Romans 3:9-20

⁹ What then? Do we have advantage? Not at all! For we have previously charged that everyone, both Jew and Greek, are under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written,

There is no one righteous, not even one;

¹¹ there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

¹² All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one doing good. There is not one (Ps 14:1-3).

¹³ Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they deceive (Ps 5:9). The poison of asps is under their lips (Ps 140:3).

¹⁴ Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness (Ps 10:7).

¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood,

¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their paths;

¹⁷ they do not know the way of peace (Isa 59:7-8).

¹⁸ God’s fearfulness is not before their eyes (Ps 36:2).

¹⁹ We know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, in order that every mouth may be shut and that all the world may be liable to judgment by God. ²⁰ Because of this, on the basis of the deeds required by the Law no flesh shall be declared righteous, for through the Law comes knowledge of sin.

As you can tell from my translation of verse 9, I have followed most English translations and interpreted proechesthai as a middle with active meaning. Thus Paul is asking a question similar to one asked in 3:2a (What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ² Much in every way! [NIV]). Though this is a similar question the answer if far different here than in 3:1. There is a privilege for the Jews for they were recipients of the good things of God. But the privilege became curse, because the Jews did not obey the Law. So Paul has a nuanced view regarding Israel. On one hand there is advantage, but this advantage brought about judgment because possession of the oracles of God is not what God was about. What Law requires is obedience.

After asking and answering, Paul in a catena shows from the Scriptures that all flesh, the world, is under judgment because of sin. What I find interesting with the catena is that some of the quotes indict Gentiles and others indict Jews. For example, from my interpretation of Psalm 5, David’s enemies here are not Gentiles but Jews, who are speaking lies against him. So, Paul is showing with the very quotes he is using that all flesh, both Jew and Gentile stand as sinners before God. Now no doubt Jews would not disagree in Paul’s assessment regarding Gentiles. So it seems to me that the emphasis in vv. 9-20 does fall on Israel, so that Israel must look squarely into the Scriptures and see the brutal reality. What is the brutal reality? It is that the very Law which Israel possessed, and by possessing it, trusted in it as the basis of their justification before God, bears witness against them that they stand guilty of transgression and sin before God. The Law does not give evidence for acquittal before God. Rather, the Law shuts the mouths of the Jews, and places them in the dock along with Gentiles as unrighteous, as those deserving judgment.

Because of this Jews cannot trust in the Law as the basis of their acquittal before God. Why? Because through the Law came a knowledge of sin. The Law was not given to be a basis for justification. The Law was given to bring a knowledge of sin.

In this section Paul shores up his argument which he began in 1:18. In shoring up his argument, he also paved the way for his argument regarding the true basis for justification before God: the grace of God through the faithfulness of Jesus the Christ.