but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
Parallel translations
- WEB but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness.
- KJV But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
- NKJV but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
- NASB however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law.
- NLT But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded.
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
Israel, though pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain it. Their zealous effort to earn standing before God ended in failure.
Overview
In contrast to the believing Gentiles (v. 30), Israel pursued righteousness through the law yet failed to reach it. Their problem was not the law itself but their approach to it. By seeking acceptance through works rather than faith, they missed the very righteousness they sought, as Paul explains in the next verse. This sets up the contrast between law-keeping and faith that dominates the following chapter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Rom 11:7What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- Rom 3:20Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
- Jas 2:10–11Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
- Gal 5:3–4Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
- Rom 10:2–4For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- Rom 4:14–15For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,
- Gal 3:21Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.
- Gal 3:10–11All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Phil 3:6as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
- Isa 51:1“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut, and to the quarry from which you were hewn.
- Rom 9:30–32What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
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 9:31 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.