For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
Parallel Translations
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For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
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For this cause god gave them vp vnto shamfull lustes. For even their wemen did chaunge the naturall vse vnto the vnnaturall.
And lyke wyse also the men lefte the naturall vse of the woman and bret in their lustes one on another. And man with man wrought filthynes and receaved in them selves the rewarde of their erroure as it was accordinge.
And as it semed not good vnto them to be aknowen of God even so God delivered them vp vnto a leawde mynd that they shuld do tho thinges which were not comly
beinge full of all vnrighteous doinge of fornicacio wickednes coveteousnes maliciousnes full of envie morther debate disseyte evill condicioned whisperers
backbyters haters of God doers of wronge proude bosters bringers vp of evyll thinges disobedient to father and mother
with out vnderstondinge covenaunte breakers vnlovinge trucebreakers and merciles.
Which men though they knew the rightewesnes of God how that they which soche thinges commyt are worthy of deeth yet not only do the same but also have pleasure in them that do them.
Show all 3 translations
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For this cause God gaue them vp vnto vile affections: for euen their women did change the naturall vse into that which is against nature.
And likewise also the men left the naturall vse of the woman, and burned in their lust one toward another, and man with man wrought filthinesse, and receiued in themselues such recompence of their errour, as was meete.
For as they regarded not to acknowledge God, euen so God deliuered them vp vnto a reprobate minde, to doe those things which are not conuenient,
Being full of all vnrighteousnesse, fornication, wickednes, couetousnes, maliciousnes, full of enuie, of murder, of debate, of deceit, taking all things in the euill part, whisperers,
Backbiters, haters of God, doers of wrong, proude, boasters, inuenters of euil things, disobedient to parents, without vnderstanding, couenant breakers, without naturall affection, such as can neuer be appeased, mercilesse.
Which men, though they knew ye Lawe of God, how that they which comit such things are worthie of death, yet not onely do the same, but also fauour them that doe them.
Cross-references (106)
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 (v28) and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be…
- Romans 1:21 (vv28, 32) Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart…
- Titus 1:16 (v28) They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- Leviticus 20:13 (v27) “ ‘If a man lies with a male, as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood…
- Jude 1:7 (v26) Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone…
Show all 100 cross-references
- Leviticus 18:22 (v27) “ ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable.
- 1 Timothy 1:10 (v26) for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound…
- Jeremiah 9:6 (v28) Your habitation is in the middle of deceit. Through deceit, they refuse to know me,” says Yahweh.
- Romans 1:24 (vv26, 28) Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
- Leviticus 18:22-28 (v26) “ ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman. That is detestable. “ ‘You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. No…
- Romans 1:23-24 (v27) and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, four-footed animals, and…
- Romans 2:1-5 (v32) Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who…
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 (v26) Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor…
- Romans 6:21 (v32) What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Ephesians 4:19 (v26) They, having become callous, gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
- Romans 1:18 (vv28, 32) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
- Psalms 50:18 (v32) When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers.
- Romans 8:7-8 (vv28, 30) because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be. Those who are in the…
- 2 Timothy 3:8 (v28) Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected.
- Genesis 19:5 (v26) They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with…
- Proverbs 5:12-13 (v28) and say, “How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to…
- Luke 11:48 (v32) So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.
- Romans 2:21-23 (v32) You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal? You who say a man…
- 2 Timothy 3:2 (v30) For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
- Jeremiah 4:22 (vv28, 31) “For my people are foolish. They don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil,…
- Job 21:14-15 (v28) They tell God, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit…
- Jeremiah 6:30 (v28) Men will call them rejected silver, because Yahweh has rejected them.”
- Acts 22:20 (v32) When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who…
- Judges 19:22 (v26) As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain wicked fellows, surrounded the house, beating at the door; and…
- Proverbs 1:7 (v28) The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- Proverbs 1:22 (v28) “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 1:29 (v28) because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh.
- Hosea 4:6 (v28) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to…
- 1 Corinthians 15:34 (v28) Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 (v28) in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the…
- 2 Corinthians 13:5-7 (v28) Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Jesus Christ is…
- Hosea 7:3 (v32) They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
- Mark 14:10-11 (v32) Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them. They, when they heard it,…
- 2 Corinthians 12:20 (v29) For I am afraid that by any means, when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you don’t…
- Ephesians 5:4 (v28) nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate, but rather giving of thanks.
