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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Romans 1:28-32 sits inside this longer paragraph.
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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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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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.
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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 (90)
- 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.
- Jeremiah 9:6 (v28) Your habitation is in the middle of deceit. Through deceit, they refuse to know me,” says Yahweh.
- Romans 1:24 (v28) Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
Show all 86 cross-references
- 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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- 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,
- 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.
- 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…
- 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.
- Romans 1:20-21 (v31) For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even…
86 distinct cross-references across this passage (90 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (23 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv28–32 28. And as they chose not, etc. There is…
28. And as they chose not, etc. There is an evident comparison to be observed in these words, by which is strikingly set forth the just relation between sin and punishment. As they chose not to continue in the knowledge of God, which alone guides our minds to true wisdom, the Lord gave them a perverted mind, which can choose nothing that is right. And by saying, that they chose not, (non probasse - approved not,) it is the same as though he had said, that they pursued not after the knowledge of God with the attention they ought to have done, but, on the contrary, turned away their thoughts resignedly from God. He then intimates, that they, making a depraved choice, preferred their own vanities to the true God; and thus the error, by which they were deceived, was voluntary.
To do those things which were not meet As he had hitherto referred only to one instance of abomination, which prevailed indeed among many, but was not common to all, he begins here to enumerate vices from which none could be found free: for though every vice, as it has been said, did not appear in each individual, yet all were guilty of some vices, so that every one might separately be accused of manifest depravity. As he calls them in the first instance not meet, understand him as saying, that they were inconsistent with every decision of reason, and alien to the duties of men: for he mentions it as an evidence of a perverted mind, that men addicted themselves, without any reflection, to those vices, which common sense ought to have led them to renounce.
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But it is labor in vain so to connect these vices, as to make them dependent one on another, since this was not Paul’s design; but he set them down as they occurred to his mind. What each of them signifies, we shall very briefly explain.
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 vv28, 30, 31 Into a mad and froward mind, whereby it cometh…
Into a mad and froward mind, whereby it cometh to pass, that the conscience being once put out, and having almost no more remorse of sin, men run headlong into all kinds of mischief.
He proveth the unrighteousness of man by a large rehearsal of many kinds of wickedness, from which (if not from all, yet at the least from many of them) no man is altogether free.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv28–32 28 And even as they did not like to…
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;
Ver. 28. To a reprobate mind] Or, an injudicious mind; or, a mind rejected, disallowed, abhorred of God; or a mind that none hath cause to glory in, but rather to be much ashamed of.
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 vv28–32 To retain God in their knowledge; or, to have…
To retain God in their knowledge; or, to have God in acknowledgment. The apostle proceeds to show the analogy betwixt their sin and their punishment. The evil he here taxed them with is much the same with that in Rom 1:21; though they had some knowledge of God, yet they did not acknowledge him as God, by glorifying him, and giving thanks to him; it did not seem good to them so to do.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind; or, an injudicious mind, a mind void of judgment. It is just and equal, that he, who in his judgment disapproves of God, should be left either to be of a corrupt judgment, or of none at all. The word may be taken passively, for a mind disapproved of God; or actively, for a mind which disapproves of all good. They were not given up to this reprobate mind all at once, but by degrees. First, they were given up to their own hearts’ lusts, Rom 1:24; then, to vile affections, Rom 1:26; and then, lastly, to a mind void of judgment; to such an evil habit, that they could do nothing but evil.
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 vv28–32 And even as they did not like,.... This accounts…
And even as they did not like,.... This accounts for the justness of the divine procedure in leaving them to commit such scandalous iniquities; that since they had some knowledge of God by the light of nature, and yet did not care
to retain God in their knowledge; or to own and acknowledge him as God, to worship and glorify him as such; but took every method to erase this knowledge out of their minds, and keep it from others:
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God gave them over to a reprobate mind; a vain empty mind, worthless, good for nothing devoid of all true knowledge and judgment; incapable of approving what is truly good, or of disapproving that which is evil; a mind that has lost all conscience of things, and is disapproved of by God, and all good men:
to do those things which are not convenient; which are neither agreeably to the light of nature, nor convenient to, or becoming the honour of human nature; things which the brutes themselves, who are destitute of reason, do not do.
