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Romans

About this book
Chapter 10

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation. 2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not in line with the truth. 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”⁠ 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”⁠ (that is, to bring Christ down)⁠ 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?”⁠ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.⁠ 14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news.” 16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Yes, they have: Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” 20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Leviticus 18:5 and Romans 10:5

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

Leviticus 18 promises life to anyone who follows God’s commands. In Romans, Paul cites the verse to prioritize faith in Jesus as the universal sign of righteousness for Jewish and Gentile believers.

Passages

LXX Leviticus 18:5

Septuagint
4 You shall observe my judgments, and shall keep my ordinances, and shall walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 So you shall keep all my ordinances, and all my judgments, and do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them: I am the Lord your God. 6 No man shall draw near to any of his near kindred to uncover their nakedness; I am the Lord.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Leviticus

Romans 10:5

New Testament
4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

“... This is an appropriate point at which to introduce 10:5 into our discussion–a quotation of Leviticus 18:5: ‘Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them” ’ (Ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς). The evidence is accumulating that this statement reprises the competing righteous activity of Israel; it encapsulates her alternative saving system. ... The case for this judgment begins by noting that Leviticus 18:5 must corroborate one of the two types of righteousness that we have just noted. Moreover, as the quotation explicitly attests, this righteousness concerns a way to life, here meaning a way to resurrection, the subject of all the other instances of δικαιοσύνη in the subsection. ... However, the Levitical text works nicely as an account of the righteous activity that Israel seeks to establish in opposition to God’s. Israel does indeed seem to be “doing” something here, and thereby seeking to live. And Paul even marks it explicitly as something effected ἐκ [τοῦ] νόμου, or “through law.” ...”
Douglas A. Campbell, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 1105–1106.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Leviticus 18:5 and Romans 10:5

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