Cited by 4Biblical Studies and InterpretationKarl Barth and Christian TheologyContemporary Christian Leadership and Education

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 47 of the 50 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 32 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Romans 10:5–13 revisited

Open access
Oliver, Willem·2015·HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate Romans 10:5–13 and specifically the impact of the chiasm (chiasmus) in Romans 10:9–10 on this sub-pericope. In the chiasm Paul makes the following statement(s):A If you confess with your mouth Jesus as LordB and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,C you will be saved.B For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness,A and with the mouth/he confesses, resulting in salvation.What gives the chiasm existential value here is the fact that this is the only passage in which Paul uses confess with your mouth as a condition for salvation. The sub-pericope will be discussed against the background of the introduction to the letter (Rm 1:16–17) as well as Romans 3:21–31.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This article argues that Romans 10:9–10 contains a double chiasm whose centre is “you will be saved,” and that Paul uniquely combines confession with faith as a condition for salvation in this sub-pericope. It reads Romans 10:5–13 against Romans 1:16–17 and 3:21–31, concluding that the passage stresses the prophetic “something-being-said” alongside faith.

Key findings

  • Romans 10:9–10 is structured as a double chiasm: A-B-C-B-A with C as “you will be saved,” plus an inner 1-2-3-4 / 4-3-2-1 pattern linking “mouth/confess” and “heart/believe.”
  • The confession formula is unique in Paul: Romans 10:9–10 is “the only passage” where Paul uses “confess with your mouth” as a condition for salvation, making it a kind of Hapax Legomenon in his letters.
  • Paul encases his own words in Old Testament prophetic citations (Lv 18:5; Dt 30:11–14; Is 28:16; Jl 2:32; Is 52:7), emphasising orality through κηρύσσομεν, ὁμολογέω, and ἐπικαλέω.
  • The article concludes that in this sub-pericope “something-being-said” is linked to salvation, and Romans 10:14 implies believers must enact the prophetic task of conveying the Word so others can call on the Lord.

Methods

  • Exegetical and rhetorical analysis of Romans 10:5–13, with Romans 10:14–15 added, focusing on the chiasm/chiasms in verses 9–10.
  • Uses the Greek text, structured translations, and tables of Old Testament citations, while comparing the sub-pericope with Romans 1:16–17 and Romans 3:21–31.
  • Engages secondary scholarship on Romans, chiasmus, faith, righteousness, and salvation; no empirical sample or quantitative data are used.

Limitations

  • The paper states no formal limitations section.
  • Evident from the text: the argument is exegetical and theological, with no empirical data or independent manuscript evidence.
  • Evident from the text: the conclusion depends on contested interpretive choices and secondary scholarship; the author himself notes that some alternative readings are “too subjective,” “doubtful,” or lack contextual evidence.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4102/hts.v71i3.2929

Cites

47 of 47 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 32 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 17 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 76
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 19
82 of 82
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Paul's theology elsewhere always links πίστις alone to σωτηρία and never makes confession a condition for salvation.

    “Although he always only links πίστις to σωτηρία, in this passage he adds the spoken word”
    “This is in total contrast to Paul's whole 'gospel' and theology, but it fits well within this prophetic context.”
1 of 1

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Belief in the resurrection is described as confession

    Minor

    The paper assigns the response to God raising Jesus from the dead to confession, whereas its translation of verse 9 assigns it to belief.

  • Romans 10:10 is incorrectly listed as containing λέγει

    Minor

    The paper says λέγει occurs in verses 10 and 11, but later lists its occurrences as verses 6, 8 and 11. Its quoted text of verse 10 also contains no λέγει.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 50 references

3 of the 50 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 36

  1. Aho, 1981, Concordia Theological Quarterly, 45, 308
  2. Barclay, 1975, The letter to the Romans
  3. Barrett, 1991, The epistle to the Romans
  4. Bartsch, 1968, Biblical Research, 13, 41
  5. Bengel, 1742, Gnomon of the New Testament by John Albert Bengel: Now first translated into English with original notes explanatory and illustrative, 5
  6. Boice, 1993, Romans 9–11
  7. Dillow, 1992, The reign of servant kings: A study of eternal security and the final significance of man
  8. Dunn, 1988b, Word Biblical Commentary
  9. Edwards, 1992, Romans
  10. Fetler, 2005, The world of Saint Paul: A biography
  11. Gibbs, 2013, Chiastic structuring: An introduction
  12. Hagner, 1993, Word Biblical Commentary
  13. Hart, 1999, Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, 12, 23
  14. Hodges, 1985, Grace in eclipse: A study on eternal rewards
  15. Hodges, 1989, Absolutely free: A Biblical reply to lordship salvation
  16. Jewett, 2007, Romans: A commentary, Hermeneia
  17. Johnson, 1974, The freedom letter
  18. Kaiser, 1971, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 14, 20
  19. Käsemann, 1973, An die Römer
  20. Liddell, 1996, Greek-English lexicon
  21. Louw, 1989, Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament based on semantic domains
  22. MacArthur, 1994, The Gospel according to Jesus: What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘Follow Me’
  23. Man, 1984, Bibliotheca Sacra, 141, 146
  24. McGinn, 2000, Paul: Prophet or apostle
  25. Moo, 1996, The epistle to the Romans
  26. Moyer, 1997, Free and clear: Understanding and communicating God’s offer of eternal life
  27. Murray, 1968, The epistle to the Romans
  28. Palmer, 1975, Salvation by surprise: Studies in the Book of Romans
  29. Powers, 2001, Salvation through participation: An examination of the notion of the believers’ corporate unity with Christ in early Christian soteriology
  30. Ridderbos, 1959, Commentaar op het Nieuwe Testament: Aan de Romeinen
  31. Schliesser, 2007, Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A comparison of patterns of religion
  32. Schreiner, 1998, Romans
  33. Stuhlmacher, 1989, Der Brief an die Römer
  34. Weiss, 1897, Theologische Studien: Festschrift für B. Weiss, 165
  35. Wilckens, 1980, Der Brief an die Römer
  36. Wright, 2002, The new interpreter’s Bible, X, 393

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Metadata

Authors
Oliver, W.
Affiliations
University of South Africa (ZA)
Corresponding author
Oliver, Willem
Venue
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies
Publisher
AOSIS
Published
2015-03-11
Volume
71
Issue
3
ISSN
  • 0259-9422 (ISSN-L)
  • 2072-8050
OpenAlex
W1819457002
Cited by
4
References
50
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2018: 1
FWCI
6.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Karl Barth and Christian Theology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Contemporary Christian Leadership and Education
Keywords
chiasmus, Pauline epistles, faith and salvation, justification by faith, righteousness of God, pericopes

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