- Ephesians 5:12 (v26) For it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8 (v28) punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Deuteronomy 23:17-18 (v26) There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel. You shall not bring the…
- Proverbs 17:16 (v28) Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, since he has no understanding?
- Proverbs 18:2 (v31) A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.
- Acts 8:1 (v32) Saul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all…
- Romans 1:26 (v28) For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
- Romans 1:28 (v26) Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5 (v26) not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God,
- 2 Timothy 3:3 (v31) without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good,
- Proverbs 16:28 (v29) A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.
- Acts 17:23 (v28) For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What…
- Romans 3:11 (v31) There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.
- 2 Peter 3:5 (v28) For this they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God,
- Jude 1:16 (v30) These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain…
- Psalms 41:7 (v29) All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.
- Proverbs 26:20 (v29) For lack of wood a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
- Acts 17:32 (v28) Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”
- 2 Corinthians 10:5 (v28) throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to…
- Philemon 1:8 (v28) Therefore though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate,
- 2 Peter 2:18 (v30) For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping…
- Jude 1:10 (v26) But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the…
- Isaiah 33:8 (v31) The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn’t respect man.
- Matthew 15:16 (v31) So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand?
- Titus 3:3 (v30) For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating…
- James 3:5 (v30) So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
- James 4:16 (v30) But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
- Numbers 10:35 (v30) When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!”
- Deuteronomy 7:10 (v30) and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face.
- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (v30) If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten…
- Deuteronomy 27:16 (v30) ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- 1 Kings 20:11 (v30) The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’ ”
- 2 Kings 18:14-37 (v31) Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, “I have offended you. Return from me. That which you put on me, I…
- 2 Chronicles 19:2 (v30) Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate…
- 2 Chronicles 25:19 (v30) You say to yourself that you have struck Edom; and your heart lifts you up to boast. Now stay at home. Why should you meddle with trouble,…
- Psalms 49:6 (v30) Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—
- Psalms 52:1 (v30) Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.
- Psalms 81:15 (v30) The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
- Psalms 94:4 (v30) They pour out arrogant words. All the evildoers boast.
- Psalms 97:7 (v30) Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
- Psalms 99:8 (v30) You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.
- Psalms 106:39 (v30) Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
- Proverbs 8:36 (v30) But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.”
- Proverbs 25:23 (v30) The north wind produces rain; so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.
- Ecclesiastes 7:29 (v30) Behold, I have only found this: that God made man upright; but they search for many schemes.”
- Isaiah 27:11 (v31) When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding.…
- Ezekiel 22:7 (v30) In you have they treated father and mother with contempt. Among you they have oppressed the foreigner. In you they have wronged the…
- Matthew 15:4 (v30) For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- Matthew 16:21 (v30) From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and…
- Luke 21:16 (v30) You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death.
- John 15:23-24 (v30) He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now…
- Acts 5:36 (v30) For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves.…
- Romans 2:17 (v30) Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, rest on the law, glory in God,
- Romans 2:23 (v30) You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
- Romans 3:27 (v30) Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
- 2 Corinthians 10:15 (v30) not boasting beyond proper limits in other men’s labors, but having hope that as your faith grows, we will be abundantly enlarged by you in…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (v30) he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting…
- Psalms 10:3 (v30) For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns Yahweh.
- Proverbs 30:17 (v30) “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall…
- John 7:7 (v30) The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (106 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (24 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv26–32 26. God therefore gave them up, etc. After having…
26. God therefore gave them up, etc. After having introduced as it were an intervening clause, he returns to what he had before stated respecting the judgment of God: and he brings, as the first example, the dreadful crime of unnatural lust; and it hence appears that they not only abandoned themselves to beastly lusts, but became degraded beyond the beasts, since they reversed the whole order of nature. He then enumerates a long catalogue of vices which had existed in all ages, and then prevailed everywhere without any restraint.
It is not to the purpose to say, that every one was not laden with so great a mass of vices; for in arraigning the common baseness of men, it is proof enough if all to a man are constrained to acknowledge some faults. So then we must consider, that Paul here records those abominations which had been common in all ages, and were at that time especially prevalent everywhere; for it is marvelous how common then was that filthiness which even brute beasts abhor; and some of these vices were even popular. And he recites a catalogue of vices, in some of which the whole race of man were involved; for though all were not murderers, or thieves, or adulterers, yet there were none who were not found polluted by some vice or another. He calls those disgraceful passions, which are shameful even in the estimation of men, and redound to the dishonoring of God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv27, 28, 30, 31 A meet reward for their deserts.
