Romans 9:7
Context9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 1
Romans 4:18
Context4:18 Against hope Abraham 2 believed 3 in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations 4 according to the pronouncement, 5 “so will your descendants be.” 6
Romans 9:8
Context9:8 This means 7 it is not the children of the flesh 8 who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
Romans 9:29
Context9:29 Just 9 as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of armies 10 had not left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” 11


[9:7] 1 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.
[4:18] 2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:18] 3 tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[4:18] 4 sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.
[4:18] 5 tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”
[4:18] 6 sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.
[9:8] 3 tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”
[9:8] 4 tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.
[9:29] 4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[9:29] 5 tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”