ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Romans 9.6-8

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

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.

6. But it is not 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.

  1. 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, (Romans 9:4-10, ASV)
WEB

4. who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises; 5. of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.

6. But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel. 7. Neither, because they are Abraham’s offspring, are they all children. But, “your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac.” 8. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.

  1. For this is a word of promise, “At the appointed time I will come, and Sarah will have a son.” 10. Not only so, but Rebekah also conceived by one, by our father Isaac. (Romans 9:4-10, WEB)
KJV

4. Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; covenants: or, testaments 5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

6. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

  1. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. 10. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (Romans 9:4-10, KJV)
YLT

4. who are Israelites, whose [is] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the lawgiving, and the service, and the promises, 5. whose [are] the fathers, and of whom [is] the Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen.

6. And it is not possible that the word of God hath failed; for not all who [are] of Israel are these Israel; 7. nor because they are seed of Abraham [are] all children, but, 'in Isaac shall a seed be called to thee;' 8. that is, the children of the flesh, these [are] not children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for seed;

  1. for the word of promise [is] this; 'According to this time I will come, and there shall be to Sarah a son.' 10. And not only [so], but also Rebecca, having conceived by one, Isaac our father (Romans 9:4-10, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle
  • Audience: the Roman house churches (mixed Jewish-Gentile), whom Paul had not yet met
  • Location: Corinth, near the close of the third missionary journey
  • Time period: c. AD 56-57

Theological reading

The thesis of the section, stated immediately after the lament of verses 1 to 5. If Israel possesses the covenants and the promises but largely has not received her Messiah, has God's word failed? Paul's answer is that it has not, and the reason is a distinction internal to Israel itself.

Ou gar pantes hoi ex Israēl houtoi Israēl, for not all who are from Israel are Israel. Paul is not replacing Israel with something else; he is arguing that scripture never treated physical descent as sufficient, and he proves it from the patriarchal narratives the objection depends on. Abraham had Ishmael, yet "in Isaac shall your seed be called." The next verses add Esau and Jacob, chosen before either had done anything good or bad.

Verse 8 draws the conclusion in the letter's characteristic terms: ta tekna tēs sarkos, the children of the flesh, are not the children of God, but ta tekna tēs epangelias, the children of the promise, are reckoned as seed. The verb is logizomai again, the accounting term that ran through chapter 4, which ties the argument back to Abraham's own justification.

The passage is foundational to the doctrine of election and to the debate over whether Paul is speaking of individuals or of corporate groups and their roles in redemptive history. Chapter 11 will insist that the setting aside is neither total, since Paul himself is an Israelite, nor final. See Romans 9.1-29.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

People:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.