A meet reward for their deserts.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv26–32 26 For this cause God gave them up unto…
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Ver. 26. Into that which is against nature] So against nature, that children (natures end) and posterity is utterly lost by it. Paul seems to point here at Messalina (that shame of her sex), the wife of Claudius the emperor.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv26–32 For this cause; i.e. for their idolatry and uncleanness…
For this cause; i.e. for their idolatry and uncleanness both, for now their idolatry is aggravated by the uncleanness accompanying it.
Vile affections; Gr. affections of dishonour, i.e. the most dishonourable and shameful affections; for as we are exhorted, 1Th 4:4,5, to possess our vessels in honour, that is, to withhold our body from uncleanness; so they that give up themselves to uncleanness, dishonour themselves and their own bodies; see 1Co 6:18; if they, as this scripture tells us, that commit fornication dishonour their own bodies; then much more do they that practise the unnatural uncleanness hereafter mentioned.
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For even their women, &c.; i.e γυναικες ανδριζονται, so Clem. Alexandr. Ad praeposteros et sodomiticos concubitus sese maribus prostituerunt. See Paraeus: a filthy practice not to be named, Eph 5:3.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv29, 32 Here the apostle sums up the sins which the…
Here the apostle sums up the sins which the Heathens committed against the second table, or against their neighbour; not that every particular person was guilty of all these black crimes, but all were guilty of some, and some perhaps were guilty of all or most of them.
Learn hence, That the heart of man doth natually swarm and abound with stange and monstrous lusts and abominations. Lord! what a swarm is here! and yet there are multitudes more in the depths of the heart. Whatever abominations were found in the hearts and lives of Heathens and Sodomites, and the most profligate wretches under heaven, are radically and seminally in our corrupt and degenerate natures, Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, &c. Mat 15:19 What are our lusts, but so many toads spitting of venom and spawning of poison? Oh deplorable degradation!
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Learn, 2. How much sadder is the condition which unregenerate souls abide in, who remain in and under the power and dominion, the vassalage and slavery of these imperious lusts, which perpetually rage within them, and incessantly contest and scuffle for the throne.
Learn 3. To stand astonished at the heart-changing grace of God, which has delivered thee from so dismal a condition. Oh! fall down and kiss the feet of mercy: adore the sovereignty and freeness of divine grace, which stept in so seasonably to thy rescue. Lord! what black imaginations, what vile affections, what hellish desires, what monstrous abominations were lodged in my heart and nature, before regeneration wrought a change!
Oh that ever the Holy Ghost should set his eyes upon any of the sinful offspring of apostate Adam; in whom were legions of unclean lusts, and whose nature was become the sink and seed-plot of all sin.
Observe lastly, Two particular sins, which of all others seem most monstrous in these Heathens.
1. They were haters of God, not of his essence, being and goodness, but haters of his holiness, justice and providence.
2. They were without natural affection. This appeared by sacrificing their children to their idols; and exposing themselves and their dearest relations to ruin. No sooner did we fall out with God, but we fell out with ourselves and one another.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv26–32 For this cause God gave them up unto vile…
For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections,.... Because of their idolatrous practices, God left them to very dishonourable actions, sodomitical ones, both among the men and women:
for even the women did change the natural use into that which is against nature; either by prostituting themselves to, and complying with the "sodomitical" embraces of men, in a way that is against nature (h); or by making use of such ways and methods with themselves, or other women, to gratify their lusts, which were never designed by nature for such an use: of these vicious women, and their practices, Seneca (i) speaks, when he says,
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"libidine veto nec maribus quidem cedunt, pati natae; Dii illas Deoeque, male perdant; adeo perversum commentae, genus impudicitiae, viros ineunt:''
also Clemens Alexandrinus (k) has respect to such, saying,
"gunaikev andrizontai para fusin, gamou men ai te kai .'
and such there were among the Jews, whom they call (l), and whom the priests were forbidden to marry.
