. Mt 10:18; 1 Thes 2:2; 1 Pt 2:18–21; 3:14).
For a Jew it could mean disruption of normal familial and other social
relationships, including great economic sacrifice. In the face of penalties
imposed by the secular world, Christians are assured that no one who believes
in Jesus will be put to shame (Rom 10:11).
10:14–21 The gospel has been sufficiently proclaimed to
Israel, and Israel has adequately understood God’s plan for the messianic age,
which would see the gospel brought to the uttermost parts of the earth. As
often in the past, Israel has not accepted the prophetic message; cf. Acts
7:51–53.
10:15 How beautiful are the feet of those who bring [the]
good news: in Semitic fashion, the parts of the body that bring the messenger
with welcome news are praised; cf. Lk 11:27.
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