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 vv28–32 God gave them up to an undiscerning mind -…
God gave them up to an undiscerning mind - Treated of, ver. 32. To do things not expedient - Even the vilest abominations, treated of ver. 29-31.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv28–32 Verse 28. They did not like to retain God]…
Verse 28. They did not like to retain God] It would, perhaps, be more literal to translate ουκ εδοκιμασαν, THEY DID NOT SEARCH to retain God in their knowledge. They did not examine the evidences before them (Ro 1:19; Ro 1:20) of his being and attributes; therefore God gave them over to a REPROBATE mind, εις αδοκιμον νουν, to an UNSEARCHING or undiscerning mind; for it is the same word in both places. They did not reflect on the proofs they had of the Divine nature, and God abandoned them to the operations of a mind incapable of reflection. How men of such powers and learning, as many of the Greek and Roman philosophers and poets really were, could reason so inconsecutively concerning things moral and Divine is truly astonishing. But here we see the hand of a just and avenging God; they abused their powers, and God deprived them of the right use of these powers.
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 vv28, 32 Rom 1:28-31. And as they did not like —…
Rom 1:28-31. And as they did not like — ουκ εδοκιμασαν, they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge — Or rather, as εχειν εν επιγνωσει more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They “did not approve of holding God as the object of the people’s acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law.” Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind — αδοκιμον νουν, an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of Rom 1:32. Men of this stamp are said, Eph 4:19, to be απηλγηκοτες, without feeling. To do things not convenient — Even the vilest abominations, treated of Rom 1:29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness — Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness — πονηρια, a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called ο πονηρος, the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness — Πλεονεξια, an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Col 3:5; maliciousness — κακια, a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to one’s self; full of envy — Grieving at another’s welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate —
Εριδος, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit — Or guile, fraud; malignity — Κακοηθειας, a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers —
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Such as secretly defame others; backbiters — Καταλαλους, revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God — Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful — Υβριστας, violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud — Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters — Αλαζονας, persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things — Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents — Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding — Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers — False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection — The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable — Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word ασπονδους, from σπονδη, a libation, “is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves.” Unmerciful — Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.
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 vv28–32 And even as they did not like ... -…
And even as they did not like ... - This was the true source of their crimes. They did not choose to acknowledge God. It was not because they could not, but because they were displeased with God, and chose to forsake him, and follow their own passions and lusts.
To retain God ... - To think of him, or to serve and adore him. This was the first step in their sin. It was not that God compelled them; or that he did not give them knowledge; nor even is it said that he arbitrarily abandoned them as the first step; but they forsook him, and as a consequence he gave them up to a reprobate mind.
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To a reprobate mind - A mind destitute of judgment. In the Greek the same word is used here, which, in another form, occurs in the previous part of the verse, and which is translated “like.” The apostle meant doubtless to retain a reference to that in this place. “As they did not approve, ἐδοκιμασαν edokimasan, or choose to retain God, etc. he gave them up to a mind disapproved, rejected, reprobate,” ἀδοκιμον adokimon, and he means that the state of their minds was such that God could not approve it. It does not mean that they were reprobate by any arbitrary decree; but that as a consequence of their headstrong passions, their determination to forget him, he left them to a state of mind which was evil, and which he could not approve.
Which are not convenient - Which are not fit or proper; which are disgraceful and shameful; to wit, those things which he proceeds to state in the remainder of the chapter.
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 vv29–32 Being filled with all iniquity. He passeth to many…
Being filled with all iniquity. He passeth to many other sins and crimes of the heathens. (Witham)
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 vv28, 30, 32 gave them over--or "up" (see on Rom 1:24).
gave them over--or "up" (see on Rom 1:24).
to do those things which are not convenient--in the old sense of that word, that is, "not becoming," "indecorous," "shameful."
