Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 3:9

"What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin;" — Romans 3:9 (ASV)

Are we better than they? — "Can we claim a preference?" The form of the Greek verb is peculiar. It seems, overall, best to take it as middle voice instead of active voice. This would be apparently unprecedented but is linguistically tenable and seems to be required by the context. There is no real opposition between the by no means of the reply and the much every way of Romans 3:2. In the latter, the reference was to external advantages; here, it is to real and essential worth in the sight of God. It is as if to say, "For all our advantages, are we really better?"

Proved. — Instead, adopt the marginal rendering: For we before charged both Jews and Gentiles with being all under sin.

The verses are a striking instance of the way in which the Apostle weaves together passages taken from different sources. This practice also provides an example of the corruptions in the text of the Old Testament to which it gave rise. The whole passage, as it stands here, is found in some manuscripts of the Septuagint as part of Psalm 14:0, from which it has been copied not only into the Vulgate but also into our own Prayer Book, which will be seen to differ from the Bible version.

The quotations have different degrees of relevance, insofar as they are considered in the modern sense as probative rather than illustrative. The first, from Psalm 14:0, is expressed in such general terms as to be directly relevant. The second and third, from Psalm 5 and Psalm 140, are aimed specifically against the oppressors of the Psalmist. So too, the fourth, from Psalm 10:0, is aimed similarly but in a more general and abstract form. The quotation from Isaiah indicates the moral degradation among the prophet’s contemporaries that had led to the Captivity. Finally, the last quotation, from Psalm 36:0, is an expression applied not to all people, but particularly to the wicked.