Romans 9:21

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ² 

Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ³ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ⁴  in the Holy Spirit –

Romans 5:9

5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous ⁵  by his blood, ⁶  we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. ⁷ 

Romans 5:2

5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice ⁸  in the hope of God’s glory.

Romans 2:20

2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth –

¹ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

² tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

³ sn 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.

⁴ tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

⁵ tn Grk “having now been declared righteous.” The participle δικαιωθέντες (dikaiwqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

⁶ tn Or, according to BDF §219.3, “at the price of his blood.”

⁷ tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as v. 10 shows.

⁸ tn Or “exult, boast.”