The Meaning of Romans 3:10 Explained

Romans 3:10

KJV: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

YLT: according as it hath been written -- 'There is none righteous, not even one;

Darby: according as it is written, There is not a righteous man, not even one;

ASV: as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

As  it is written,  There is  none  righteous,  no, not  one: 

What does Romans 3:10 Mean?

Study Notes

righteous
.
righteousness
Righteousness here, and in the passages which refer to Romans 10:10 , means that righteousness of God which is judicially reckoned to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; believers are the righteous.
(See Scofield " Romans 3:21 ") .

Context Summary

Romans 3:9-20 - All Justly Under Judgment
A number of quotations are advanced-mostly from the Septuagint or Greek version of the Old Testament-establishing the hopeless evil of man's condition. These apply, in the first place, to God's peculiar people, the Jews; but if true of them, how terrible must be the condition of the great heathen world! Every mouth will be stopped and all the world brought in guilty before God, Romans 3:19. Various organs of the body are enumerated, and in each ease some terrible affirmation is made of inbred depravity. What need for salvation! What can atone for such sin, or cleanse such hearts, save the redeeming grace of God?
Law here is obviously employed in the wide sense of conscience as well as Scripture. It is God's ideal held up before our faces, to show us from what we have fallen. The looking-glass is intended, not to wash the face, but to show how much it needs washing. You may commend your soap, and no one will use it; but if you reveal the discoloring filth, people will be only too glad to avail themselves of the cleansing power which otherwise they would neglect and despise. The way to fill the inquiry room is to hold up the divine standard before men's consciences. [source]

Chapter Summary: Romans 3

1  The Jews prerogative;
3  which they have not lost;
9  howbeit the law convinces them also of sin;
20  therefore no one is justified by the law;
28  but all, without difference, by faith, only;
31  and yet the law is not abolished

Greek Commentary for Romans 3:10

As it is written [κατως γεγραπται οτι]
Usual formula of quotation as in Romans 3:4 with recitative οτι — hoti added as in Romans 3:8. Paul here uses a catena or chain of quotations to prove his point in Romans 3:9 that Jews are in no better fix than the Greeks for all are under sin. Dr. J. Rendel Harris has shown that the Jews and early Christians had Testimonia (quotations from the Old Testament) strung together for certain purposes as proof-texts. Paul may have used one of them or he may have put these passages together himself. Romans 3:10-12 come from Psalm 14:1-3; first half of Romans 3:13 as far as εδολιουσαν — edoliousan from Psalms 4:9, the second half from Psalm 140:3; Romans 3:14 from Psalm 10:7; Romans 3:15-17 from an abridgment of Isaiah 59:7.; Romans 3:18 from Psalm 35:1. Paul has given compounded quotations elsewhere (2 Corinthians 6:16; Romans 9:25.,27f; Romans 11:26.,34f.; Romans 12:19.). Curiously enough this compounded quotation was imported bodily into the text (lxx) of Psalms 14 after Romans 3:4 in Aleph B, etc. [source]
There is none righteous, no, not one [ουκ εστιν δικαιος ουδε εις]
“There is not a righteous man, not even one.” This sentence is like a motto for all the rest, a summary for what follows. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Romans 3:10

Romans 3:10 As it is written [κατως γεγραπται οτι]
Usual formula of quotation as in Romans 3:4 with recitative οτι — hoti added as in Romans 3:8. Paul here uses a catena or chain of quotations to prove his point in Romans 3:9 that Jews are in no better fix than the Greeks for all are under sin. Dr. J. Rendel Harris has shown that the Jews and early Christians had Testimonia (quotations from the Old Testament) strung together for certain purposes as proof-texts. Paul may have used one of them or he may have put these passages together himself. Romans 3:10-12 come from Psalm 14:1-3; first half of Romans 3:13 as far as εδολιουσαν — edoliousan from Psalms 4:9, the second half from Psalm 140:3; Romans 3:14 from Psalm 10:7; Romans 3:15-17 from an abridgment of Isaiah 59:7.; Romans 3:18 from Psalm 35:1. Paul has given compounded quotations elsewhere (2 Corinthians 6:16; Romans 9:25.,27f; Romans 11:26.,34f.; Romans 12:19.). Curiously enough this compounded quotation was imported bodily into the text (lxx) of Psalms 14 after Romans 3:4 in Aleph B, etc. [source]
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written [αλλα κατως γεγραπται]
Elliptical sentence like Romans 15:3 where γεγονεν — gegonen (it has happened) can be supplied. It is not certain where Paul derives this quotation as Scripture. Origen thought it a quotation from the Apocalypse of Elias and Jerome finds it also in the Ascension of Isaiah. But these books appear to be post-Pauline, and Jerome denies that Paul obtained it from these late apocryphal books. Clement of Rome finds it in the lxx text of Isa 64:4 and cites it as a Christian saying. It is likely that Paul here combines freely Isaiah 64:4; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 52:15 in a sort of catena or free chain of quotations as he does in Romans 3:10-18. There is also an anacoluthon for α — ha (which things) occurs as the direct object (accusative) with ειδεν — eiden (saw) and ηκουσαν — ēkousan (heard), but as the subject (nominative) with ανεβη — anebē (entered, second aorist active indicative of αναβαινω — anabainō to go up). [source]
Galatians 3:22 Hath concluded [συνέκλεισεν]
Better, hath shut up, as a jailer. Only in Paul, with the exception of Luke 5:6. Frequent in lxx. Not included with others, but confined as within an enclosure, as Luke 5:6, of the net enclosing the fish. Comp. Exodus 14:3; Joshua 6:1; Romans href="/desk/?q=ro+3:10-19&sr=1">Romans 3:10-19; Romans 11:32. [source]
Galatians 3:22 Under sin [υπο αμαρτιαν]
See υπο καταραν — hupo kataran in Galatians 3:10. As if the lid closed in on us over a massive chest that we could not open or as prisoners in a dungeon. He uses τα παντα — ta panta (the all things), the totality of everything. See Romans 3:10-19; Romans 11:32. That (ινα — hina). God‘s purpose, personifying scripture again. Might be given First aorist passive subjunctive of διδωμι — didōmi with ινα — hina f0). [source]
Ephesians 5:14 Awake. etc. []
The quotation is probably a combination and free rendering of Isaiah 60:1; Isaiah 26:19. For similar combinations see on Romans 3:10; see on Romans 9:33. By some the words are regarded as the fragment of a hymn. [source]

What do the individual words in Romans 3:10 mean?

As it has been written - None there is righteous not even one
καθὼς γέγραπται ὅτι Οὐκ ἔστιν δίκαιος οὐδὲ εἷς

γέγραπται  it  has  been  written 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γράφω 
Sense: to write, with reference to the form of the letters.
ὅτι  - 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
Οὐκ  None 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐ  
Sense: no, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer.
ἔστιν  there  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
δίκαιος  righteous 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: δίκαιος  
Sense: righteous, observing divine laws.
οὐδὲ  not  even 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐδέ  
Sense: but not, neither, nor, not even.
εἷς  one 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: εἷς  
Sense: one.