What Does Romans 10:8 Mean?
But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, the word of trust that we herald.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;THE KEY
The word is already close enough to live in your mouth and heart: what you can speak is not distant from what you trust.
THE MEANING
The word is near you now, present in your mouth and heart as the proclaimed word of trust. It is within reach of speech and inward reliance. Here, speaking and trusting meet around the same word.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the word you need is distant or inaccessible, something you must reach beyond yourself to find.
THE ROOT
ῥῆμα
rhēma
GROWS FROM
ῥη-/ῥε- (rhē-/rhe-)
That which is said; a spoken utterance.
“the word of trust” in this verse is rhēma. Rhēma names what is said, and beside “mouth” it makes the word’s nearness audible. It is not only an idea held at a distance; it is speech already close to expression.
ALSO GROWS
rheō: To speak or utter.
ῥέω
This verbal form shows the spoken action inside the word “utterance.”
rhēsis: Speech or utterance.
ῥῆσις
This related form makes explicit the connection between the word near the reader and speech.
πίστις
pistis
GROWS FROM
πειθ-
peith-
To persuade, be persuaded, or trust.
“the word of trust” in this verse is pistis. Pistis carries the sense of trust: leaning your full weight on what is spoken. The word near you is not merely information to consider; it is something you can rely on.
ALSO GROWS
peithō: Persuade, convince, or win trust.
πείθω
This verb reveals the movement from hearing a word to being persuaded by it.
pisteuō: Trust, believe, or entrust oneself.
πιστεύω
This related verb shows trust as reliance placed in the word that is near.
pistos: Trustworthy or reliable.
πιστός
This adjective connects trust with the reliability of what is spoken.
THE PATTERN
The word is near when it is carried inwardly and brought to the mouth.
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.I store your word in my heart, so that I do not miss the mark against you.A good human brings out good from the good treasure of the heart, and an evil human brings out evil from the evil treasure of the heart, for from the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks.THE THREAD
But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.The same sequence, word, nearness, mouth, and heart, appears here, using the Greek word rhēma in the corresponding Greek text. Its closing words, “that thou mayest do it,” show that this inward nearness also reaches into action.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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