Romans 10:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Romans 10:6
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
equity (of character or act) · noun — nominative singular feminine
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
faith
πίστεωςpisteōs
G4102
persuasion · noun — genitive singular feminine
speaketh
λέγει·legei
G3004
properly · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
wise
οὕτωςhoutōs
G3779
in this way (referring to what precedes or follows) · adverb
Say
εἴπῃςeipēs
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
not
μὴmē
G3361
(adverb) not · particle — negative
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
thine
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
heart
καρδίᾳkardia
G2588
the heart · noun — dative singular feminine
Who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
ascend
ἀναβήσεταιanabēsetai
G305
to go up (literally or figuratively) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
heaven
οὐρανόν;ouranon
G3772
the sky · noun — accusative singular masculine
that
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
is
ἐστίestí
G2076
he (she or it) is
bring
καταγαγεῖν·katagagein
G2609
to lead down · verb — second aorist active infinitive
Christ
ΧριστὸνChriston
G5547
anointed · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
down
κατάγωkatágō
G2609
to lead down
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Proverbs 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath es…
Ephesians 4:8-10 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
John 3:12-13 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for…
Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Romans 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness…
Romans 9:30-31 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness wh…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 10:1-11
The scope of the apostle in this part of the chapter is to show the vast difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith, and the great pre-eminence of the righteousness of faith above that of the law; that he might induce and persuade the Jews to believe in Christ, aggravate the folly and sin of those that refused, and justify God in the rejection of such refusers.
I. Paul here professes his good affection to the Jews, with the reason of it (Rom 10:1, Rom 10:2), where he gives them a good wish, and a good witness.
1. A good wish (Rom 10:1), a wish that they might be saved - saved from the temporal ruin and destruction that were coming upon them - saved from th…
But the--justifying
righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise--"speaketh thus"--its language or import is to this effect (quoting in substance Deu 30:13-14).
Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down, &c.--that is, "Ye have not to sigh over the impossibility of attaining to justification; as if one should say, oh! if I could but get someone to mount up to heaven and fetch me down Christ, there might be some hope, but since that cannot be, mine is a desperate case."
Adam Clarke on Romans 10:6
But the righteousness which is of faith - As it is most evident that there can be no justification by works, as all are sinful and all in a guilty state; if God will grant salvation at all, it must be by faith: but faith must have an object and a reason for its exercise; the object is Jesus Christ - the reason is the infinite merit of his passion and death.
Who shall ascend unto heaven? etc. - As Christ is the end of the law for justification to every one that believes, no observance of the law can procure him. Who, by the practice of the law, can bring Christ down from heaven? or, when brought down, and crucified and buried, as a sacrifice for sin, who can bring him up again from the dead?…
These are the words not of Moses but of the God of all things, who was using Moses as his mouthpiece.
For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,-the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Then he continues, "If thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, "For to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead."
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." To prevent the Jews then from saying, How came they who had not found the lesser righteousness to find the greater? he gives a reason there was no answering, that this way was easier than that. For that requires the fulfilment of all things (for when thou doest all, then thou shall live); but the righteousness which is of faith doth not say this, but what? "If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Then again that we may not seem to be making it contemptible by showing it to be easy and cheap, observe how he expands his account of it. For he does not come immediately to the words just given, but what does he say? "But the righteousness which is of faith saith on this wise; Say not in thine heart, Who shall go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" For as to the virtue manifested in works there is opposed a listlessness, which relaxeth our labors, and it requireth a very wakeful soul not to yield to it: thus, when one is required to believe, there are reasonings which confuse and make havoc of the minds of most men, and it wants a soul of some vigor to shake them thoroughly off. And this is just why he brings the same before one. And as he did in Abraham's case, so he does here also. For having there shown that he was justified by faith, lest he should seem to have gotten so great a crown by a mere chance, as if it were a thing of no account, to extol the nature of faith, he says, "Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations. And being not weak in faith, he considered his own body now dead, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory…
Dictionary and topics
Justification — A forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them…
Righteousness Imputed · Described as: The righteousness of faith — Described as: The righteousness of faith
Unbelief · 5:12-14; — 5:12-14;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on Romans 10:6
But the righteousness which is of faith,.... Or "with respect to the righteousness of faith"; the other righteousness before called the righteousness of God, because God is the author of it, here the righteousness of faith, because that receives it,
speaketh on this wise; the selfsame writer who describes the righteousness of the law in such a manner, that it gives no room to a fallen creature ever to expect life and salvation by it, gives such an account of the righteousness of faith, as forbids all doubting and despair:
say not in thine heart; let not such a thought enter into thy mind, much less express it with thy lips;
who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from…
Romans 10:5-10
5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
5. Moses enim describit justitiam quae est ex Lege, Quod qui fecerit ea homo rivet in ipsis.
6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
6. Quae vero est ex fide justitia sic dicit, Ne dixeris in corde tuo, Quis ascendet in coelum? hoc est Christum deducere:
7. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
7. Aut, Quis descendet in abyssum? hoc est Christum ex mortuis reducere:
8. But what sa…
Here Paul quotes three phrases from Deut 30:12-14 dealing with the law, and he applies them to the Good News about Christ. We do not need to go up to heaven to find Christ (and thus to be made right with God), because God has already brought him down to earth as a man. Nor do we need to go down to the place of the dead to find Christ, because God has already raised him from the dead. To find Christ, we must simply believe in the message that is close at hand.