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 vv29–32 29. Filled with all unrighteousness—When the sensual vices prevail…
29. Filled with all unrighteousness—When the sensual vices prevail the cruel and bloody vices are sure to accompany. When the laws of modesty are triumphantly set at naught, and men and women, glorying in shame, invent extravagant modes of sensuality, every other law, human and divine, is broken with the same triumphant license. Hence the apostle, after having fully pictured the sexual demoralization, proceeds to represent the moral anarchy that succeeds, in a list, with little recognisable order, of the vices of a heathenized community.
Fornication—Omitted by best authorities, it is amply included in the previous verses.
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Debate—Strife.
Whisperers— Secret slanderers.
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 vv28–32 28. And even as, &c.] In this and the…
28. And even as, &c.] In this and the following verses the developements of sin are followed into less monstrous but more pervading and not less guilty forms.
as they did not like] did not approve. The Gr. is akin to the Gr. of “reprobate” just below. Knowledge of God met with no approbation, and He gave them over to reprobation.
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to retain God in their knowledge] Lit. to have God in real (or full) knowledge. There was an antecedent knowledge of God; partly by the universe, partly by the constitution of their nature, partly by primeval revelation.
a reprobate mind] Lit. a mind, or state of thought, rejected after test. The Gr. word, from this literal meaning, comes habitually to mean “refuse, outcast, abandoned.”
convenient] i.e. becoming. So Phm_1:8, where the Greek word is nearly the same. The euphemism here is most forcible.
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 vv28–32 (28) Even as.—Rightly translated in the Authorised version: “as”…
(28) Even as.—Rightly translated in the Authorised version: “as” is not here equivalent to “because,” but means rather, just in like proportion as. The degree of God’s punishment corresponded exactly to the degree of man’s deflection from God.
Did not like.—There is a play upon words here with “reprobate” in the clause following which cannot be retained in English. “As they reprobated the knowledge of God, so He gave them up to a reprobate mind.” As they would have nothing to do with Him, so He would have nothing to do with them. “Reprobate” means, properly, tried and found wanting, and therefore cast away as worthless.
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To retain God in their knowledge.—The word for knowledge here means “exact,” “advanced,” “thorough knowledge.” They refused to hold the true idea of God so as to grow and increase in the knowledge of it.
Those things which are not convenient.—That which is unbecoming, disgraceful.
Fornication.—This word is wanting in the best MSS. and should be omitted, as also the word “implacable” in Rom_1:31.
Wickedness, . . . maliciousness.—These two words appear to be related together, so that the latter expresses rather the vicious disposition—vicious in the special sense, the disposition to do hurt to others—the former rather the active exercise of it. Similar catalogues of sins are given in other of St. Paul’s Epistles, as, for example, 2 Cor. 12:30; Gal_5:19 et seq.; Eph_5:3-4; 1Ti_1:9-10; 2Ti_3:2 et seq.
Murder, debate.—By “full of murder” the Apostle means “full of murderous thoughts.” “Debate” is the spirit of strife and contention generally; not as the English would seem to imply, specially verbal contention.
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 vv28, 29, 32 And even as they did not like to have…
And even as they did not like to have God in their knowledge, God gave them over (pareduken , as before) to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (i.e. unfitting or unseemly things). It is difficult to render in English ouk edokimasan and adokimon so as to retain the apparently intended correspondence between the verb and the adjective. The verb dokimazein is capable of the senses
(1) "to prove" (as in assaying metals), and, generally, "to discern," or "judge;
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(2) "to approve," after supposed proving. Jowett, in his commentary on this Epistle, endeavours to retain in English the correspondence between edokimasan and adokimon by translating, "As they did not discern to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an undiscerning mind," thus taking the verb in sense (1), and the adjective in the same sense actively. But it is at least doubtful whether adokimov can be taken in an active sense, which is not its classical one. In the New Testament it occurs 1Co_9:27 2Co_13:5, 6 2Ti_3:8 Tit_1:16 Heb_6:8. In the first of the above passages the word obviously means "rejected" (in the Authorized Version a castaway), with reference to the comparison of a competitor in athletic contests being proved unworthy of the prize a sense cognate to the common one of the same adjective as applied to spurious metals, rejected or worthless after being tested. In 2Co_13:5, 2Co_13:6, either sense seems admissible eautouzete ... ei mhti adokimoi este . But not so in Heb_6:8, where the word is applied to barren land. The passages from 2 Timothy and Titus may in themselves admit the sense of undiscerning, but the passive one is more probable in view of the common usage of the word. On the other hand, Rom_12:2 may be adduced in favour of the active sense; for there the consequence of the renewal of the mind in Christians is said to be that they may prove, or discern (eiv to dokimazein umav), what is Gods will; and hence it may seem probable that the want of such discernment is denoted here. The same passage also favours the verb dokimazein being taken here in sense (1) given above, and Jowett"s rendering of the whole passage. It is, after all, uncertain; nor does it follow that the Greek paronomasia can be reproduced in English.
