Romans 9
9
Paul’s Love for Israel.#The apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Rom 9:3; cf. Lv 27:28–29). His love for them derives from God’s continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity (Rom 9:4–5). 1I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness#2 Cor 11:31; 1 Tm 2:7. 2that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh.#Ex 32:32. 4They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;#3:2; Ex 4:22; Dt 7:6; 14:1–2. 5theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all#Some editors punctuate this verse differently and prefer the translation, “Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all.” However, Paul’s point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah. be blessed forever. Amen.#Mt 1:1–16; Lk 3:23–38 / Rom 1:25; Ps 41:14.
God’s Free Choice. 6But it is not that the word of God has failed. For not all who are of Israel are Israel,#Nm 23:19 / Mt 3:9. 7nor are they all children of Abraham because they are his descendants; but “It is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name.”#Gn 21:12; Gal 3:29. 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.#Gal 4:23, 28. 9For this is the wording of the promise, “About this time I shall return and Sarah will have a son.”#Gn 18:10, 14. 10And not only that,#Gn 25:21. but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one husband, our father Isaac#Children by one husband, our father Isaac: Abraham had two children, Ishmael and Isaac, by two wives, Hagar and Sarah, respectively. In that instance Isaac, although born later than Ishmael, became the bearer of the messianic promise. In the case of twins born to Rebecca, God’s elective procedure is seen even more dramatically, and again the younger, contrary to Semitic custom, is given the preference.—11before they had yet been born or had done anything, good or bad, in order that God’s elective plan might continue, 12not by works but by his call—she was told, “The older shall serve the younger.”#11:5–6 / Gn 25:23–24. 13As it is written:#Mal 1:3.
“I loved Jacob
but hated Esau.”#The literal rendering, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” suggests an attitude of divine hostility that is not implied in Paul’s statement. In Semitic usage “hate” means to love less; cf. Lk 14:26 with Mt 10:37. Israel’s unbelief reflects the mystery of the divine election that is always operative within it. Mere natural descent from Abraham does not ensure the full possession of the divine gifts; it is God’s sovereign prerogative to bestow this fullness upon, or to withhold it from, whomsoever he wishes; cf. Mt 3:9; Jn 8:39. The choice of Jacob over Esau is a case in point.
14#The principle of divine election does not invite Christians to theoretical inquiry concerning the nonelected, nor does this principle mean that God is unfair in his dealings with humanity. The instruction concerning divine election is a part of the gospel and reveals that the gift of faith is the enactment of God’s mercy (Rom 9:16). God raised up Moses to display that mercy, and Pharaoh to display divine severity in punishing those who obstinately oppose their Creator. What then are we to say? Is there injustice on the part of God? Of course not!#Dt 32:4. 15For he says to Moses:
“I will show mercy to whom I will,
I will take pity on whom I will.”#Ex 33:19.
16So it depends not upon a person’s will or exertion, but upon God, who shows mercy.#Eph 2:8; Ti 3:5. 17For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “This is why I have raised you up, to show my power through you that my name may be proclaimed throughout the earth.”#Ex 9:16. 18Consequently, he has mercy upon whom he wills,#11:30–32; Ex 4:21; 7:3. and he hardens whom he wills.#The basic biblical principle is: those who will not see or hear shall not see or hear. On the other hand, the same God who thus makes stubborn or hardens the heart can reconstruct it through the work of the holy Spirit.
19#The apostle responds to the objection that if God rules over faith through the principle of divine election, God cannot then accuse unbelievers of sin (Rom 9:19). For Paul, this objection is in the last analysis a manifestation of human insolence, and his “answer” is less an explanation of God’s ways than the rejection of an argument that places humanity on a level with God. At the same time, Paul shows that God is far less arbitrary than appearances suggest, for God endures with much patience (Rom 9:22) a person like the Pharaoh of the Exodus. You will say to me then, “Why [then] does he still find fault? For who can oppose his will?”#3:7; Wis 12:12. 20But who indeed are you, a human being, to talk back to God?#Wis 15:7; Is 29:16; 45:9; Jer 18:6. Will what is made say to its maker, “Why have you created me so?” 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one? 22What if God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction?#2:4; Wis 12:20–21; Jer 50:25. 23This was to make known the riches of his glory to the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared previously for glory, 24namely, us whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.
