Bible Strands
Romans 1:31
They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Roman church, continuing his indictment of Gentile sinfulness and the universal human condition under God's wrath. He describes a society that has actively rejected divine revelation and embraced depravity.
The words — The text uses ἀσυνέτους (asunetous, foolish) and ἀνελέημονας (aneleēmonas, unmerciful) to describe a complete failure of human judgment and compassion. These terms directly catalog the moral collapse Paul has just outlined in the surrounding verses.
The thread — Paul echoes this moral decay in Romans 3:11 when he declares no one understands or seeks God, and anticipates it in 2 Timothy 3:3 where unloving, slanderous, and brutal behavior marks the last days. The pattern aligns with Proverbs 18:2, which notes that fools prioritize self-expression over understanding.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that sin systematically destroys reasoning, trust, and mercy until people actively approve what God condemns. It requires the reader to see moral collapse as a known trajectory, not an isolated failure.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Cross-references
- Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.
- 2 Timothy 3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good,
- Romans 3:11 There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
- Isaiah 33:8 The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.
- Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Matthew 15:16 “Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.
- 2 Kings 18:14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- Isaiah 27:11 When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.