9:6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, 1 9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 2 9:8 This means 3 it is not the children of the flesh 4 who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9:9 For this is what the promise declared: 5 “About a year from now 6 I will return and Sarah will have a son.” 7 9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, 8 our ancestor Isaac –
1 tn Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”
2 tn 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.
3 tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
4 tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.
5 tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”
6 tn 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.
7 sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.
8 tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.