Rom 10:18–19: Ps 19:4 (MT 19:5; LXX 18:5) and Deut 32:21 (MT and LXX)
Says Rom 10:18, Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν …, is Ps 19:4 (MT 19:5; LXX 18:5) word for word as Swete prints it: εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν.
Says The MT has בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ יָצָא קַוָּם (bekhol-ha'arets yatsa' qavvam, "their line went out through all the earth," literal). קַוָּם is from קַו (qav, "line," BDB p. 876); the LXX φθόγγος ("sound") and the BSB "voice" match the parallel מִלֵּיהֶם (millehem, "their words").
Uncertain How קַוָּם came to be read as "sound" is not settled: a sense of the word itself (a measuring line marking out the heavens' reach, or a sounding cord), or a Hebrew text that read "their voice." Either way the parallel line speaks of words.
Uncertain How Paul applies a psalm about creation's witness to the gospel's spread is debated: as a rhetorical extension or analogy, as typology, or as a claim about how far the mission had already reached.
Says Rom 10:19 quotes Deut 32:21b in the LXX form, with "you" for "them." The MT, the LXX, and Paul's wording are compared in note.cross-reference.Deut.32.21.rom-10-19-form and note.language.Deut.32.21.lxx-parazeloso, and the "no-people" in note.language.Deut.32.19-Deut.32.25.no-people. The "jealousy" is taken up in 11:11–14.
Claims
- SaysRom 10:18 Εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν is Swete Ps 18:5 (MT 19:5; ENG 19:4) word for word: εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν, καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν.
- SaysMT Ps 19:5 בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ יָצָא קַוָּם: קַוָּם is from קַו ("line," BDB p. 876); LXX φθόγγος and BSB "voice" match the parallel מִלֵּיהֶם.
- UncertainHow קַוָּם came to be read as "sound" (a sense of the word, or a text reading "their voice") is not settled.
- UncertainHow Paul applies Ps 19:4 to the gospel's spread is debated: rhetorical extension or analogy, typology, or the extent of the mission so far.
- SaysRom 10:19 quotes Deut 32:21b in the LXX form with "you" for "them"; see note.cross-reference.Deut.32.21.rom-10-19-form, note.language.Deut.32.21.lxx-parazeloso and note.language.Deut.32.19-Deut.32.25.no-people; the jealousy is taken up in 11:11–14.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Ps 19:5 (= ENG 19:4; קַוָּם lemma 6957 b, morph HNcmsc/Sp3mp); Deut 32:21
- BDB CC BY 4.0 קַו (H6957), p. 876, entry s.aq.ab
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Ps 18:5 (vol. 2 p. 233; apparatus: nothing at 18:5). LXX read on the Swete page image, vol. 2 (1896), p. 233.
- SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Rom 10:18–19
- BSB public domain Ps 19:4
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-04
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