Romans 9:29

9:29 Just ¹  as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies ²  had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” ³ 

Isaiah 1:9

1:9 If the Lord who commands armies ⁴  had not left us a few survivors,

we would have quickly become like Sodom, ⁵ 

we would have become like Gomorrah.

[9:29]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:29]  ² tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”

[9:29]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.

[1:9]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts.” The title pictures God as the sovereign king who has at his disposal a multitude of attendants, messengers, and warriors to do his bidding. In some contexts, like this one, the military dimension of his rulership is highlighted. In this case, the title pictures him as one who leads armies into battle against his enemies.

[1:9]  ⁵ tc The translation assumes that כִּמְעָט (kim’at, “quickly,” literally, “like a little”) goes with what follows, contrary to the MT accents, which take it with what precedes. In this case, one could translate the preceding line, “If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors.” If כִּמְעָט goes with the preceding line (following the MT accents), this expression highlights the idea that there would only be a few survivors (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:20; H. Zobel, TDOT 8:456). Israel would not be almost like Sodom but exactly like Sodom.