Romans 9:21-33

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  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ³  of wrath ⁴  prepared for destruction? ⁵  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁶  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory – 9:24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 9:25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ⁷  ‘My beloved.’” ⁸ 

9:26 “And in the very place ⁹  where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” ¹⁰ 

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children ¹¹  of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 9:28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” ¹²  9:29 Just ¹³  as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies ¹⁴  had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” ¹⁵ 

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 9:31 but Israel even though pursuing ¹⁶  a law of righteousness ¹⁷  did not attain it. ¹⁸  9:32 Why not? Because they pursued ¹⁹  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. ²⁰  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ²¹  9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ²² 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ²³ 

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 tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

⁴ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

⁵ tn 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, καταρτίζω (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.

⁶ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

⁷ tn Grk “and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’”

⁸ sn A quotation from Hos 2:23.

⁹ tn Grk “And it will be in the very place.”

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Hos 1:10.

¹¹ tn Grk “sons.”

¹² tc 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 א* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine mss (א² D F G Ψ 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.

¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁴ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”

¹⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.

¹⁶ tn Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.

¹⁷ tn Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation would treat the genitive δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") as an attributed genitive (see ExSyn 89-91).

¹⁸ tn Grk “has not attained unto the law.”

¹⁹ tn 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.

²⁰ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א² D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* 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.

²¹ tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

²² tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

²³ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.