Romans 10:16
Not all welcomed the good news
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
But they were not all obedient to the good tidings, for Isaiah says, “LORD, who gave credence to our report?”
그러나 저희가 다 복음을 순종치 아니하였도다 이사야가 가로되 주여 우리의 전하는 바를 누가 믿었나이까 하였으니
그러나 그들이 다 복음에 순종하지는 아니하였나니 이사야가 이르기를, 주여, 우리가 전한 것을 누가 믿었나이까? 하느니라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Rom 10:12-17 as a whole
There is not one God to the Jews, more kind, and another to the Gentiles, who is less kind; the Lord is a Father to all men. The promise is the same to all, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God, as God manifest in the flesh. …
Read the whole commentary →Wesley
Nothing on this verse itself.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
Paul has just called the feet of those who bring good news beautiful (Romans 10:15). But not everyone to whom the news came received it.
But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
Romans 10:16In the flow of chapters 9–11, "not all of them" means first of all Israel. The verses that follow say that Israel did hear, that the message went out to the ends of the world, and they close with God's own words: "All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people" (Romans 10:21).
The noun stands in the dative with ὑπήκουσαν, the aorist of . The verb is made of hupo, "under", and akouō, "hear": to obey is to hear and follow what is heard. Paul speaks of the gospel as news to be believed and also as a word to be obeyed. The letter opens with Paul's apostleship "to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith" (Romans 1:5), and 2 Thessalonians speaks of those who "do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus" (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
The quotation from Isaiah plays on the same root. "Our message" translates , what is heard, a report, and the next verse takes up the word: "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17). Faith is born of hearing, and true hearing goes on into obedience. The line is the opening of Isaiah 53, within the song of the servant despised and rejected (Isaiah 52:13–53:12): "Who has believed our message?" (Isaiah 53:1). Paul reads the beautiful feet of 52:7 and the unbelieved report of 53:1 side by side, in one prophecy. Even the gospel's being refused was something the prophet had known and lamented first.
The versions bring out different sides of the verb. The King James Version has "But they have not all obeyed the gospel", keeping the word of obedience. The BSB's "welcomed the good news" brings out that obeying news means taking it in. The LSV has "they were not all obedient to the good tidings". In the next verse the KJV, following the Textus Receptus, reads "the word of God", while the BSB, with the older manuscripts, reads "the word of Christ".
Matthew Henry draws out the point: "The gospel is given, not only to be known and believed, but to be obeyed. It is not a system of notions, but a rule of practice" Matthew Henry. He adds that "it is only hearing the word, as the word of God that will strengthen faith" Matthew Henry. Wesley adds no comment of his own here and simply points to Isaiah 53:1 Wesley.
The verse does not hide that the gospel can be heard and not received. And to anyone who has heard it, it shows that hearing and following are joined in a single word.