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Romans 9

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Paul's Deep Sorrow for Israel 1–5

1
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in the Holy Spirit, ​
2
that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
3
For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: ​
4
who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; ​
5
whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. ​

God's Faithfulness and Sovereign Election 6–13

6
Butit isnot as though the word of God hath come to nought. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel: ​
7
neither, because they are Abraham’s seed, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. ​
8
That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed. ​
9
For this is a word of promise, According to this season will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10
And not only so; but Rebecca also having conceived by one, even by our father Isaac—
11
for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, ​
12
it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13
Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. ​

The Justice of God's Sovereign Choice 14–24

14
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. ​
15
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. ​
16
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy. ​
17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth. ​
18
So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will he hardeneth. ​
19
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will?
20
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus? ​
21
Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? ​
22
What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction: ​
23
and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory, ​
24
even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? ​

Scriptural Proof of God's Plan 25–29

25
As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved. ​
26
And it shall be, thatin the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God.
27
And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved: ​
28
for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short.
29
And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah. ​

The Reason for Israel's Failure 30–33

30
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: ​
31
but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ​
32
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling; ​
33
even as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Romans 9

Verse 1

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not — Three witnesses are named: Christ, 'my conscience', and 'the Holy Ghost'. 'Bearing me witness' is symmartyreo, the verb used of conscience in 2:15 and of the Spirit in 8:16. The assurance opens the grief of vv.2–3, which follows the certainty of 8:38–39.

Verse 3

accursed from Christ — Anathema is a thing given up to the curse, the word of 'let him be Anathema Maranatha' (1 Cor 16:22) and 'let him be accursed' (Gal 1:8–9). His wish for 'my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh' follows Moses' prayer for Israel: 'blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written' (Ex 32:32).

Verse 4

Who are Israelites — This is the title Paul claims for himself (11:1; 2 Cor 11:22). 'Adoption' is Israel's: 'Israel is my son, even my firstborn' (Ex 4:22). Nomothesia, 'the giving of the law', occurs only here; latreia, 'the service of God', is the worship of the tabernacle (Heb 9:1, 6). Ps 147:19–20 says the same: 'He hath not dealt so with any nation.'

Verse 5

who is over all, God blessed for ever — Of Israel 'as concerning the flesh Christ came', as he was 'made of the seed of David according to the flesh' (1:3). The closing words call him 'over all, God blessed for ever'. Eulogetos, 'blessed', is used elsewhere in the New Testament of God himself (Luke 1:68; Rom 1:25; 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3).

Verse 6

they are not all Israel, which are of Israel — The verse opens the answer to whether God's word has failed. 'Israel' is the name the LORD gave Jacob (Gen 32:28); descent from him is not what makes the people, as 2:28–29 says of the Jew: 'he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly'. The answer is given in 11:2: 'God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.'

Verse 7

In Isaac shall thy seed be called — The words are God's to Abraham at Ishmael's casting out (Gen 21:12; Heb 11:18). 'Called' is kaleo, the verb that runs through the chapter (vv.7, 11, 24–26). Ishmael was 'born after the flesh', Isaac 'by promise' (Gal 4:23).

Verse 8

the children of the promise are counted for the seed — 'Counted' is logizomai, the verb of 4:3, where Abraham's faith 'was counted unto him for righteousness'. The child of promise is the pattern: 'Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise' (Gal 4:28). The 'children of the flesh' are set aside as in John 1:13, 'not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh'.

Verse 11

according to election — Rebekah's twins were still unborn, and the LORD told her then, 'the elder shall serve the younger' (Gen 25:22–23). Prothesis, 'purpose', is the word of 8:28, 'called according to his purpose'; ekloge, 'election', occurs in Romans here and in 11:5, 7, 28. 'Not of works, but of him that calleth' matches 11:6, 'if by grace, then is it no more of works'.

Verse 13

Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated — The quotation is from Mal 1:2–3, where the names stand for the peoples: Edom 'saith, We are impoverished' (Mal 1:4). 'Hated' is miseo, which in Scripture can mean loved less: Leah 'was hated' (Gen 29:31) where Jacob 'loved also Rachel more than Leah' (Gen 29:30); cf. Matt 10:37 with Luke 14:26.

Verse 14

Is there unrighteousness with God? — Adikia, injustice. The answer, 'God forbid', is the one Paul gives ten times in Romans (3:4, 6, 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; 11:1, 11). Scripture says it of the LORD: 'a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he' (Deut 32:4); 'there is no iniquity with the LORD our God' (2 Chr 19:7).

Verse 15

I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy — The quotation is from Ex 33:19, spoken to Moses after the golden calf, when Israel's survival depended on mercy: 'I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.' It comes with the LORD's 'name', proclaimed in Ex 34:6 as 'merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth'.

