the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
ways
ὁδοῖςhodois
G3598
a road · noun — dative plural feminine
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 3:1-18
I. Here the apostle answers several objections, which might be made, to clear his way. No truth so plain and evident but wicked wits and corrupt carnal hearts will have something to say against it; but divine truths must be cleared from cavil.
Object. 1. If Jew and Gentile stand so much upon the same level before God, what advantage then hath the Jew? Hath not God often spoken with a great deal of respect for the Jews, as a non-such people (Deu 33:29), a holy nation, a peculiar treasure, the seed of Abraham his friend: Did not he institute circumcision as a badge of their church-membership, and a seal of their covenant-relation to God? Now does not this levelling doctrine deny them all such…
Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace have they not known--This is a supplementary statement about men's ways, suggested by what had been said about the "feet," and expresses the mischief and misery which men scatter in their path, instead of that peace which, as strangers to it themselves, they cannot diffuse.
Adam Clarke on Romans 3:16
Destruction and misery are in their ways - destruction is their work, and Misery to themselves and to the objects of their malice is the consequence of their impious and murderous conduct.
John Gill on Romans 3:16
Destruction and misery are in their ways. This passage also is to be found in Isaiah 59:7, and may be understood either actively thus: all the ways they take, and methods they pursue, are to make their fellow creatures miserable, to ruin and destroy them; or passively, that by their sinful ways and vicious course of life, they themselves are brought to destruction and misery: the way they are walking in is, "the broad way, that leadeth to destruction", Matthew 7:13; the end of it, what it issues in, is eternal death, the destruction of the body and soul in hell, which will be attended with endless and inexpressible misery.
The Church Fathers
Since they hastened to do evil, Paul called their path a ruinous and unhappy way.
“Contrition and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known.” Here he speaks of a contrition, not that by which the spirit is broken over sins in repentance, whence it is said in the Psalms: “A contrite and humbled heart God does not despise;” but he speaks of that contrition by which sinners are said to break the yoke of the Lord and to cast it from their necks. Similarly “misery” also — or, as it is read elsewhere, “wretchedness” — is to be understood as that by which a man has been made wretched and miserable, who “though he was in honor, did not understand,” but “was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them.”
For both the law and the Gospel are the energy of one Lord, who is "the power and wisdom of God;" and the terror which the law begets is merciful and in order to salvation. "Let not alms, and faith, and truth fail thee, but hang them around thy neck." In the same way as Paul, prophecy upbraids the people with not understanding the law. "Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." "Professing themselves wise, they became fools." "And we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." "Desiring to be teachers of the law, they understand," says the apostle, "neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Fall of man — An expression probably borrowed from the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom, to express the fact of the revolt of our first parents from God, and the consequent sin and misery in which they and all their…
Sin — Is “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God” (1 John 3:4; Rom. 4:15), in the inward state and habit of the soul, as well as in the outward conduct of the life, whether by…
Bigotry · PAUL’S ARGUMENT AGAINST — PAUL’S ARGUMENT AGAINST
Boasting · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Crime · PARTIAL LISTS OF — PARTIAL LISTS OF
Depravity Of Man · 7:17;12:34,35;15:19; — 7:17;12:34,35;15:19;
Fall Of Man, The · Man in consequence of: Corrupt and perverse in his ways — Man in consequence of: Corrupt and perverse in his ways
Life, Eternal · Cannot be inherited by works — Cannot be inherited by works
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 Calvin on Romans 3:10-18
Romans 3:10-18
10. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
10. Sicut scriptum, Quod non est justus quisquam, ne unus quidem;
11. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
11. Non est intelligens, non est qui requirat Deum;
12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
12. Omnes declinarunt, simul facti sunt inutiles; non est qui exerceat benignitatem, ne ad unum quidem:
13. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
13. Sepulchrum apertum guttur eorum; linguis dolose egerunt: venenum aspidum…
