Romans 3:19

At this point the first great division of the epistle closes, that which began with chap. Romans 1:18, and has been occupied with asserting the universal prevalence of sin. “We know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are in the law,” i.e., to the Jews. For the distinction of λέγειν (in which the object is the main thing) and λαλεῖν (in which the speaker and the mode of utterance are made prominent), see Trench, Synonyms, § lxxvi., and commentary on John 8:43. It is most natural to suppose that by “the things the law says” Paul means the words he has just quoted from the O.T. These words cannot be evaded by the very persons to whom the O.T. was given, and who have in it, so to speak, the spiritual environment of their life. In this case, ὁ νόμος is used in the wider sense of the old revelation generally, not specifically the Pentateuch, or even the statutory part of Scripture. For this use of the word, cf. 1 Corinthians 14:21, where ἐν τῷ νόμῳ introduces a quotation from Isaiah 28:11 : and John 10:34 (your law), Romans 15:25 (their law), both prefacing quotations from Psalms (Psalms 82:6; Psalms 35:19). At first sight there seems a disparity between the two parts of the verse. How does the fact that those who are under the law are impeached and condemned by such utterances of the law as those just quoted subserve the Divine intention to stop every mouth and make all the world answerable to God? We must suppose that all other men that is, the Gentiles, who are not under the law are convicted already; and that what is needed to prepare the way for the universal Gospel of grace is that those who have been under law should admit concerning themselves, what they are prompt enough to assert of all others (“sinners of the Gentiles”: Galatians 2:15), that they have not a word to say, and are liable to God's judgment. ὑπόδικος is a classical word, found here only in the N.T. Sanday and Headlam remark its “forensic” character.