¹sn Rom 9:1-11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9-11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29—A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.
²tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”
³tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”
⁴tn Or “For I would pray.” The implied condition is “if this could save my fellow Jews.”
⁵tn Grk “brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ajdelfov" 2.b.
⁶tn Grk “my kinsmen according to the flesh.”
⁷tn Grk “of whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
⁸tn The Greek term uiJoqesiva (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”
⁹tn Or “cultic service.”
¹⁰tn Grk “of whom are the fathers.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
¹¹tn Grk “from whom.” Here the relative pronoun has been replaced by a personal pronoun.
¹²tn Grk “according to the flesh.”
¹³tn Or “Messiah.” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed.”)
¹⁴tn Or “the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever,” or “the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever!” or “the Messiah who is over all. God be blessed forever!” The translational difficulty here is not text-critical in nature, but is a problem of punctuation. Since the genre of these opening verses of Romans 9 is a lament, it is probably best to take this as an affirmation of Christ’s deity (as the text renders it). Although the other renderings are possible, to see a note of praise to God at the end of this section seems strangely out of place. But for Paul to bring his lament to a crescendo (that is to say, his kinsmen had rejected God come in the flesh), thereby deepening his anguish, is wholly appropriate. This is also supported grammatically and stylistically: The phrase oJ w]n (Jo wn, “the one who is”) is most naturally taken as a phrase which modifies something in the preceding context, and Paul’s doxologies are always closely tied to the preceding context. For a detailed examination of this verse, see B. M. Metzger, “The Punctuation of Rom. 9:5,” Christ and the Spirit in the New Testament, 95-112; and M. J. Harris, Jesus as God, 144-72.
¹⁵tn Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”
¹⁶tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.
sn A quotation from Gen 21:12.
¹⁷tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
¹⁸tn Because it forms the counterpoint to ‘the children of promise’ the expression ‘children of the flesh’ has been retained in the translation.
sn The expression the children of the flesh refers to the natural offspring.
¹⁹tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”
²⁰tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.
²¹sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.
²²tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.
²³tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”
²⁴tn Or “not based on works but based on…”
²⁵tn Grk “by the one who calls.”
sn The entire clause is something of a parenthetical remark.
²⁶sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA27/UBS4, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.
²⁷sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.
²⁸sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.
²⁹sn A quotation from Exod 33:19.
³⁰sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
³¹tn Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”
³²sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.
³³sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.
³⁴sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
³⁵tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³⁶tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”
³⁷tn Grk “O man.”
³⁸tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”
³⁹sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.
⁴⁰tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”
⁴¹tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”
⁴²tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.
⁴³tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ojrgh'" (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.
⁴⁴tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, katartivzw (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.
⁴⁵tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.
⁴⁶tn Grk “and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’”
⁴⁷sn A quotation from Hos 2:23.
⁴⁸tn Grk “And it will be in the very place.”
⁴⁹sn A quotation from Hos 1:10.
⁵⁰tn Grk “sons.”
⁵¹tc In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian mss (Ì46 Í* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine mss (Í2 D F G Y 33 Ï lat). The longer reading follows Isa 10:22-23 (LXX) verbatim, while Paul in the previous verse quoted the LXX loosely. This suggests the addition was made by a copyist trying to make sense out of a difficult passage rather than by the author himself.
tn There is a wordplay in Greek (in both the LXX and here) on the phrase translated “completely and quickly” (suntelw'n kaiV suntevmnwn, suntelwn kai suntemnwn). These participles are translated as adverbs for smoothness; a more literal (and more cumbersome) rendering would be: “The Lord will act by closing the account [or completing the sentence], and by cutting short the time.” The interpretation of this text is notoriously difficult. Cf. BDAG 975 s.v. suntevmnw.
sn A modified quotation from Isa 10:22-23. Since it is not exact, it has been printed as italics only.
⁵²tn Here kaiv (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
⁵³tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”
⁵⁴sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.
⁵⁵tn Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.
⁵⁶tn Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation treats the genitive dikaiosuvnh" (dikaiosunh") as an attributed genitive (see ExSyn 89-91).
⁵⁷tn Grk “has not attained unto the law.”
⁵⁸tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.
⁵⁹tc Most mss, especially the later ones (Í2 D Y 33 Ï sy), read novmou (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in Í* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.
tn Grk “but as by works.”
⁶⁰tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”
⁶¹tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
⁶²sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.