Romans 3:19

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.

Thus Paul sharpened the impact of his charges of Israel's being under the complete dominion of sin. A paraphrase of what he said here is, "This is what your own law says about you, and that should shut up every mouth which would deny that Israel is under sin exactly like the rest of the world."

These words make it absolutely clear that the Jews are the principal subject of the apostle in this section; but the final clause makes it also clear that Paul was not concerned merely with concluding Israel under sin, but all people.

That every mouth may be stopped ... Paul was determined to convict the total race of Adam, and the devastating charges he had just sustained against Israel have the collateral effect of condemning the Gentiles as well, for they were admittedly worse than the Jews. Paul's mention of "the law" in this verse is significant, in that it reveals an inspired definition of what is meant by "the law." It means not merely the Torah, or Pentateuch, but the entire Old Testament, as Paul here quoted from the prophets and from the Psalms, referring to all of his quotations as being from "the law."

Whiteside summarized the teaching of this verse thus:

The Jew readily granted that the Gentile was under the judgment of God, and now Paul proves from the Jewish scriptures that the Jew likewise was under the judgment of God.[20]