Witness of the Prophets. 25As indeed he says in Hosea:
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved#Beloved: in Semitic discourse means “preferred” or “favorite” (cf. Rom 9:13). See Hos 2:1. I will call ‘beloved.’#Hos 2:25.
26And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they shall be called children of the living God.”#Hos 2:1.
27#Is 10:22–23; Hos 2:1 / Rom 11:5 / Is 28:22. And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the Israelites were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will be saved; 28for decisively and quickly will the Lord execute sentence upon the earth.” 29And as Isaiah predicted:
“Unless the Lord of hosts had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom
and have been made like Gomorrah.”#Is 1:9; Mt 10:15.
Righteousness Based on Faith.#In the conversion of the Gentiles and, by contrast, of relatively few Jews, the Old Testament prophecies are seen to be fulfilled; cf. Rom 9:25–29. Israel feared that the doctrine of justification through faith would jeopardize the validity of the Mosaic law, and so they never reached their goal of righteousness that they had sought to attain through meticulous observance of the law (Rom 9:31). Since Gentiles, including especially Greeks and Romans, had a great regard for righteousness, Paul’s statement concerning Gentiles in Rom 9:30 is to be understood from a Jewish perspective: quite evidently they had not been interested in “God’s” righteousness, for it had not been revealed to them; but now in response to the proclamation of the gospel they respond in faith. 30What then shall we say? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have achieved it, that is, righteousness that comes from faith;#10:4, 20. 31but that Israel, who pursued the law of righteousness, did not attain to that law?#10:3. 32Why not? Because they did it not by faith, but as if it could be done by works.#Is 8:14. They stumbled over the stone that causes stumbling,#Paul discusses Israel as a whole from the perspective of contemporary Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah. The Old Testament and much of Jewish noncanonical literature in fact reflect a fervent faith in divine mercy. 33as it is written:
“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion
that will make people stumble
and a rock that will make them fall,
and whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.”#Is 28:16; 1 Pt 2:6–8.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Romans 9
9
1I speak HaEmes in Moshiach, I do not speak sheker, my matzpun (conscience) bearing me eidus (witness) in the Ruach HaKodesh,
2That there is great agmat nefesh to me and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3For I could wish that my neshamah be put under cherem (ban of destruction), under Churban, and Onesh Gehinnom, cut off from Moshiach for the sake of my achim, my own kinsmen, my people and flesh and blood relatives,
4In as much as they are Bnei Yisroel: theirs is the Mishpat HaBanim Adoption, the Ma'amad HaBanim Standing as Sons, and the Kavod (glory) and the Shechinah (glorious presence of G-d) and the Beritot (covenants), the Matan Torah, the Avodas Kodesh (worship) and the Havtachot (promises);
5Theirs are the Avot (the Patriarchs), and from them came, in so far as his humanity is concerned, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, al hakol hu HaElohim mam'vorach l'Olam va'ed. Omein.
6But it is not as though the Dvar Hashem has failed. For not all those descended from Yisroel are truly redeemed Yisroel [of the eschatological Geulah Redemption].
7Nor is it as though all the banim of K'lal Yisroel are the ZERA of Avraham Avinu, but [as it is written], BEYITZCHAK YIKARE L'CHA ZERA (In Yitzchak shall your seed be called, named, summoned).#9:7 Gn 21:12
8That is, it is not the Bnei habasar (old humanity without hitkhadshut) who are the Bnei HaElohim (children of G-d) but the Bnei HaHavtachah (children of the promise) who are reckoned as ZERA (seed, children, including the right of the heir in relation to the father).
9For this word is one of havtachah (promise): KA'ET SHOV ASHUV UL'SARAH BEN (About this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son).#9:9 Gn 18:10,14
10Not only so, but also in the case of Rivkah (Isaacʼs wife) who conceived by the one act of sexual intercourse with Yitzchak Avinu.
