complete verse (Romans 10:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 10:18:

  • Uma: “But let’s not say/think like this: ‘The Israel people, they haven’t yet heard the Good News.’ They have heard it! In the Holy Book it is written like this: ‘The News spread to the whole world, Those words were announced to all mankind.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there is something I ask: Didn’t the people of Isra’il hear the story/news about Isa Almasi that’s why they do not believe? They indeed really heard. For the holy-book says, ‘The people commanded by God are telling all people and their words are well-known in the whole world/earth.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And certainly someone will say, ‘No wonder the Jews didn’t believe, because they haven’t heard this preaching.’ However, it’s not possible that they haven’t heard, for there is a written word of God which says, ‘As for this word, the telling of it has spread to all mankind, and there is no end to where it has been spread,’ he said.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All right, let me ask this. Is it perhaps possible that the Jews didn’t hear concerning Cristo? They indeed heard, because what God caused-to-be-written says, ‘Their words/voices/speech have been heard in even any place; what they have said has been made-known in all towns/countries on the earth.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning the Jews, in that they did not believe the word, is that they didn’t hear about the word? Truly they heard about the word. Because it says in the Holy Book the word which says: ‘This word, everywhere is heard this word spoken by the preachers. Because the word is taken all over the world.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

For the Old Testament quote, see Psalm 19:4.

Translation commentary on Romans 10:18

Paul now begins to direct himself specifically to those Jews who have rejected the Christian message. Once again the Good News Translation supplies the understood object of the verb hear, namely, the message (An American Translation* and New English Bible “it,” with “message” as the antecedent).

Of course they did is a strong emphatic particle in Greek; in 9.20 it appears as but. The question and emphatic response may be transformed into a strong statement: “but it is certainly true that they did indeed hear the message” or “but most certainly they did hear the message.”

Since Paul introduces another scripture quotation here, the Good News Translation makes the identification clear with the words as the scripture says. Paul quotes directly from the Septuagint of Psalm 19.4, and he uses this passage to prove that the Christian message has gone to all the earth.

There is a problem in the reference of their in the quotation cited from Psalm 19.4. In the manner in which Paul employs this quotation one may justify employing a translation such as “the sound of the voices of the messengers went out to all the people in the world.”

If one translates literally the sound of their voices it might imply “meaningless sound.” Something which might have meaning would be “the words of their voices,” “the words which they spoke aloud,” or “the words which they spoke with their mouths.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 10:18

10:18a

did they not hear?: This is a rhetorical question. The Greek grammar indicates that Paul expected the readers to answer, “They have heard.” Paul answered the question himself in 10:18b. If possible, translate in a way that expects the answer “They have heard.” For example:

Is it perhaps possible that the Jews didn’t hear concerning Cristo? They indeed heard
-or-
truly, it seems that they haven’t/didn’t hear, right? No. It is very true [that] they heard.

Paul answered his own question in 10:18b, so you should translate this as a question.

they: Based on 10:18c–d, the word they probably refers to people in general.

10:18b

Indeed they did: For an answer of they did (hear) to the question of 10:18a, some languages will preface it with “Yes” (or Indeed as the Berean Standard Bible) and some languages will preface it with “No.” Use the correct pattern for your language. For example:

Truly they heard
-or-
But no. They definitely were told.

10:18c–d

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world”: This is a quote of the first two parts of Psalm 19:4. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.

10:18c

This is a quotation from the Old Testament Some languages usually introduce Old Testament quotes in a certain way. For example:

Indeed, they did. ⌊As the Scriptures say,⌋
-or-
Indeed, the did. ⌊It is as David said in the Holy Book,⌋

Their voice: In Psalm 19:4, the word Their refers to the things in the sky like the sun and moon and stars. Here in this verse of Romans, Paul did not explain or indicate the meaning. He implied those taking the gospel of Jesus. But 10:18c–d is a quote from the Old Testament, so you should not explain Paul’s implied meaning in your translation of this verse. But you may want to explain the meaning in a footnote on this verse. Here is an example footnote:

In Psalm 19:4 the writer said that the heavens declare the glory of God even though they cannot speak. The shining of the sun, moon and stars is like a voice speaking about that glory to every part of the earth. Paul used that picture to assert that the gospel had gone out to everyone on earth, including the Jews.
-or-
Here, Paul spoke of those taking the gospel of Jesus to many places in the world.

voice: This word here refers to what people said, particularly the gospel about Jesus. In some languages a different word or phrase must be used for that meaning. For example:

message (New Century Version)
-or-
talk/news

has gone out into all the earth: This phrase indicates that the news of the gospel has spread into places other than where it started. So it refers to the gospel being heard in places all over the earth. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

has gone throughout the earth (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
spread to the whole world

10:18d

their words to the ends of the world: This phrase has a similar meaning to “Their voice has gone out to all the earth.” Hebrew poetry repeats similar meaning for emphasis. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

their words reached the ends of the earth (Good News Translation)
-or-

18c for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, 18d their message ⌊has gone out⌋ to the farthest corners/places of the world

the ends of the world: This phrase refers to the farthest places in the world. See the above examples.

General Comment on 10:18c–d

In some languages repeating the same meaning is confusing or has a different meaning than emphasis. If that is true in your language, emphasize the meaning in another way. For example:

for “Their voice/message has gone out to all the earth, even the farthest places.”

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