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 vv28, 29, 32 And even as they did not like to retain…
Rom_1:28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.
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The state of heathendom
Idolatry is essentially the same in every age and place.
1. In its origin. It flows from a corrupt heart, desirous not to retain the knowledge of God.
2. In its nature. However great the variety, or modes of worship, there is a grand generic likeness in them all. The Greeks may worship Jupiter, and the Hindoos Vishnu; one class a god, and another a goddess; but still all agree in this one point, they like not to retain God in their knowledge.
3. In its effects: God gave them over to a reprobate mind; and, as the necessary consequence of that, they did those things which are not convenient (Rom_1:29-32). Such were the effects produced by idolatry in ancient times. And we ask those who object to this language to show us by idolatry, by being continued in for nearly two thousand years, has grown better than it was in the days of the apostle?
I. The state of the heathen as here described.
1. God has given them over to a reprobate mind. The term signifies disapproved. The mind which God approves must be one which has correct views of the Divine character--a just idea of the plan of salvation; and these views must have a holy influence on the heart and life. The views of the heathen on these points prove that they are given over to a reprobate mind.
(1) What are their views of the Supreme Being? The heathens of India believe that all things exist in God, and that God exists in them all. Hence, when you charge a Hindoo with sin, he answers with the greatest gravity, Sir, it is not I that sin, but God that does all these things in me. If you ask them, Why, then, are you punished for what is not done by your agency? they answer, Because there must be a certain consequence from all actions, like fruit from a seed; and it is not in the power of all the gods to prevent it. Surely they are given over to a reprobate mind! The same may be said with regard to their views of the gods and goddesses they worship. Seeing in these nothing that is excellent, they become objects of terror only to their minds. And to those whom they consider as having the greatest power, and as doing the greatest mischief, they pay the greatest respect, and make the most frequent offerings. All their gods and goddesses have been guilty of the greatest excesses. How must this strengthen their minds in sin, when they find themselves encouraged by such examples! So that their very religion is a curse to them. As for their visible embodiments, they know that they have eyes, but see not, etc.; and yet such is their infatuation, that when the priest has pronounced certain formularies over these images, they imagine that the beings whom they represent become completely identified with the stocks of wood or of stone which stand before them. Is not this a proof that they are given over to a reprobate mind?
(2) Being ignorant of God, they are ignorant of the way in which His favour may be secured. They suppose that they can obtain absorption into the supreme Being, by meditating upon Him. Hence some of them plunge into the forest, and stand in one posture meditating upon Him, till their hair becomes grown like eagles feathers, and their nails like birds claws. Thus they remain till they believe that their souls have passed into the structure of their skulls, and are completely absorbed into it. Those who are not able to enter into this sublime course of study, found the same hope on the performance of a number of rites, such as bathing in the river Ganges; repeating thousands of times the names of their chosen gods, counting over a vast number of beads, building some temple, making some god, offering fruits and flowers to some deity. By some, or all, of these duties they hope to heap up a stock of merit for a future world; and they have no other idea whatever of anything in the way of atonement. As merit is attached to suffering as well as to actions, many of the heathen have entered on certain penalties, and inflicted severe pains upon themselves. Some hold their hands towards heaven till their arms become fixed in their sockets. Some travel hundreds of miles to visit some sacred place; others measure the whole length of their journey with their bodies on the ground. Thousands die every year by these penances. Do not these things prove that they are given over, etc.
