Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? New Living Translation True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? English Standard Version What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? Berean Standard Bible What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Berean Literal Bible What if indeed some disbelieved? Will their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? King James Bible For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? New King James Version For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? New American Standard Bible What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? NASB 1995 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? NASB 1977 What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? Legacy Standard Bible What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God? Amplified Bible What then? If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His word, will it? Christian Standard Bible What then? If some were unfaithful, will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Holman Christian Standard Bible What then? If some did not believe, will their unbelief cancel God’s faithfulness? American Standard Version For what if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? Contemporary English Version It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith? English Revised Version For what if some were without faith? shall their want of faith make of none effect the faithfulness of God? GOD'S WORD® Translation What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God's faithfulness? Good News Translation But what if some of them were not faithful? Does this mean that God will not be faithful? International Standard Version What if some of the Jews were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God's faithfulness, can it? Majority Standard Bible What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? NET Bible What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? New Heart English Bible For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? Webster's Bible Translation For what if some did not believe? will their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Weymouth New Testament For what if some Jews have proved unfaithful? Shall their faithlessness render God's faithfulness worthless? World English Bible For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? Literal Translations Literal Standard Versionfor what, if certain were faithless? Will their faithlessness make the faithfulness of God useless? Berean Literal Bible What if indeed some disbelieved? Will their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? Young's Literal Translation for what, if certain were faithless? shall their faithlessness the faithfulness of god make useless? Smith's Literal Translation For what if some disbelieved? their unbelief will not leave inactive the faith of God. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleFor what if some of them have not believed? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid. Catholic Public Domain Version But what if some of them have not believed? Shall their unbelief nullify the faith of God? Let it not be so! New American Bible What if some were unfaithful? Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God? New Revised Standard Version What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleFor what if some had not believed, could their unbelief nullify the faith of God? Aramaic Bible in Plain English For if some of them did not believe, did they nullify the faith of God by not believing? NT Translations Anderson New TestamentWhat, indeed, if some have been unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness overthrow the faithfulness of God? Godbey New Testament For what if some did not believe? whether will their unbelief destroy the faith of God? Haweis New Testament For what if some were unbelievers? shall their unbelief render the faithfulness of God ineffectual? Mace New Testament for what if some betrayed their trust? shall their unfaithfulness render Weymouth New Testament For what if some Jews have proved unfaithful? Shall their faithlessness render God's faithfulness worthless? Worrell New Testament For what, if some did disbelieve? Shall their disbelief make void the faithfulness of God? Worsley New Testament For what if some did not believe? shall their incredulity make the faithfulness of God of no effect? Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context God Remains Faithful…2Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. 3What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? 4Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”… Cross References 2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged. Psalm 89:33-34 But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness. / I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips. 1 Samuel 15:29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” John 3:33 Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful. Psalm 119:89-90 Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens. / Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures. Isaiah 55:11 so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it. Psalm 105:8-10 He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations— / the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac. / He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: 1 Kings 8:56 “Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses. Psalm 33:4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all His work is trustworthy. 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God. Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. Psalm 100:5 For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations. Treasury of Scripture For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? if some. Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? Romans 11:1-7 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin… shall. Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 1 Samuel 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. faith. Psalm 84:7 They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Jump to Previous Believe Believed Effect Faith Faithfulness Faithless Faithlessness God's Jews Lack Nullify Proved Render Unbelief Unfaithful Useless Want WorthlessJump to Next Believe Believed Effect Faith Faithfulness Faithless Faithlessness God's Jews Lack Nullify Proved Render Unbelief Unfaithful Useless Want WorthlessRomans 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. What if some did not have faith? This phrase raises a rhetorical question that Paul uses to address the issue of unbelief among the Jews. The Greek word for "faith" here is "pistis," which implies trust, belief, or faithfulness. Historically, the Jewish people were entrusted with the oracles of God, yet not all believed. This question challenges the reader to consider the implications of human unbelief. In a broader scriptural context, this reflects the recurring theme of Israel's struggle with faithfulness to God, as seen throughout the Old Testament. The question is not just about the Jews of Paul's time but serves as a timeless reflection on the nature of faith and the human tendency to doubt. Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? The Apostle considers an objection that might be brought against his argument that the divine revelation vouchsafed to them was a special privilege of the Jewish people. It might be said that they had forfeited and cancelled this privilege by their unbelief. He first reduces the objection to its proper limits; it was not all, but some, who were unbelievers. But granting that there were some who did not believe this fact would have no power to shake the eternal promises of God. Verse 3. - For what if some (τινες. The expression does net denote whether many or few; it only avoids assertion of universality of unbelief (cf. Romans 11:17; 1 Corinthians 10:7), though it is implied in the following verso that, even if it had been universal, the argument would stand) did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Alford renders ἠπίστησαν "were unfaithful," taking it in the sense of being "unfaithful to the covenant, the very condition of which was to walk in the ways of the Lord, and observe his statutes;" and this on the ground that the apostle is not as yet speaking of faith or the want of it, but, in accordance with the idea of the preceding chapter, of ἀδίκια (ver. 5) and moral guilt. But the meaning of words must not be forced to meet the views of interpreters; and we observe that ἀπιστεῖν and ἀπιστία are ever elsewhere used in their proper sense to denote want of faith (cf. Matthew 13:58; Matthew 17:20; Mark 6:6; Mark 16:11, 14, 16; Luke 14:11, 41; Acts 27:24; Romans 4:20; Romans 11:20, 23; 1 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 2:13). Still, it is to be observed that in the passage before us ἀπιστία in man is opposed to πίστις in God, so as to suggest a more general sense of ἀπιστία than mere unbelief. In view of this opposition, we may adopt the rendering of the whole passage in the Revised Version: "What if some were without faith? Shall their want of faith," etc.? Meyer and others, understanding (as said above) by λόγια the Divine oracles which were prophetic of Christ, refer ἠπίστησαν exclusively to the disbelief in him on the part of the majority of the Jews at the time of writing. But the aorist tense of the verb, as well as the context, is against the idea of such reference, at any rate exclusively. The context, both in ch. 2. and the latter part of this chapter after ver. 9, certainly suggests rather reference to the failure of the Jews throughout their history to realize the advantage of their privileged position; and this failure might properly be attributed to their want of faith, to the καρτδία πονηρὰ ἀπιστίας (Hebrews 3:12), cf. Hebrews 3:19; Hebrews 4:2, together with Romans 4:11. Ἀπιστία in these passages is regarded as the root of ἀπειθεία. On the other hand, the whole drift of ch. 11. in this Epistle - where the present ἀπιστία of the chosen people shown in their rejection of the gospel is spoken of as not hindering, but furthering, the righteous purpose of God, and redounding in the end to his glory - suggests a like reference here. And it may have been in the apostle's mind, though, for the reasons above given, it can hardly be the only one in the passage before us.Parallel Commentaries ... Greek WhatΤί (Ti) Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Neuter Singular Strong's 5101: Who, which, what, why. Probably emphatic of tis; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what. if εἰ (ei) Conjunction Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc. some τινες (tines) Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Plural Strong's 5100: Any one, some one, a certain one or thing. An enclitic indefinite pronoun; some or any person or object. did not have faith? ἠπίστησάν (ēpistēsan) Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Strong's 569: To be unfaithful, disbelieve, refuse belief, prove false. From apistos; to be unbelieving, i.e. disbelieve, or disobey. {Will} their αὐτῶν (autōn) Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons. lack of faith ἀπιστία (apistia) Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular Strong's 570: Unbelief, unfaithfulness, distrust. From apistos; faithlessness, i.e. disbelief, or unfaithfulness. nullify καταργήσει (katargēsei) Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Strong's 2673: From kata and argeo; to be entirely idle, literally or figuratively. God’s Θεοῦ (Theou) Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very. faithfulness? πίστιν (pistin) Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness. Links Romans 3:3 NIVRomans 3:3 NLT Romans 3:3 ESV Romans 3:3 NASB Romans 3:3 KJV Romans 3:3 BibleApps.com Romans 3:3 Biblia Paralela Romans 3:3 Chinese Bible Romans 3:3 French Bible Romans 3:3 Catholic Bible NT Letters: Romans 3:3 For what if some were without faith? (Rom. Ro) |
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