Albert Barnes Commentary Romans 3:19

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God:" — Romans 3:19 (ASV)

Now we know. We all admit it. It is an acknowledged, plain point.

What things soever. Whether given as precepts or recorded as historical facts. Whatever things are found in the law.

The law saith. This evidently means the Old Testament here. The apostle had been drawing his arguments from it, and his train of thought requires us here to understand this as referring to the whole of the Old Testament. The same principle, however, applies to all law: it speaks only to those to whom it is expressly given.

It saith to them. It speaks to them for whom it was expressly intended, to those for whom the law was made. The apostle makes this remark to prevent the Jew from evading the force of his conclusion. He had brought proofs from their own acknowledged laws, from writings given expressly for them, which recorded their own history, and which they admitted to be divinely inspired. Therefore, they could not evade these proofs.

That every mouth may be stopped. This is, perhaps, a proverbial expression (Job 5:16; Psalms 107:42). It denotes that they would be thoroughly convinced, that the argument would be so conclusive that they would have nothing to reply, and that all objections would be silenced. Here it denotes that the argument from the Old Testament for the depravity of the Jews was so clear and satisfactory that nothing could be alleged in reply.

This may be regarded as the conclusion of his whole argument, and the expressions may refer not only to the Jews but to all the world. Its meaning may, perhaps, be expressed thus: "The Gentiles are proved guilty by their own deeds and by a violation of the laws of nature. They sin against their own conscience and have thus been shown to be guilty before God (Romans 1). The Jews have also been shown to be guilty; all their objections have been silenced by an independent line of reasoning, by appeals to their own law, and by arguments drawn from the authority which they admit. Thus, the mouths of both are stopped. Thus, the whole world becomes guilty before God."

I regard, therefore, the word "that" here—ina—as referring not particularly to the argument from the law of the Jews, but to the whole previous train of argument, embracing both Jews and Gentiles. His conclusion is thus general or universal, drawn from arguments adapted to the two great divisions of mankind.

And all the world. Both Jews and Gentiles, as the direction of the argument shows. That is, all by nature, all who are outside of Christ, all who are not pardoned. All are guilty where there is not some plan contemplating forgiveness and which is not applied to purify them. In all this argument, the apostle speaks of what man is, and always would be, without some plan of justification appointed by God.

May become. May be. They are not made guilty by the law; but the argument from the law, and from fact, proves that they are guilty.

Guilty before God. ὑπόδικος τῷ Θεῷ, (Margin: subject to the judgment of God). The phrase is taken from courts of justice. It applies to a man who has not vindicated or defended himself; against whom, therefore, the charge or indictment is found true, and who is consequently subject to punishment. The idea is that of subjection to punishment, but always because the man personally deserves it, and because, being unable to vindicate himself, he ought to be punished. It is never used to denote simply an obligation to punishment but with reference to the fact that the punishment is personally deserved. This word, rendered guilty, is not used elsewhere in the New Testament, nor is it found in the Septuagint. The argument of the apostle here shows:

1. That for guilt to exist, there must be a law, either that of nature or by revelation (Romans 1:1–3:31); and
2. That for guilt to exist, there must be a violation of that law which can be charged against them as individuals, and for which they are to be held personally responsible.