Romans 11:3
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Romans 11:3 in other translations
| BSB | “Lord, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well”? |
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| WEB | “Lord, they have killed your prophets. They have broken down your altars. I am left alone, and they seek my life.” |
| ASV | Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. |
| YLT | ‘Lord, Thy prophets they did kill, and Thy altars they dug down, and I was left alone, and they seek my life;' |
| DARBY | Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have dug down thine altars; and I have been left alone, and they seek my life. |
| BBE | Lord, they have put your prophets to death, and made waste your altars, and now I am the last, and they are searching for me to take away my life. |
| Webster | Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thy altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. |
What does Romans 11:3 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 11:2-4
2-4. God hath--"did" not cast away his people--that is, wholly which he foreknew--On the word "foreknew," see on Ro 8:29. Wot--that is, "Know" ye not that the scripture saith of--literally, "in," that is, in the section which relates to Elias? how he maketh intercession--"pleadeth" against Israel--(The word "saying," which follows, as also the particle "and" before "digged down," should be omitted, as without…
Barnes' Notes
And digged down. Altars, by the law of Moses, were required to be made of earth or unhewn stones, Ex 20:24,25. Hence the expression, to dig them down, means completely to demolish or destroy them.
Thine altars. There was one great altar in the front of the tabernacle and the temple, on which the daily sacrifices of the Jews were to be made. But they were not forbidden to make altars also elsewhere, Ex 20:25. And hence they are mentioned as existing in other places, 1Sam 7:17, 16:2,3, 1Kgs 18:30,32. These were the altars of which Elijah complained as having been thrown down by the Jews; an act which was regarded as expressive of signal impiety.
I am left alone. I am the only prophet which is left alive. We are told that when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred of them and hid them in a cave, 1Kgs 18:4. But it is not improbable that they had been discovered and put to death by Ahab. The account which Obadiah gave Elijah when he met him, (1Kgs 18:13) seems to favour such a supposition.
Seek my life. That is, Ahab and Jezebel seek to kill me. This they did because he had overcome and slain the prophets of Baal, 1Kgs 19:1,2. There could scarcely be conceived a time of greater distress and declension in religion than this. It has not often happened that so many things that were disheartening have occurred to the church at the same period of time. The prophets of God were slam; but one lonely man appeared to have zeal for true religion; the nation was running to idolatry; the civil rulers were criminally wicked, and were the leaders in the universal apostasy; and all the influences of wealth and power were setting in against the true religion to destroy it. It was natural that the solitary man of God should feel disheartened and lonely in this universal guilt; and should realize that he had no power to resist this tide of crime and calamities.
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Romans 11:1-10
There was a chosen remnant of believing Jews, who had righteousness and life by faith in Jesus Christ. These were kept according to the election of grace. If then this election was of grace, it could not be of works, either performed or foreseen. Every truly good disposition in a fallen creature must be the effect, therefore it cannot be the cause, of the grace of God bestowed on him. Salvation from the first to the…
Romans 11:3 in the original Greek
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Cross references for Romans 11:3
- 1 Kings 19:10-18
And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? …
- 1 Kings 18:13
Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
- Nehemiah 9:26
Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
- Jeremiah 2:30
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
- 1 Kings 18:4
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Kings 18:30-31
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name:
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Romans 11:2
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
- Romans 11:3
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
- Romans 11:4
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Romans 11:3 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Señor, á tus profetas han muerto, y tus altares han derruído; y yo he quedado solo, y procuran matarme. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | « ✶Seigneur, ils ont tué tes prophètes; ils ont renversé tes autels; et moi, je suis demeuré seul, et ils cherchent ma vie. » |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | "Herr, sie haben deine Propheten getötet, deine Altäre niedergerissen, und ich allein bin übriggeblieben, und sie trachten nach meinem Leben". |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Domine, prophetas tuos occiderunt, altaria tua suffoderunt: et ego relictus sum solus, et quærunt animam meam. |