Romans 3:11

The context

Romans 3 concludes the indictment Paul has built since chapter 1. Verses 10 to 18 are a chain of quotations from the psalms and Isaiah, assembled to show that Jew and Gentile stand alike under sin. Verse 11 is the second link in the chain, and it is followed by throat, tongue, lips, and feet.

What it establishes

The verse establishes the diagnosis the letter depends on: the problem is not ignorance that education could fix, but a settled refusal to seek. It is the ground of the argument that righteousness must come as a gift rather than a reward.

What it does not establish

It does not claim that every person is as bad as possible. The chain is a pastiche of laments applied to humanity as a whole. Nor does it mean no one inquires after God; the same letter has Gentiles attaining what they never pursued.

Short note, first pass, October 2026. Corrections welcome.

Cited in these answers

• According to 2 Timothy 2:25, it is GOD who grants repentance. Yet, somehow, it is WE who are held responsible for our fate?

Part of Scripture, Opened — the exegetical layer behind every citation on this site. Scripture quotations are from the ESV.