“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Parallel translations
- WEB “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
- KJV There is no fear of God before their eyes.
- BSB “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
- NKJV “Thereis no fear of God before their eyes.”
- NLT “They have no fear of God at all.”
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
At the root of all this sin is a lack of reverence for God. The fear of God is missing from the human heart.
Overview
Paul concludes his catena of quotations with Psalm 36:1, identifying the absence of the fear of God as the foundation of human wickedness. Without reverence for God, every other restraint collapses. This diagnosis points to the heart of the problem that only the gospel, by renewing reverence and love for God, can heal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 36:1For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of Yahweh. An inner sanctuary is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked: “There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
- Prov 23:17Don’t let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
- Prov 16:6By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of Yahweh men depart from evil.
- Prov 8:13The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
- Gen 20:11Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’
- Rev 19:5A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!”
- Luke 23:40But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:18 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.