(h) Vid. R. Sol Jarchi in Gen. xxiv. 16. (i) Epist. 95. (k) Paedagog. l. 3. p. 226. (l) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 65. 2. Piske Tosaph. ib. artic. 266. Yevamot, fol. 76. 1. & Piske Tosaph. ib. art. 141. Maimonides in Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 4. & Hilchot Issure Bia, c. 21. sect. 8, 9.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv26–32 Therefore God gave them up to vile affections -…
Therefore God gave them up to vile affections - To which the heathen Roman were then abandoned to the last degree; and none more than the emperors themselves.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv26–32 Verse 26. For this cause God gave them up,…
Verse 26. For this cause God gave them up, c.] Their system of idolatry necessarily produced all kinds of impurity. How could it be otherwise, when the highest objects of their worship were adulterers, fornicators, and prostitutes of the most infamous kind, such as Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Venus, &c.? Of the abominable evils with which the apostle charges the Gentiles in this and the following verse I could produce a multitude of proofs from their own writings but it is needless to make the subject plainer than the apostle has left it.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 32 Rom 1:26-27. For this cause — To punish them…
Rom 1:26-27. For this cause — To punish them for their inexcusable neglect, or contempt rather, of the ever-blessed God; and for all their idolatries and impieties; God gave them up unto vile affections — Abandoned them to the most infamous passions, to which the heathen Romans were enslaved to the last degree, and none more than the emperors themselves. For even their women — From whom the strictest modesty might reasonably be expected; did change the natural use of their bodies into that which is against nature — Prostituting and abusing them in the most abominable manner. Likewise also the men burned in their lust one toward another — “How just the apostle’s reflections are, and how pertinently he has placed this most abominable abuse of human nature at the head of the vices into which the heathen world were fallen, will be seen, if we observe that Cicero, the greatest philosopher in Rome, a little before the gospel was preached, in his book concerning the nature of the gods, (where may be found a thousand idle sentiments upon that subject,) introduces, without any mark of disapprobation, Cotta, a man of the first rank and genius, freely and familiarly owning, to other Romans of the same quality, this worse than beastly vice, as practised by himself; and quoting the authority of ancient philosophers in vindication of it. See lib. 1. sec. 28. Nay, and do we not even find the most elegant and correct, both of the Greek and Latin poets, avowing this vice, and even celebrating the objects of their abominable affection? Indeed, it is well known that this most detestable vice was long and generally practised, by all sorts of men, philosophers and others. Whence we may conclude that the apostle has done justice to the Gentile world in the other instances of their corruption.” — Dodd. Receiving in themselves that recompense of their error — Their idolatry; which was meet — Being punished with that unnatural lust, which was as horrible a dishonour to their bodies as their idolatry was to God, and with various bodily infirmities, disorders, and sufferings consequent on such abominable practices, rendering their lives most miserable on earth, and bringing them to an untimely grave, and an eternal hell. The reader will observe, “the apostle is not speaking simply of the Greeks committing the uncleanness which he mentions, but of their lawgivers authorizing these vices by their public institutions of religion, by their avowed doctrine, and by their own practice. With respect to fornication, the heathen actually made it a part of the worship of their deities. At Corinth, for example, as Strabo informs us, lib. 8. p. 581, there was a temple of Venus, where more than a thousand courtesans (the gift of pious persons of both sexes) prostituted themselves in honour of the goddess; and that thus the city was crowded, and became wealthy. In the court of the temple of Venus, at Cnidus, there were tents placed under the trees for the same lewd purposes. Lucian., Dial. Amores. With respect to sodomy, it is not so commonly known that it was practised by the heathen as a part of their religious worship; yet, in the history which is given of Josiah’s endeavours to destroy idolatry, there is direct evidence of it, 2Ki 23:7. That the Greek philosophers of the greatest reputation were guilty not only of fornication, but even of sodomy, is affirmed by ancient authors of good reputation. With the latter crime, Tertullian and Nazianzen have charged Socrates himself, in passages of their writings quoted by Estius. The same charge Athenæus, a heathen writer, hath brought against him, Deipnosophist, lib. 13.; not to speak of Lucian, who, in many passages of his writings, hath directly accused him of that vice. When, therefore, the statesmen, the philosophers, and the priests, notwithstanding they enjoyed the light of nature, improved by science, thus avowedly addicted themselves to the most abominable uncleannesses; nay, when the gods whom they worshipped were supposed by them to be guilty of the same enormities; when their temples were brothels, their pictures invitations to sin, their sacred groves places of prostitution, and their sacrifices a horrid mixture of superstition and cruelty; there was certainly the greatest need of the gospel revelation, to make mankind sensible of their brutality, and to bring them to a more holy practice. That some, professing Christianity, are guilty of the crimes of which we have been speaking, is true. But it is equally true, that their religion does not, like the religion of the heathen, encourage them in their crimes; but deters them, by denouncing, in the most direct terms, the heaviest wrath of God against all who are guilty of them. Besides, the gospel, by its divine light, hath led the nations to correct their civil laws; so that in every Christian country these enormities are prohibited, and when discovered are punished with the greatest severity. The gospel, therefore, hath made us far more knowing, and, I may add, more virtuous, than the most enlightened and most polished of the heathen nations were formerly.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv26–32 For this cause - On account of what had…
For this cause - On account of what had just been specified; to wit, that they did not glorify him as God, that they were unthankful, that they became polytheists and idolaters. In the previous verses he had stated their speculative belief. He now proceeds to show its practical influences on their conduct.
