complete verse (Romans 10:18)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 10:18:

  • Uma: “But let’s not say/think like this: ‘The Israel people, they haven’t yet heard the Good News.’ They have heard it! In the Holy Book it is written like this: ‘The News spread to the whole world, Those words were announced to all mankind.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But there is something I ask: Didn’t the people of Isra’il hear the story/news about Isa Almasi that’s why they do not believe? They indeed really heard. For the holy-book says, ‘The people commanded by God are telling all people and their words are well-known in the whole world/earth.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And certainly someone will say, ‘No wonder the Jews didn’t believe, because they haven’t heard this preaching.’ However, it’s not possible that they haven’t heard, for there is a written word of God which says, ‘As for this word, the telling of it has spread to all mankind, and there is no end to where it has been spread,’ he said.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “All right, let me ask this. Is it perhaps possible that the Jews didn’t hear concerning Cristo? They indeed heard, because what God caused-to-be-written says, ‘Their words/voices/speech have been heard in even any place; what they have said has been made-known in all towns/countries on the earth.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning the Jews, in that they did not believe the word, is that they didn’t hear about the word? Truly they heard about the word. Because it says in the Holy Book the word which says: ‘This word, everywhere is heard this word spoken by the preachers. Because the word is taken all over the world.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 10:18

Paul now begins to direct himself specifically to those Jews who have rejected the Christian message. Once again the Good News Translation supplies the understood object of the verb hear, namely, the message (An American Translation* and New English Bible “it,” with “message” as the antecedent).

Of course they did is a strong emphatic particle in Greek; in 9.20 it appears as but. The question and emphatic response may be transformed into a strong statement: “but it is certainly true that they did indeed hear the message” or “but most certainly they did hear the message.”

Since Paul introduces another scripture quotation here, the Good News Translation makes the identification clear with the words as the scripture says. Paul quotes directly from the Septuagint of Psalm 19.4, and he uses this passage to prove that the Christian message has gone to all the earth.

There is a problem in the reference of their in the quotation cited from Psalm 19.4. In the manner in which Paul employs this quotation one may justify employing a translation such as “the sound of the voices of the messengers went out to all the people in the world.”

If one translates literally the sound of their voices it might imply “meaningless sound.” Something which might have meaning would be “the words of their voices,” “the words which they spoke aloud,” or “the words which they spoke with their mouths.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .