and the way of peace they have not known.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The way of peace, they haven’t known.”
- KJV And the way of peace have they not known:
- NKJV And the way of peace they have not known.”
- NASB And they have not known the way of peace.”
- NLT They don’t know where to find peace.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
People have not known the way of peace. Apart from God, true peace remains beyond human reach.
Overview
Quoting Isaiah 59:8, Paul observes that fallen humanity is ignorant of the path to genuine peace. Sin alienates people from God and from one another. The gospel answers this directly, for through Christ believers are justified and 'have peace with God' (Romans 5:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Isa 59:8The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
- Rom 5:1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Luke 1:79to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
- Matt 7:14But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
- Isa 57:21“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 3:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.