Vile affections - Disgraceful passions or desires. That is, to those which are immediately specified. The great object of the apostle here, it will be remembered, is to shew the state of the pagan world, and to prove that they had need of some other way of justification than the law of nature. For this purpose, it was necessary for him to enter into a detail of their sins. The sins which he proceeds to specify are the most indelicate, vile, and degrading which can be charged on man. But this is not the fault of the apostle. If they existed, it was necessary for him to charge them on the pagan world. His argument would not be complete without it. The shame is not in specifying them, but in their existence; not in the apostle, but in those who practiced them, and imposed on him the necessity of accusing them of these enormous offences. It may be further remarked, that the mere fact of his charging them with these sins is strong presumptive proof of their being practiced. If they did not exist, it would be easy for them to deny it, and put him to the proof of it. No man would venture charges like these without evidence; and the presumption is, that these things were known and practiced without shame. But this is not all. There is still abundant proof on record in the writings of the pagan themselves, that these crimes were known and extensively practiced.
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For even their women ... - Evidence of the shameful and disgraceful fact here charged on the women is abundant in the Greek and Roman writers. Proof may be seen, which it would not be proper to specify, in the lexicons, under the words τριζὰς ὄλισβον trizas olisbon, and ἑταιρίστης hetairistēs. See also Seneca, epis. 95; Martial, epis. i. 90. Tholuck on the State of the pagan World, in the Biblical Repository, vol. ii.; Lucian, Dial. Meretric. v.; and Tertullian de Pallio.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32 God delivered them up. Not by being author of…
God delivered them up. Not by being author of their sins, but by withdrawing his grace, and so permitting them, in punishment of their pride, to fall into those shameful sins. (Challoner)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 28, 30, 32 For this cause God gave them up--(See on Rom…
For this cause God gave them up--(See on Rom 1:24).
for even their women--that sex whose priceless jewel and fairest ornament is modesty, and which, when that is once lost, not only becomes more shameless than the other sex, but lives henceforth only to drag the other sex down to its level.
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did change, &c.--The practices here referred to, though too abundantly attested by classic authors, cannot be further illustrated, without trenching on things which "ought not to be named among us as become the saints." But observe how vice is here seen consuming and exhausting itself. When the passions, scourged by violent and continued indulgence in natural vices, became impotent to yield the craved enjoyment, resort was had to artificial stimulants by the practice of unnatural and monstrous vices. How early these were in full career, in the history of the world, the case of Sodom affectingly shows; and because of such abominations, centuries after that, the land of Canaan "spued out" its old inhabitants. Long before this chapter was penned, the Lesbians and others throughout refined Greece had been luxuriating in such debasements; and as for the Romans, TACITUS, speaking of the emperor Tiberius, tells us that new words had then to be coined to express the newly invented stimulants to jaded passion. No wonder that, thus sick and dying as was this poor humanity of ours under the highest earthly culture, its many-voiced cry for the balm in Gilead, and the Physician there, "Come over and help us," pierced the hearts of the missionaries of the Cross, and made them "not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!"
