Romans 8:36 Explained in Context

Selected verse

Verse 36. As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering.

Read It With

Romans 8:31–39

Read Romans 8:36 with 8:31–39. This verse quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering. The complete unit establishes: God's love in the crucified, risen, and interceding Christ is stronger than accusation, suffering, and every created power.

Why This Verse Appears Here

The assurance completes chapters 5-8 and raises the covenant-faithfulness question of Israel in chapters 9-11. Within that movement, this verse quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering.

Follow the Context

God's gift of the Son and justifying action answer ultimate charges.
Christ's death, resurrection, reign, and intercession answer condemnation.
No affliction or created power can sever God's love in Christ.

What This Verse Is Not Saying

Romans 8:36 does not turn the fact that it quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering into a standalone universal rule.

What Remains True

This verse quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering. This supports the unit's enduring claim: God's love in the crucified, risen, and interceding Christ is stronger than accusation, suffering, and every created power.

How It Can Shape Life

Use Romans 8:36 by attending to its actual contribution: it quotes the Psalm's slaughtered-sheep lament so assurance does not deny lethal suffering. In the complete unit, this leads to the following response: Stand with threatened people and let assurance sustain non-retaliatory courage.

Teach It Back

Explain Romans 8:36 inside Romans 8:31–39, including its role, the surrounding movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the unit rejects.

Explain the verse in context

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Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Romans 8:31–39 — Nothing Can Separate God's People from Christ's Love

Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? probable

Where care is needed

Traditions differ over perseverance, apostasy, and the scope of us; the passage gives comprehensive assurance against created powers without settling every later question.

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.

Exact location: Romans 8:31–39, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, and base text for original-language discussion.

Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT repository, data/sblgnt/text/Rom.txt, 8:31–39

Open the Romans Greek text file ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible - Romans with translators' and textual notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition

Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, material variants, and interpretive alternatives.

Exact location: NET Bible official Romans chapter print view, 8:31–39, translation and attached translator, study, and textual notes

Open NET Romans 8 notes

modern open commentary

Romans

Donny Ray Mathis II

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Complete evangelical Protestant whole-letter exposition, historical setting, argument flow, and theological synthesis.

Exact location: Mathis, 'Romans,' introduction and commentary section covering 8:31–39, with bibliography and endnotes

Open source ↗

modern catholic translation notes

The Letter to the Romans: introduction and chapter notes

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2010-2026 online edition

Supports: Catholic exegetical orientation, salvation-history frame, concise verse notes, and faith-new-life synthesis.

Exact location: USCCB, Romans introduction and chapter notes covering 8:31–39

Open source ↗

modern jewish annotated new testament

Romans introduction and annotations in The Jewish Annotated New Testament

Mark D. Nanos; edited by Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler

Oxford University Press, 2011

Supports: Jewish historical context, Paul-within-Judaism alternatives, diatribe restraint, and anti-supersessionist controls.

Exact location: Nanos, Jewish Annotated New Testament, first edition print pp. 253-286, introduction and annotations on 8:31–39

Open source ↗

peer reviewed apocalyptic reading

Places of Power in Paul's Letter to the Romans

Beverly Roberts Gaventa

Interpretation 76.4, 2022

Supports: Abstract-level apocalyptic thesis about God's rescue of creatures from Sin and Death and renewed creaturely agency.

Exact location: Gaventa, 'Places of Power in Paul's Letter to the Romans,' Interpretation 76.4 (2022), public abstract only

Open source ↗

Open the complete thought-unit research record