Verse 16

not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth — Thelo, to will, and trecho, to run: desire and effort. Both are set aside in favour of 'God that sheweth mercy', as in 'by grace are ye saved through faith… not of works' (Eph 2:8–9) and 'not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us' (Titus 3:5).

Verse 17

Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up — Paul quotes Ex 9:16, said to Pharaoh after the plagues began: 'that my name may be declared throughout all the earth'. 'Raised up' is exegeiro. The name did go out: Rahab says, 'we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you' (Josh 2:10), and the Gibeonites, 'the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt' (Josh 9:9).

Verse 18

whom he will he hardeneth — Skleruno, to make hard. In Exodus both are said: 'I will harden his heart' (Ex 4:21), 'Pharaoh… hardened his heart' (Ex 8:15), 'the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh' (Ex 9:12). The same is said of Canaan: 'it was of the LORD to harden their hearts' (Josh 11:20). The verse pairs it with mercy, as v.15 does.

Verse 20

who art thou that repliest against God? — Antapokrinomai, to answer back, is used elsewhere only in Luke 14:6. Plasma, 'the thing formed', occurs only here. The figure is the prophets': 'Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! … Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?' (Isa 45:9); 'shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?' (Isa 29:16).

Verse 21

the potter power over the clay — 'Power' is exousia, right. The clay in Scripture is Israel: 'we are the clay, and thou our potter' (Isa 64:8), and 'cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD' (Jer 18:6). Jeremiah adds the potter's rule: 'If that nation… turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil' (Jer 18:8). 'Honour' and 'dishonour' recur in 2 Tim 2:20–21.

Verse 22

fitted to destruction — 'Fitted' is katartizo, made ready, and the verse names no one as doing the fitting; the vessels of mercy are 'afore prepared' by God (v.23). God 'endured with much longsuffering' (makrothymia), the longsuffering named in 2:4 beside 'the goodness of God' that 'leadeth thee to repentance'.

Verse 23

afore prepared unto glory — Proetoimazo, to prepare beforehand, occurs only here and in Eph 2:10, 'good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them'. 'The riches of his glory' is the phrase of Eph 3:16. 'Vessels of mercy' answers 'vessels of wrath' of v.22, and both verses speak of God making known (gnorizo) what he is.

Verse 24

not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles — 'Called' (kaleo) is the verb of 8:30, 'whom he called, them he also justified'. 'Even us' includes Paul, a Jew, and the Gentile believers. The point is made at 3:29, 'Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles?', and Eph 2:11–13 describes the Gentiles 'made nigh by the blood of Christ'.

Verse 25

in Osee — Osee is the Greek form of Hosea. The words are from Hos 2:23, where 'not my people' echoes the name Loammi given to Hosea's son (Hos 1:9). Hosea speaks of Israel; Paul applies it to the Gentiles called with them, as Peter does: 'Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God' (1 Pet 2:10).

Verse 27

a remnant shall be saved — The quotation is from Isa 10:22, 'though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return'; the sand is Abraham's promise (Gen 22:17). 'Crieth' is krazo, a loud cry. Katalemma, 'remnant', occurs only here. 11:5 gives the present case: 'a remnant according to the election of grace'.

Verse 29

left us a seed — The quotation is from Isa 1:9, 'Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant'. 'Sabaoth' is the Hebrew 'hosts', found elsewhere only in James 5:4. 'Seed' is sperma, the word of vv.7–8: what survives Sodom's fate is the seed of the promise. Sodom and Gomorrah are the pattern of total overthrow (Amos 4:11; 2 Pet 2:6).

Verse 30

which followed not after righteousness — Dioko, to pursue, is the verb of both vv.30 and 31; katalambano, 'attained', is to lay hold of. The righteousness received 'is of faith', as Abraham's was, 'a seal of the righteousness of the faith' (4:11). The question 'What shall we say then?' opens another step in the argument, as it did at v.14.

Verse 31

the law of righteousness — The law pointed at righteousness, and Israel 'followed after' it, yet 'attained' (phthano, to arrive at) did not. 10:2–4 gives the account: 'a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge'; 'going about to establish their own righteousness'; and 'Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth'.

Verse 32

they stumbled at that stumblingstone — Proskopto, to strike the foot against, and proskomma, the stone struck: one word-family (vv.32–33; 14:13; 1 Cor 8:9). They sought it 'as it were by the works of the law' rather than 'by faith'. Peter names the stone: 'a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word' (1 Pet 2:8).

Verse 33

Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone — Two prophecies are joined: Isa 28:16, 'Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone', and Isa 8:14, 'a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence'. The same stone is the offence to some and the foundation to others; Peter cites the pair of them (1 Pet 2:6–8). 'Shall not be ashamed' returns in 10:11.