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Romans

About this book
Chapter 15

1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.⁠ 5 Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.”⁠ 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”⁠ 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.”⁠ 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.”⁠ 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 14 But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 But I have written more boldly to you on some points so as to remind you, because of the grace given to me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I serve the gospel of God like a priest, so that the Gentiles may become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 So I boast in Christ Jesus about the things that pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in order to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem even as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And in this way I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation, 21 but as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” 22 This is the reason I was often hindered from coming to you. 23 But now there is nothing more to keep me in these regions, and I have for many years desired to come to you 24 when I go to Spain. For I hope to visit you when I pass through and that you will help me on my journey there,⁠ after I have enjoyed your company for a while. 25 But now I go to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia are pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 For they were pleased to do this, and indeed they are indebted to the Jerusalem saints. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are obligated also to minister to them in material things.⁠ 28 Therefore after I have completed this and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set out for Spain by way of you,⁠ 29 and I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of Christ’s blessing. 30 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf. 31 Pray that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea and that my ministry in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company. 33 Now may the God of peace be with all of you. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Deuteronomy 32:43 and Romans 15:10

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

In Romans 15, Paul adapts Deuteronomy 32, which calls the nations to rejoice with Israel after justice and restoration. What ends the song of suffering in the Torah becomes a call for unity between Jewish people and Gentiles.

Passages

LXX Deuteronomy 32:43

Septuagint
41 For I will sharpen my sword like lightning, and my hand shall take hold of judgment; and I will render judgment to my enemies, and will repay those who hate me. 42 I will make my weapons drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, it shall glut itself with the blood of the wounded, and from the captivity of the heads of their enemies that rule over them. 43 Rejoice, you heavens, with him, and let all the sons of God worship him; rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people, and let all the angels of God strengthen themselves in him; for he will avenge the blood of his sons, and he will render vengeance, and repay justly his enemies, and will reward those who hate him; and the Lord shall purge the land of his people. 44 And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45 And Moses finished speaking to all Israel.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Deuteronomy

Romans 15:10

New Testament
8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.”
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... The importance of the book of Deuteronomy for the study of Israel’s scriptures in the New Testament can hardly be exaggerated. As is recognized, the fifth book of the Pentateuch, along with the Psalms and the prophecy of Isaiah, is the most quoted of Old Testament books in the New Testament. Paul, for instance, cites Deuteronomy as one of several possible proof-texts (Deuteronomy 32:43 in Romans 15:10; Deuteronomy 17:7 in 1 Corinthians 5:13); he erects a central, theological pillar of how the blessing of Abraham was extended to gentiles by a paradoxical interpretation of ‘the curse of the one who hangs on a tree’ (Deuteronomy 27:26 in Galatians 3:13); and he instructs his congregation on the contrast between living righteously, founded on faith, against life based on the law by a ‘midrashic’ reading of Deuteronomy 30 in Romans 10. The study of quotations is a useful and illuminating exercise, but it hardly exhausts the influence of Deuteronomy on the New Testament and other Jewish writers of the Second Temple Period ..."
Timothy H. Lim, “Deuteronomy in the Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Deuteronomy in the New Testament, ed. Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise (London: T&T Clark International, 2007), 6–26.

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 Deuteronomy 32:43 and Romans 15:10

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