Romans 3:17 (LSB)

Passage

And the path of peace they have not known.”

Nearby Context

Romans 3:15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,

Romans 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,

Romans 3:17 And the path of peace they have not known.”

Romans 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "path", "peace", and "known". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "path" and "peace", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Destruction and misery are in their paths..." into verse 18's "There is no fear of God before...", so "path" and "peace" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "path" and "peace" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.