Romans 10:7
in Romans 10or, ‘Who will descend into the Abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)
KJV
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
⋯
This verse in Romans 10
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThe quotation is from Deuteronomy [30:12], but the last phrase is the apostle's own addition. He says that someone who does not doubt about the hope which is in Christ has the righteousness of faith.
This site's exposition
the righteousness that is by faith
on Romans 10:6-8
The righteousness that is by faith borrows Moses' words from Deuteronomy 30:12 to 14, where the commandment is near and within reach. Paul turns that nearness onto Christ and the message of faith the apostles proclaim.
This site's exposition
Who will descend into the Abyss
Moses wrote of crossing the sea at Deuteronomy 30:13, and Barnes notes that Paul keeps the sense and changes the words. The sea becomes the Abyss, the place of the dead. Ambrosiaster marks the words to bring Christ up from the dead as Paul's own addition.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS · Written before 253.
proposed
This righteousness, then, which is of faith, which is Christ, as living and subsisting, this, he says, speaks thus: "Say not in your heart: Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down; or, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring Christ back from the dead." And do not wonder that, although Christ himself is righteousness, he here seems to speak of himself as though of another. For in many places you will find the Savior speaking of himself as though of another; as in the Gospel he says: "And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left: and he shall say to those who are on the right hand," and again to those who are on the left, the things that are written. Now what he says: "Say not in your heart: Who shall ascend into heaven, or who shall descend into the abyss?" — apart from the clauses which he inserts in between, "that is, to bring Christ down, or to bring him back from the dead" — and also, "The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart," seems to be taken from Deuteronomy, where it is written in this manner: "This commandment, which I command you this day, is not too high for you, nor far from you. It is not in heaven, that you should say: Who shall ascend for us into heaven, and take it for us, that hearing it we may do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: Who shall cross over the sea for us, and take it, that hearing it we may do it? The word is very near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, and in your hands, that you may do it." Since, therefore, these things are taken from Deuteronomy, and the Apostle writes that the righteousness which is of faith — which is Christ — says these very things, without doubt the Apostle declares that what is said in Deuteronomy was said by Christ. […]
A commentator
Diodorus of TarsusPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 390.
proposed
The Word of God leaves believers in no doubt either about the descent of the Lord from heaven for our sake or about the resurrection from the dead and the ascent into heaven.
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above): or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved." To prevent the Jews then from saying, How came they who had not found the lesser righteousness to find the greater? he gives a reason there was no answering, that this way was easier than that. For that requires the fulfilment of all things (for when thou doest all, then thou shall live); but the righteousness which is of faith doth not say this, but what? "If thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Then again that we may not seem to be making it contemptible by showing it to be easy and cheap, observe how he expands his account of it. For he does not come immediately to the words just given, but what does he say? "But the righteousness which is of faith saith on this wise; Say not in thine heart, Who shall go up into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)" For as to the virtue manifested in works there is opposed a listlessness, which relaxeth our labors, and it requireth a very wakeful soul not to yield to it: thus, when one is required to believe, there are reasonings which confuse and make havoc of the minds of most men, and it wants a soul of some vigor to shake them thoroughly off. And this is just why he brings the same before one. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
Having learned that the works of the law cannot justify a person, learn how effortlessly and easily we are justified in Christ: for this requires faith from the heart and confession from the lips. But it is necessary to explain more fully what was said: …
Then when he says, but the justice which is of faith, he quotes Moses on justice based on faith. First, Moses shows the certitude of faith which ought to be in man's heart; second, the effect of faith, at but what says the Scripture? First, …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles; but, in point of justification and acceptance with God, the gospel sets them both upon the same level,
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Or who shall descend into the deep? - These words are also a part of the address of Moses, Deu 30:13. But it is not literally quoted. The Hebrew is, “Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, etc.” The words of the quotation are changed, but not the sense; and it is to be remembered that Paul is not professing to quote the words of Moses, but to “express the language of faith;” and this he does mainly by words which Moses had used, which also expressed his meaning.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man that doeth--"hath done" those things--which it commands. shall live in them-- (Le 18:5). This is the one way of justification and life--by "the righteousness which is of (or, by our own obedience to) the law."
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:80%@v3-8
YOU see by this mourning that our church has been bereaved. I have lost a friend tender and true to me, and my heart is too full for utterance.William Higgs, Esq., for many years a beloved deacon of the church in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, fell on asleep January 3rd, 1883, in his fifty-ninth year. I scarcely knew what to preach from this morning; but at last I settled in my mind that I would raise a memorial to my departed friend by preaching a sermon which should be connected with himself.
YOU see by this mourning that our church has been bereaved. I have lost a friend tender and true to me, and my heart is too full for utterance.William Higgs, Esq., for many years a beloved deacon of the church in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, fell on asleep January 3rd, 1883, in his fifty-ninth year. I scarcely knew what to preach from this morning; but at last I settled in my mind that I would raise a memorial to my departed friend by preaching a sermon which should be connected with himself. Therefore I cast about me, and I considered what subject he would wish me to preach from if he were sitting behind me this morning as he was last Lord's-day. I had no difficulty in answering that question. His life and death pointed in one direction. He was a man of rare common sense, straightforward and downright in his aims, and most pithy in his speech, with such a mixture of mother-wit that he might have been taken for John Ploughman's brother, as indeed he was. He cared nothing for oratory, which I have heard him call "a flash in the pan"; he delighted in the plain, solid gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that he would have said to me,Give them Christ crucified, and salvation by grace through faith, as plainly as ever you can; for when he was sore sick and in the very agony of death, he repeated as his dying creed and in his own quaint way he added, "They may talk as much as ever they like, but the whole of it lies in Jack the Huckster's verse You will find that story in the first volume of my sermons.See No. 47. "Christ's Prayer for his People." In Park-street early in my ministry I told the story, and it did my friend good, and helped to rest his soul all those years ago, so that he remembered it and repeated it at the last. For his sake let me tell it again.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἢ | e | or | G2228 → | 342 times |
| τίς | tis | Who | G5101 → | 563 times |
| καταβήσεται | katabesetai | will descend | G2597 → | |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄβυσσον; | abusson | abyss?’ | G12 → | |
| τοῦτ᾽ | tout᾽ | That | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| ἔστιν | estin | is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| Χριστὸν | christon | Christ | G5547 → | 523 times |
| ἐκ | ek | out from | G1537 → | 911 times |
| νεκρῶν | nekron | [the] dead | G3498 → | 128 times |
| ἀναγαγεῖν. | anagagein | to bring up. | G321 → |
ἢor
eG2228 →342 times
τίςWho
tisG5101 →563 times
καταβήσεταιwill descend
katabesetaiG2597 →
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
ἄβυσσον;abyss?’
abussonG12 →
τοῦτ᾽That
tout᾽G3778 →1381 times
ἔστινis
estinG1510 →2333 times
ΧριστὸνChrist
christonG5547 →523 times
ἐκout from
ekG1537 →911 times
νεκρῶν[the] dead
nekronG3498 →128 times
ἀναγαγεῖν.to bring up.
anagageinG321 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Peter 3:18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 9:28
so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.
- Hebrews 9:26
Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by…
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
Through
Revelation 1:18the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
it leads to
- Romans 6:9
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has dominion over Him.
- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Romans 14:8–9
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- Psalms 68:20
Our God is a God of deliverance; the Lord GOD is our rescuer from death.
- Romans 6:9
Through
Hebrews 13:20Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
it leads to
- John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- John 10:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Romans
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1700: “A Monument for the Dead, and a Voice to the Living” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Diodorus of Tarsus, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Frederic Godet, Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 17; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.