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv26, 29, 30, 31, 32 26, 27. The apostle, holding the intensity of depravation…
26, 27. The apostle, holding the intensity of depravation in the sexual direction to be both the most signal instance of man’s depth of wickedness, and, as in a manner, both the accompaniment and cause of every other wickedness, recurs to and expatiates over it with a fascinated abhorrence.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 26. For this cause] Resuming Rom_1:24.
26. For this cause] Resuming Rom_1:24.
vile affections] Lit. passions of disgrace; stamped with essential degradation. (Far different is the Greek, where (in E. V.) the same word “vile” appears, in Php_3:21 : “the body of humiliation.”) On this and the next verse we must not comment in detail. The hideous vices here plainly named, one of them in particular, frightfully deface some of the very fairest pages of ancient literature. The tremendous condemnations of Scripture have made the like display almost impossible in modern writings; but the human heart is the same. (Jer_17:9.)
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It is noteworthy (as an act of tenderness, perhaps,) that the sin of Rom_1:26 is touched more rapidly than that of Rom_1:27. It is also remarkable that in the Greek we have not “women” and “men,” but “females” and “males.”—Bengel’s remark on this passage is excellent: “Often, in exposing sin, we must call a spade a spade (scapha debet scapha dici). They often insist on an excessive delicacy who themselves are void of modesty.” These words apply to many passages of Scripture besides this.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv27–32 (27) In themselves—i.e., upon themselves, upon their own persons…
(27) In themselves—i.e., upon themselves, upon their own persons thus shamefully dishonoured.
That recompence of their error which was meet.—The “error” is the turning from God to idols. The “recompence of the error” is seen in these unnatural excesses to which the heathen have been delivered up.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv26, 27, 28, 29, 32 For this cause God gave them up (paredwke ,…
For this cause God gave them up (paredwke , as before) to vile affections (payh atimiav , i.e. "passions of infamy;" cf. above, tou atimazesyai). For the use, on the other hand, of the words timh and timiov to denote seemly and honourable indulgence of the sexual affections, cf. 1Th_4:4 (To eautou skeuov ktasyai en agiasmw kai timh) and Heb_13:4 (Timiov o gamov en pasi kai h koith amiantov). For their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 29, 32 For this cause God gave them up to vile…
Rom_1:26-32
For this cause God gave them up to vile affections.
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Human depravity
I. The cause of all this gross ignorance and corruption is assigned in Rom_1:28. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
1. The expression plainly assumes Gods having been known, and that the cause of corruption and loss of the original knowledge was entirely of a moral nature. This will appear--
(1) From the word itself--they did not like. Inability: whether arising from the want of evidence, or opportunity to observe, or capacity to understand it, is not alleged. The word clearly expresses the voluntariness of the defection, the indisposition to keep the knowledge as the true cause of the loss of it.
(2) From the consequence which followed in the Divine procedure: God gave them over to a reprobate mind, etc., is clearly judicial. Nothing of this description could ever be inflicted on account of mere deficiency of intellect, but must be connected with the disposition or state of the heart.
2. The true character of God it is impossible that corrupt creatures should relish. As a creature in love with sin, he wishes to believe that God is such an one as himself. In this way idolatry becomes an evidence of the deep and universal depravity of the human heart. This view of the case accords well with the character of the gods many and lords many of the heathen world. Men love sin; and they make their gods sinners, that they may practise evil under their sanction and patronage. The worship of their gods is such as might be anticipated from their characters. They consist, not merely of the most senseless fooleries and extravagances, but of the most disgusting impurities, and the most iron-hearted cruelties.
II. The consequences are clearly represented in Rom_1:26; Rom_1:28, as bringing upon them the just displeasure of a forgotten and insulted God.
1. God gave them over to vile affections, to a reprobate mind. God is not represented as infusing any evil principles; but simply as leaving them to the unrestrained operation of the principles of evil already in them. What an awful curse this was, will sufficiently appear from the portrait in the passage before us. The various evils are represented as not convenient--not becoming--against all propriety and all law; and as abounding--personal and social life being filled with them. The description shows the fearful length to which the corrupt affections of a reprobate mind will carry those who are given up to their unchecked dominion. We are not, it is true, to suppose all the evils enumerated to exist in individual characters. Many of them are of such different kinds that they could not exist together. It is with nations as with individuals. Some of the features of the picture may appear with more or less of characteristic aggravation or diminution, according to particular circumstances. But of the general state of the Gentile world, at that time and still the outline here drawn, hideous as it is, is not overcharged, but faithful to nature and to fact.
