That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
- BSB I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
- NKJV that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
- NASB that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart.
- NLT My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief
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
Paul confesses that he carries great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart. His grief is over his fellow Israelites who have not embraced the Messiah.
Overview
Having sworn his sincerity in v. 1, Paul now states its cause: a deep, continual heartache. Though he does not yet name the reason explicitly, the following verses make clear it is Israel's unbelief in Christ. This sorrow shows that the doctrine of God's sovereign election (the chapter's theme) does not produce coldness but rather intensifies compassion for the lost.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Phil 3:18(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
- Jer 13:17But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.
- Lam 3:51Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
- Ps 119:136Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.
- Rom 10:1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
- Luke 19:41–44And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
- Jer 9:1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
- Ezek 9:4And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
- Lam 3:48–49Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
- 1 Sam 15:35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
- Rev 11:3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
- Isa 66:10Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
- Lam 1:12Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:2 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.