(3) Ignorance of the means to be adopted argues ignorance of the end that is to be obtained. The heathen have no idea of a pure and eternal heaven. Those who live in meditation maintain that when the soul goes out of the body it mingles as completely with the Deity as water mingles with the ocean, and suppose that they shall be as incapable of pleasure as of pare. Those who depend on rights and ceremonies believe that in proportion to their attention to these duties will be their future degree of pleasure in a heaven that is as sensual in its nature as it is short in its duration; and that then they shall return back again to earth to suffer again. Those who are left unburied, they believe will be cast into one of the nine hells, and will then come back to earth in the form of a reptile, a bird, or a beast, before they can again assume a human form. Thus, when there is no true knowledge of God or Christ, there is no true notion of eternal life. This is life eternal, etc.
2. God has given them over to do those things which are not convenient, Without entering into all here stated, we may instance--
(1) Their lying. The character of a people must always be in accordance with the things they believe. The Hindoos believe tales the most monstrous and absurd, and what wonder that they, who receive such lies, should be themselves given to lying? They consider the sin to consist, not in lying, but in being detected. So much does it prevail in civil life, that in the courts of judicature it is almost impossible to administer justice. In mercantile concerns, after telling many lies as to the value of an article, and what it cost them, they will sell the article for one-third less than they at first demanded. And the inconveniences of this practice are almost endless.
(2) So are those which arise from the free and unrestrained indulgence of vicious appetites and propensities. The sins which are specified in this chapter are the very sins which they commit. I have gone through it with the Pundits, and have found, from their own confession, that this is really the case.
(3) Their covetousness must be noticed also. They believe that money is everything, both for this world and the next. When urged to become Christians, it is not uncommon for them to say, Give us fine houses, and gold, and we will become Christians. They will submit to anything, however base and mean, for money. It is contrary to their Shasters for any Brahmin to become the servant of a foreigner; and yet, for the sake of gain, there is not a priest among them but will acknowledge a barbarian for his master. They will offer up prayers to the goddess Kalee, to be assisted in their depredations on the property of others; and I know of one instance in which, when these prayers were supposed to be unanswered, the goddess was herself robbed.
(4) Their cruelty. Some of them they practise on themselves. In many eases they will see misery and distress, without moving to afford the least relief. I have seen men fastened to a long pole by hooks, and then swung round by a rope with a swiftness which deprived them of their reason. Some have iron spits run through their tongues, or sticks passed through their sides. But the greatest of all their cruelties is the burning of widows, infanticide and murder of parents.
II. What effect ought this view to produce in our minds? We ought to learn--
1. How evil and dreadful a thing it is to separate God from our thoughts. If we exclude God from our thoughts, we must expect that He will east us out from His presence. It became the righteous God to give over to a reprobate mind those who did not like to retain Him in their knowledge.
(1) That others may see the folly of such conduct, and avoid the rocks on which they have split.
(2) That He might show His just abhorrence of idolatry. God had tried all means with the heathen, and all in vain; and at last He said, They are joined to their idols, let them alone!
2. To be truly thankful for our superior state and privileges. Contrast your state with theirs: they have no Bible, you have the Word of God. Their sacred books countenance the most unhallowed feelings, while the Bible teaches you to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to follow holiness. Your Bible reveals an immortality of purity and bliss, their Bible reveals nothing except a sensual heaven. You have teachers to guide you in the way to heaven, but ignorance is perfect bliss compared to the knowledge which they obtain from their Brahmins. The priest will visit them at their houses, and covet some article which he sees in the room; and if it be not given to him, he will leave a curse instead of a blessing. You have Sabbaths, but the Sabbath never shines on Hindoostan!
3. To pity and to pray for the heathen. We ought to look on them as Christ looked on us when in our sins and our blood. If your feeling of pity be genuine, it will lead to prayer.
4. To make the most strenuous exertions for the amelioration of their condition. It is well to pity them and to pray for them; but if you do no more, it will be difficult to prove to God or man the sincerity of your pity and your prayers.
(1) We should do so from a regard to the glory of God. The Word of God declares that He has given His Son the heathen for His inheritance. He has placed the heathen of India in our hands, that we may bring them to the knowledge of the truth.
