Romans 9:1

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ¹ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ²  in the Holy Spirit –

Romans 15:8

15:8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised ³  on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, ⁴ 

Romans 3:5

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ⁵  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ⁶  (I am speaking in human terms.) ⁷ 

Romans 10:19

10:19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? ⁸  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” ⁹ 

Romans 11:1

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 11:11

11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, ¹⁰  did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel ¹¹  jealous.

Romans 11:13

11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

Romans 6:19

6:19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) ¹²  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 10:18

10:18 But I ask, have they ¹³  not heard? ¹⁴  Yes, they have: ¹⁵  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ¹⁶ 

Romans 12:3

Conduct in Humility

12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you ¹⁷  a measure of faith. ¹⁸ 

[9:1]  ¹ 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.

[9:1]  ² tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[15:8]  ³ tn Grk “of the circumcision”; that is, the Jews.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn Or “to the patriarchs.”

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ⁷ sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.

[10:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “Israel did not ‘not know,’ did he?” The double negative in Greek has been translated as a positive affirmation for clarity (see v. 18 above for a similar situation).

[10:19]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 32:21.

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “that they might fall.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “because of your natural limitations” (NRSV).

[10:18]  ¹³ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ¹⁵ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.

[12:3]  ¹⁵ tn The words “of you” have been supplied for clarity.

[12:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “to each as God has distributed a measure of faith.”