THE USE OF DEUTERONOMY IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS

We often fail to realize that the New Testament authors were thoroughly steeped in the words of the Old Testament. As one example, the ex-Pharisee Paul utilizes OT quotations and allusions constantly in his Letter to the Romans, mainly taken from Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and the Psalms. Thus, he drew equally from the three parts of the Jewish Scripture: the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings. Below are some of the ways in which he utilized the Book of Deuteronomy, gathered from the writings of Morris, Murray, Seifrid, and Schnittjer:

Romans 1:1 // Deut. 34:5

By calling himself a “servant” at the start of this letter, Paul expresses his humble position in serving Jesus Christ and at the same time places himself in the exalted company of those like Moses who were servants of Yahweh.

Romans 2:17-18 // Deut. 24:8; 33:10

In this climax to a rather sarcastic put-down of the Jews' self-righteous attitude, Paul mentions the instructions they had been given in the law. Murray says, “The instruction doubtlessly refers to the public instruction received by the hearing of the law and from teaching on the part of parents, priests and Levites” such as in Deuteronomy 24:8 and 33:10.

Romans 2:21-23 // Deut. 7:25-26

Paul echoes Moses' words regarding theft of the precious metals from temples.

Romans 2:25-29 // Deut. 10:16; 30:6

The striking command to “circumcise your heart” in Deuteronomy is repeated by Paul here.

Romans 3:3 // Deut. 7:9; 32:4

“God's faithfulness (3:3; cf. Deut. 7:9; 32:4; Lam. 3:23) – that is, his being true...is not undermined by the unbelief of 'some' Jews. One the contrary, Paul says, 'Let God be found true, and every human being a liar' (3:4).” (Seifrid)

Romans 3:12 // Deut. 29:18

Although in this verse Paul is quoting from Psalm 14, the warning against “turning away from the LORD” was earlier expressed by Moses in Deut. 29:18.

Romans 3:29-30 // Deut. 6:4

When Paul says that “God is one,” he is alluding to the great confession of Israel, the Shema.

Romans 4:5 // Deut. 22:22

Paul says that only God can forgive the sins of the ungodly. Seifrid points to the contrast between Hosea 2:14-3:5 and Deuteronomy 22:22 and between Hosea 11:8-9 with Deuteronomy 21:18-21 as a demonstration of that fact. Thus, in this case, the Book of Deuteronomy acts as a sort of counterpoint to the message of grace taught in Romans.

Romans 4:17 // Deut. 32:39

The God who calls Abraham is 'father of many nations' is “the one who gives life to the dead, and calls those things which are not as things which do exist' (4:17c). The confession of God as the one who 'gives life to the dead'...has its roots in biblical confessions of God as the one who 'puts to death and raises to life.'” (Seifrid) This phrase appears in Deuteronomy 32:29.

Romans 7:7-10 // Deut. 30:19

The relationship between God's commandments and the issue of life vs. death is explored in these two passages.

Romans 7:10 // Deut. 6:24

Paul comments on Moses' words saying that the commandments were given so that we might live.

Romans 7:12 // Deut. 4:5-8

Moses extols the “righteousness” of God's law, and in a similar manner, Paul states that “the law is holy and the commandment is holy.”

Romans 9:3 // Deut. 7:26

Moses warns the people not to bring any detestable thing (i.e. idol) into the house but to abhor it. Paul takes that same general concept and applies it to himself when he states his willingness to be considered accursed and cut off from Christ if it would save his fellow Jews.” The idea of “anathema” appears in both passages.

Romans 9:10-13 // Deut. 4:37; 7:7-8; 10:15; 14:2; 21:15

The principle of God's sovereign election of Israel over the other nations to “love” is reiterated by Paul, with an added definition of those whom “Israel” really consists.

Romans 10:5-8 // Deut. 6:24; 9:4; 30:11-14

These verses contain the most extended quotation from and comment on Deuteronomy found in Romans. They deserve a more detailed discussion, which I am going to save for another post.

Romans 10:19 // Deut. 32:21

Paul quotes directly from Deuteronomy in order to demonstrate that “Israel's disobedience does not indicate God's failure; to the contrary, God's purpose is to make Israel jealous.” (Elliott)

Romans 11:8 // Deut. 29:4

Elliott attributes this quotation in Romans dealing with “eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear” as coming from Isaiah 29:10, but it also appears earlier in Deuteronomy.

Romans 11:11-16 // Deut. 32:21

Murray says of v. 11 that, “Provoking to jealousy is not an unworthy incentive to repentance and faith...Later (vs. 14) the apostle says that he conducts his ministry to the Gentiles with the same end in view.” The word “jealousy” clearly refers back to Deuteronomy 32:21.

Romans 11:26 // Deut. 1:1

Murray points out that Paul is not stating that each and every individual Jew will be saved since the phrase “all Israel” in the OT refers to the nation as a whole, as in Deuteronomy 1:1, for example.

Romans 12:6-8 // Deut. 18:15-19

“In the Old Testament [see Deut. 18:15-19 for example] the prophets occupied a position of priority that is not accorded to those of the New Testament...But the important place occupied by the gift of prophecy in the apostolic church is indicated by...the fact that prophets are next in rank to apostles, and that the church is built upon 'the foundation of the apostles and prophets' (Eph. 2:20).” (Murray)

Romans 12:19 // Deut. 32:21, 35

Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is mine, says the LORD.”

Romans 13:9 // Deut. 5:17-21

The order in which Paul cites these four commandments differs from that found in both the standard Hebrew and Greek texts of Deuteronomy 5:17-21 but agrees with that found in Luke 18:20 and James 2:11. “He omits the commandments that refer to God, presumably because he is dealing with the duty to one's neighbor, and he omits the commandment not to bear false witness, but he is not giving a complete list and this is surely to be included in 'whatever other commandments there may be.' He is citing some typical requirements of the law simply to show that love fulfils all that they lay down.” (Morris)

Romans 14:10-12 // Deut. 32:40

The Deuteronomy passage with God swearing with the oath: “As I live forever” is cited by Paul in Romans 14:10.

Romans 15:10 // Deut. 32:32, 43

Paul puts together in vv. 9-12 a chain of OT quotations in which v. 9 comes from II Samuel 22:20 and Psalm 18:49; v. 10 from Deut. 32:43 (in the Hebrew this time, rather than the Septuagint); v. 11 from Psalm 117:1; and v. 12 from Isaiah 11:10. All of these foretell the eventual turning of the Gentiles to God. This passage is another demonstration of Paul's mastery of the whole OT canon.