RSV ~ Romans 9 Notes

Rom 9:1-11 | ISB Notes

The middle section of Romans turns from the salvation of the world in general (chaps. 1-8) to the salvation of Israel in particular (chaps. 9-11). Faced with a theological and pastoral conundrum, Paul takes the opportunity to explain how God’s election of Israel in the past is perfectly consistent with Israel’s widespread rejection of the gospel in the present. His discussion is difficult to follow because the argument winds through a dense forest of echoes, allusions, and citations from the OT. In general, Paul follows the story line of Israel’s history set forth in the Bible: he starts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (9:6-13), moves through the Exodus (9:14-18), looks at the Exile (9:25-29), draws on passages about the time of restoration (10:1-21), and ends with a vision of Jacob-Israel saved in the New Covenant (11:26-27). Nearly a third of all Paul’s references to the Hebrew Scriptures in the entire collection of his writings are packed into these three chapters.

Rom 9:1 | ISB Notes

I am not lying: An adamant plea of innocence. It may suggest Paul was accused of indifference toward Israel. He uses the same expression to clear away suspicions and rumors in 2 Cor 11:31 and Gal 1:20.

Rom 9:3 | ISB Notes

accursed and cut off: Paul almost wishes he could be set apart for destruction and severed from Christ if it would bring Israel salvation.

See word study: Accursed at Gal 1:8.

• Moses voiced a similar sentiment at a similar time of national apostasy (Ex 32:32), when nearly all Israel fell from grace at the golden calf rebellion (Ex 32:1-6).

Rom 9:4-5 | ISB Notes

An inventory of Israel’s covenant blessings. These are tokens of God’s irrevocable commitment to the people of Israel (11:29) that gave them an “advantage” over other nations (3:12), drawing them closer to God, ordering their worship, and showing them the way of righteousness. Their crowning gift is the Messiah, who came many centuries after the initial endowments had been given through Moses and the patriarchs.

Rom 9:5 | ISB Notes

Christ, who is God: The punctuation of this verse is debated. When a comma is placed between “Christ” and “God”, the two are identified and the divinity of Jesus is asserted. When a period is used instead, the two are distinguished and God the Father is extolled by the final blessing. Both renderings are consistent with Pauline theology.

Rom 9:6 | ISB Notes

not all … belong to Israel: The thesis statement of Rom 9-11, that elect Israel, as a remnant chosen by grace, has always been a subset of ethnic Israel (11:6-7).

Rom 9:7-13 | ISB Notes

Paul shows that a pattern of divine selection and L exclusion was already at work before the founding of Israel as a nation.

• From Gen 21:12 and 18:10 he shows that God made a distinction between the biological sons of Abraham, choosing Isaac over Ishmael to be the channel of his covenant blessings (9:7, 9). Then from Gen 25:23 and Mal 1:2-3 he shows that God made a distinction between the biological sons of Isaac, choosing Jacob over Esau to be a channel of covenant blessings (Rom 9:12-13). The point is that natural and biological descent from the patriarchs is not a guarantee of divine blessing, because everything depends on the grace of God’s call (9:11; Lk 3:8; Jn 8:33-39).

Rom 9:8 | ISB Notes

children of the flesh … the promise: The distinction applies to the sons of Abraham and Isaac. Ishmael and Esau are sons by the flesh but excluded from the covenant plan of God, while Isaac and Jacob are sons called by the Lord to carry his promises forward.

Rom 9:11 | ISB Notes

his call: Or, “the One who calls”. That God advances his plan of election through his call is a theme that was introduced in the Genesis quote in 9:7 (“named” is literally “called”) and runs throughout the chapter (9:24-26).

Rom 9:13 | ISB Notes

Esau I hated: A Semitic expression that means God loved Esau less than Jacob. It neither asserts nor implies that God predestined him for punishment or damnation.

Rom 9:14-18 | ISB Notes

Paul denies that divine election amounts to divine injustice.

• From Ex 33:19 he shows that God’s justice is matched by an abundance of mercy (Rom 9:15), as seen when he robed the children of Israel in mercy right after they abandoned him for the golden calf (Ex 32:1-6). From Ex 9:16 he shows that the hardness of Pharaoh during the Exodus was part of his plan to reveal his power to the world (Rom 9:17). In effect, Paul is defending God’s freedom to be patient and merciful toward sinners, not his freedom to punish sinners.

Rom 9:18 | ISB Notes

he has mercy … he hardens: The pattern of God’s dealings with Israel (9:15) and Pharaoh (9:17) during the Exodus is a pattern repeated in Paul’s day, when a remnant of Israel is shown mercy (9:23-24) and the rest remains hardened (11:7, 25). Divine hardening does not cause a person to sin but is a disciplinary measure for those like Pharaoh who are already stubbornly resisting God (Ex 7:14; 8:15).

Rom 9:21 | ISB Notes

the potter: Illustrates the sovereign freedom of God.

• Paul is alluding to Is 29:16, although the same imagery is used elsewhere in the OT (Sir 33:13; Is 45:9; Jer 18:1-11). In Isaiah, Israel is the earthenware vessel that complains to the Lord and dares to question the wisdom of his ways. Rebuked for this audacity, it is reminded that God is the Maker of all things and stands accountable to no one.

Rom 9:22 | ISB Notes

made for destruction: The Greek can mean that the vessels of wrath have prepared themselves for doom by rejecting the gospel. Paul is not saying that God has predestined the unbelievers of Israel for damnation; otherwise he would not be praying (10:1) and working (11:14) for their salvation (CCC 1037).

Rom 9:25-29 | ISB Notes

Citations from Hosea and Isaiah support the assertion in 9:24 that Gentiles and a remnant of Jews constitute the “vessels of mercy” (9:23).

• Hosea foretells the restoration of Israel to full covenant sonship after centuries of exile have dissolved the northern tribes into the nations and reduced them to the status of Gentiles (Hos 2:23 in 9:25 and Hos 1:10 in 9:26). Isaiah depicts Yahweh saving a remnant of Israel even as he punishes the rest of the nation for their transgressions. In context, the Isaian passages speak of a remnant saved from the northern and southern tribes of Israel respectively (Is 10:22 in 9:27-28 and Is 1:9 in 9:29). See word study: Remnant at Rom 11:5.

Rom 9:32 | ISB Notes

through faith: The hardened part of Israel (11:7) pursues, not the wrong object (righteousness), but the right object in the wrong way (by works/without faith). The Law was intended to lead them to their Messiah (10:4).

Rom 9:33 | ISB Notes

Behold, I am laying: A quotation from Is 28:16 with an excerpt from Is 8:14 spliced into the middle.

• The passages are linked together by the common image of a stone, which is symbolic for the royal Messiah in Jewish tradition (Targum Isaiah). Stumbling over the stone dramatizes the folly of unbelief (11:20; 1 Cor 1:23). Paul believes that many in Israel have tripped but have not completely fallen (11:11). He is hopeful that some will regain their balance and come to faith in Jesus (11:23).