2. The displays of eternal power and Godhead in the works of God rendered mens forgetfulness and ignorance of Him without excuse. In like manner, the wickedness here described was also rendered inexcusable by what is stated in Rom_1:32. The judgment originally pronounced by Jehovah against sin was death. Of this tradition could not fail to carry down some remembrance, and tradition had the assistance of natural conscience. And while the sentence of death was thus engraven on the memories and consciences of sinful men, the early and singular institution of animal sacrifices spoke the very same language. And so did the regular fulfilment of the original sentence against sin--Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return; together with all the judgments by which the Supreme Ruler manifested His displeasure against sin. Men, then, knew, and ought to have kept in mind, the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death. Yet, instead of this, they cast off all restraint. Instead of striving against sin they strove to rid their minds of every check to the commission of it. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Sin
I. Its name is legion.
II. Its nature is devilish.
III. Its effect is demoralising.
IV. Its judgment is death. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Sin its own punishment
I. In the sins here enumerated. Which were--
1. Senseless;
2. Filthy;
3. Inhuman;
4. Self-deceptive;
5. God dishonouring.
II. In their effects, such as--
1. Health impaired and bodily frame debilitated.
2. Mental faculties enfeebled.
3. Conscience seared, and moral sense weakened and degraded.
4. Finer feelings and delicate sensibilities blunted and extinguished.
5. Incapacity to appreciate the natural affections.
6. Insensibility to the noble and good, the beautiful, and true. (T. Robinson, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 26. For this cause. Because of the apostasy just…
26. For this cause. Because of the apostasy just described. God gave them up. Abandoned them to their own course, and thus it was shown to what depths men will fall without God. To vile passions. Vile, shameless, sensual indulgence, such as cannot now be named. The sodomy referred to here was common in the first century among the Romans, and is often spoken of without a sense of shame by their writers. It was prohibited neither by religion nor law, and was acknowledged without shame.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv26–32 26. “Therefore God gave them up to the lusts…
26. “Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of dishonor.”…
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv26–32 For this cause God gave them up unto vile…
For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature :
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v28 did not like
did not like
refused to have. Lit. did not approve God.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v26 The depths of immorality and godlessness:
The depths of immorality and godlessness:
v. 26. For this cause God gave them up into vile affections; for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature;
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v. 27. and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.
v. 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient;
v. 29. being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
v. 30. backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
v. 31. without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful;
v. 32. who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Here is a striking and terrible arraignment and characterization of the Gentile world in the time of Paul and of the unbelieving world of all times. It was because the Gentiles persisted in their idolatrous practices and refused to give heed to the knowledge which was before their eyes, which was actually bombarding their intelligence on every hand, that God gave them over, abandoned them: they fell to the very lowest depths which bestial passions may reach, into lusts and desires of dishonor and shame. The heinousness of their transgression is marked by the words referring to the sex of the transgressors, for they became guilty of the most unnatural and revolting filthiness, since the persons of the female sex among them (they can no longer be designated as women) changed the natural use according to God’s divine institution into one altogether at variance with nature, women practicing unchastity with women. And in the same way the persons of the male sex abandoned, gave up, the natural use of the opposite sex within the bonds of holy matrimony, and burned in their venereal lust and desire toward one another, males perpetrating shameless acts with males, and receiving the reward, the punishment for their error, for their willful, grievous departure from the order of God. It was necessary that they be punished in themselves, in their own bodies; it was demanded by the holiness and righteousness of God. The punishment for the sins of unchastity here referred to is in proportion to their unnaturalness and to the extent of the sinners’ departure from the service of the true God to all manner of base idolatry.