(2) To this we are bound by the greatest obligations. Freely have ye received, freely give. What a disgrace to the Christian army if volunteers be not found to engage in this service! Some may perhaps say, there are so many discouragements. But we should remember that God does not despise the day of small things; and that from some of our saddest exercises, the most glorious prospects may arise.
(3) We call upon you, by the memory of those noble servants of the Lord who have laid down their lives in His service.
(4) We exhort you, by the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. (W. Yates.)
God lost to the sight of an evil heart
The heart that is addicted to evil, that is in love with sin, that is clogged and burdened with guilt, has lost the capacity of discerning God as it has lost the wish to be near Him. His name is not welcome, the idea of Him is not pleasant; we are neither willing nor able, when we are plunged in our selfish sinfulness, to cherish the bright and purifying thought of our loving Father. As a cloud darkens the heavens, the mist of our own evil hearts rises up and fills our sky, and blots out all the starry intentions of our spirit, and drapes the face of God Himself in a blackness that can be felt. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Diminishing light but not diminishing responsibility
We would infer from this account that men, in the first instance, had a far more clear and convinced sense of God; but, not liking to retain it, committed the sin of a perverse disposition against the light which they had, and in part extinguished it--that they of course left their own immediate posterity in a light more shaded than that which shone around the outset of their own progress through the world--that these still disliked the remainder of truth which they enjoyed; and, by their wilful resistance inflicted upon it a further mutilation, and transmitted it to their descendants with a still deeper hue of obscurity thrown over it; but still with such glimpses as were enough at least to try the affection of man towards it, to stir up a distinct resistance on the part of those who disliked it, to keep up the responsibility of the world, and to retain it in rightful dependence on the judgment of Him who made the world--so as to make it clear on the day of reckoning, that men, even in their state of most sunken alienation from the true God, were never so destitute of all capacity for discerning between the good and the evil, as to render them the unfit subjects of a moral sentence and a moral examination. With every human creature who shall be pronounced worthy of death on that day, will it be seen that there was either a light which he actually had and liked not to retain, or a light which he might have had and liked not to recover. To whom much is given of him much shall be required; and there will be gradations of punishment in hell. (T. Chalmers, 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 vv28–32 28. God gave them over to a reprobate mind.…
28. God gave them over to a reprobate mind. A thought is repeated here that has already been hinted, and is often taught in the Scriptures. The man who turns from the truth will be allowed to have his way, will fall deeper and deeper into error, and will reap all the evil consequences of loving darkness rather than light. Those who hate the truth are “given over” to a reprobate mind. A reprobate mind is one rejected of God. Which are not convenient. Not decent, or honorable.
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 vv28–32 28. “And so as they did not approve to…
28. “And so as they did not approve to hold God in perfect knowledge, he gave them up to a reprobate mind to do the things which are abominable.” Here we see how people become reprobated. They first reprobate God and then He reprobates them, as He saves none against their will. So if you want to be elected to glory, heaven and immortality, you go ahead at once and elect God, and be true to God and it will turn out that He has elected you. Here we have a picture, like the brutality in Rom 1:26-27, too black for description.
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 vv28–32 And even as they refused [did not deem it…
And even as they refused [did not deem it worthy of their mind] to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind [i. e., minds rejected in turn by God as unworthy], to do those things which are not fitting [indecent, immoral];
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv28, 29, 32 Because they did not approve of having God in…
Because they did not approve of having God in their awareness
"They did not think it was necessary to know God"
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they ... their ... them
These words refer to the "mankind" of Romans 1:18.
he gave them up to a depraved mind
Here "a depraved mind" means a mind that thinks only about immoral things. AT: "God allowed their minds, which they had filled with worthless and immoral thoughts, to completely control them" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
not proper
"disgraceful" or "sinful"
translationWords
God
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 vv28, 29, 32 1:28 thought it foolish: Sin affects our actions and…
1:28 thought it foolish: Sin affects our actions and even our thoughts. One of the serious consequences of turning away from God is an unsound mind; people can no longer use their minds as God intended.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.