11For when they were not yet born nor had they done any mitzvah or averah, in order that the etzah (wisdom) of the tochnit Hashem (purposeful and willed plan of G-d)#9:11 Ro 8:28 should stand in terms of bechirah (divine election, selection, choosing),
12Not from#9:12 zokheh-earning mitzvos but from the One who makes the kri'ah (divine summons),#9:12 Ro 8:30 it was said to her, RAV YA'AVOD TZA'IR (the elder will serve the younger),#9:12 Gn 25:23
13As it is written, VA'OHAV ES YA'AKOV V'ES ESAV SANEITI (Ya'akov have I loved, but Esau have I hated).#9:13 Mal 1:2-3
14What then shall we say? There is no avla (injustice) with G-d, is there? Chas v'shalom!
15For to Moshe Rabbeinu Hashem says, V'CHANNOTI ES ASHER ACHON V'RICHAMETTI ES ASHER ARACHEM (I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion).#9:15 Ex 33:19
16So then, it is not a matter of the one who wills or the one who runs. It is a matter of the YAD HASHEM HACHANINAH (the hand of the G-d of gracious, free mercy).
17For the Kitvei Hakodesh says to Pharaoh, BA'AVUR ZOT HE'EMADTICHA BA'AVUR HAROTECHA ES KOCHI ULEMA'AN SAPER SHMI BECHOL HA'ARETZ (For this purpose I raised you up, in order that I might demonstrate in you my power and in order that my Name might be proclaimed in all the earth).#9:17 Ex 9:16
18So then, to whom Hashem wills Hashem shows chaninah (mercy, free grace), but whom Hashem wills he hardens.#9:18 that is, makes unresponsive or more mired down in KESHI (stubbornness, hardness); Dt 9:27
19You will say to me, Then why does Hashem still find fault? For who has resisted His will?
20On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to answer back to G-d? VEYETZER AMAR LEYOTZRO (Can the pot say to the potter),#9:20 Isa 29:16 Why have you made me thus?
21Or does the potter not have the right over the clay#9:21 Jer 18:6 to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
22But what if naniach (supposing) Hashem, willing to demonstrate His Charon Af Hashem (burning anger of G-d) and to make known His ko'ach (power),#9:22 1:16,18 put up with and endured with savlanut (patience) vessels which are objects of G-dʼs Charon Af (burning anger), objects made ready for Churban,#9:22 Ro 9:3
23And in order that He might make known the wealth of His kavod (glory) on vessels which are objects of Hashemʼs chaninah (mercy, free grace) which He prepared beforehand for kavod?#9:23 Ro 8:29-30
24By which I mean us, whom also He called, not only from the Yehudim but also from the non-Jews,
25As it says in Hoshea, V'AMARTI L'LO AMMI AMI ATAH (And I will call the “not my people” my people),#9:25 Hos 2:23 [2:25] and the “not loved” loved;
26And it shall be in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they shall be called Bnei EL CHAI#9:26 Hos 2:1 (sons of the living G-d).
27Yeshayah proclaims concerning Yisroel, Even if the number of the Bnei Yisroel are as the sand of the sea, only the She'erit (Remnant) will return (be saved),
28For Hashem will complete and cut short and will perform His Word on the earth.#9:28 Isa 10:22-23
29And as Yeshayah said beforehand, Except Adonoi Tz'vaot had left us SARID KIM'AT#9:29 Ro 9:7 (some survivors), we would have become like S'dom and we would have been the same as Amora.#9:29 Isa 1:9
30What then shall we say? That Goyim who do not pursue Tzidkot (righteousness) have attained Tzidkot which is Tzidkot through emunah,
31Whereas Yisroel pursuing a#9:31 supposed zokheh-earning Tzidkat Torah did not arrive at that Torah?
32Why so? Because it was not on the mekor (basis) of emunah but on the mekor (basis) of#9:32 zokheh-earning ma'asim#9:32 Ro 3:20,28; 4:2,6; 9:11-12 (works). They have stumbled over the EVEN NEGEF (Stone of Stumbling),
33As it is written, Hinei, I place in Tziyon a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and he who believes in Me shall not be put to shame.#9:32-33 Isa 8:14; 28:16
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.