The apostle now adds another factor in the guilt of the idolaters. Just as they did not consider God worthy of being kept and regarded in their knowledge, God has also abandoned them to their reprobate mind. Their conduct and the consequences of their action are again placed in relation to each other. God had given them the opportunity to know Him, the book of nature was open before their eyes, and they could and did read the revelation offered there. But they refused to accept the finding of their own intelligence; they did not consider it worthwhile to seek the true God; they did not want to retain the true knowledge of God. A reprobate mind they showed, and to this mind they were condemned. They have lost all moral discrimination, and therefore they are abandoned to their nefarious acts, to do those things which are not proper. The apostle gives a long catalog of their sins in which they find their delight. See 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:19 ff. ; 1Ti 1:9 ff. ; 2Ti 3:2 ff. They are filled with, their hearts and minds know nothing but, unrighteousness, they delight in violating not only all divine, but also all human laws, especially such as pertain to the welfare of their neighbor. They are filled with wickedness, with the delight in doing evil, with badness or depravity, with covetousness that seeks only its own advantage. They are full of various vices: envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity. The envious person begrudges his neighbor every advantage, and often reaches the point in which he plans and puts into execution his removal. And if it does not come to that point, there will be quarrels, maligning and calumniating talk. Body and life, money and goods, honor and good name, are attacked by people that have abandoned God and, in turn, have been abandoned by Him. The third group includes, in general, such people as have lost all sense of morality and decency: slanderous whisperers, that welcome every opportunity to harm the reputation of their neighbor; insolent persons hated by God, people that make it a practice to treat their neighbors with abject vileness; overbearing boasters, that put themselves forward at the expense of others, that boast and brag about their real and imaginary advantages and virtues; inventors of all evil and malice which wickedness can devise to harm their neighbor; disobedient to parents, denying even natural affection: without understanding, refusing to accept advice from anyone else; without all natural affection of love; without mercy, absolutely callous toward the needs and distress of others; in short, they have denied all human feeling and sympathy, they have become unnatural monsters. And all this because they would not accept God as their God. The depth of their profligacy is finally indicated by a summarizing sentence: Being such people, so constituted, that they knew the righteous judgment of God, fully conceding to Him the right to determine the relation of human beings toward one another, and fully aware also of the fact that all those that commit the sins mentioned by the apostle are guilty of death, yet they not only persist in doing them, but they also encourage obstinate malefactors in their persistent depravity.
This description of the godless world is strikingly correct at all times even in the midst of the highest intellectual enlightenment. If people deliberately take God’s honor away from Him and transfer it to creatures, the result will be that God will abandon them to the most terrible vices, uncleanness, unchastity, lack of charity and compassion, and every form of unrighteousness. Such conditions are not a mark of barbarism, but they are found in the very capitals of culture and learning in our days. The words of the apostle exactly characterize the situation in the world at the present time. Worship of heroes and mental giants has taken the place of true service of the revealed God. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, lasciviousness, unmentionable sins, are prevalent. Corruption, insatiable greed and covetousness, have taken the place of real humanity and altruism, and all efforts at reform, especially by means of legal enactment, are vain. The world is rapidly drifting toward the brink of an abyss and will shortly find to its horror that the Day of Judgment has dawned.
Summary
The apostle salutes the Christians at Rome, tells of his longing to see them and of the duty he owes them in the Gospel message, states the theme of his letter, and pictures the deep depravity of the Gentiles that refuse to heed the admonition of the natural knowledge of God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv26, 28, 29, 32 Because of this
Because of this
"Because of idolatry and sexual sin"
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God gave them over to
"God allowed them to indulge in"
dishonorable passions
"shameful sexual desires"
for their women
"because their women"
exchanged natural relations for those that were unnatural
The idea of relations "that were unnatural" is a euphemism for immoral sexuality. AT: "started practicing sexuality in a way God did not design" (See: Euphemism)
men also left their natural relations with women
Here "natural relations" is a euphemism for sexual relationships. AT: "many men stopped having natural sexual desire for women" (See: Euphemism)
burned in their lust for one another
"experienced strong sexual desire for other men"
committed shameless acts
"committed acts for which they should have been ashamed, but they were not ashamed"
men and received in themselves the penalty they deserved for their error
"men, and God has punished them justly for the error they committed"
error
moral wrong, not a mistake about facts
translationWords
dishonor
lust
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv26, 27, 28, 29, 32 1:26 women turned against the natural way: In this…
1:26 women turned against the natural way: In this context, natural way refers to the nature of the world as God made it. As in the Old Testament, Paul singles out homosexuality as a key illustration of how people have fallen away from worship of the true God (see Gen 19:1-28; Lev 18:22; 20:13; Deut 23:17-18). God created human beings as male and female, and engaging in homosexual activity is a violation of God’s creative intention.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.