Romans 3:4

Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul, writing to the Roman church, answers a hypothetical objection: does human unfaithfulness cancel God's faithfulness? He is mid-argument in Romans 3, dismantling the assumption that human failure creates a problem for God.

The words — μὴ γένοιτο (mē genoito) is a fixed idiom of emphatic negation, stronger than a simple "no" — closer to "God forbid." The predicate ἀληθής (alēthēs, "true") is assigned to God alone, while πᾶς (pas, "every") man is left with the negative.

The thread — The quoted line is Psalm 51:4 (LXX 50:6), where David confesses against God alone so that God may be justified in His speech. Psalm 116:11 echoes the "all men are liars" phrase; Galatians 2:17 runs the same logic from the opposite direction.

Why it lands — It removes the reader from the position of judge and places them under verdict. God's truth does not depend on your cooperation, and your failure does not create an obligation in Him.

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

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

Cross-references

Psalms 51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.
Psalms 116:11 In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.
Titus 1:2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
John 3:33 Whoever accepts His testimony has certified that God is truthful.
Job 36:3 I get my knowledge from afar, and I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
Psalms 119:160 The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.
Psalms 138:2 I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.