Bible Strands
Romans 9:3
For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Roman church, articulating his profound grief over Israel’s unbelief immediately after declaring his unceasing anguish in Romans 9:2 and before detailing their covenant privileges in Romans 9:4. The words — ηὐχόμην (ēuchomēn) means “was wishing” and ἀνάθεμα (anathema) means “a curse,” framing the verse as a hypothetical expression of extreme solidarity. The thread — This pattern of willing self-sacrifice for a people echoes Moses’ plea in Exodus 32:32, Esther’s lament in Esther 8:6, and Paul’s own future hope in Romans 11:14. Why it lands — The text states Paul’s hypothetical desire to be cursed and cut off from Christ for his Jewish kinsmen, then asks the reader to examine how covenant love operates when divine election and human pleading intersect.
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
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:32 Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”
- Esther 8:6 For how could I bear to see the disaster that would befall my people? How could I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?”
- Romans 11:14 in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.
- Galatians 3:10 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- 1 Corinthians 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!
- Genesis 29:14 Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,
- Deuteronomy 21:23 you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
- Joshua 6:17 Now the city and everything in it must be devoted to the LORD for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all those with her in her house will live, because she hid the spies we sent.
- 1 Samuel 14:24 Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.
- 1 Samuel 14:44 And Saul declared, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if you, Jonathan, do not surely die!”