Romans 9:7-13

9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ¹  9:8 This means ²  it is not the children of the flesh ³  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ⁴  “About a year from now ⁵  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ⁶  9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, ⁷  our ancestor Isaac – 9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ⁸  would stand, not by works but by ⁹  his calling) ¹⁰  – 9:12 ¹¹  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” ¹²  9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ¹³ 

Romans 9:18

9:18 So then, ¹⁴  God ¹⁵  has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. ¹⁶ 

Romans 9:21-24

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ¹⁷  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ¹⁸  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ¹⁹  of wrath ²⁰  prepared for destruction? ²¹  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ²²  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?

[9:7]  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.

[9:8]  ² tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

[9:8]  ³ tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

[9:9]  ³ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

[9:9]  ⁴ 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.

[9:9]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.

[9:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

[9:11]  ⁶ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

[9:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

[9:12]  ⁶ sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA²⁷/UBS⁴, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.

[9:12]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.

[9:13]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.

[9:18]  ⁸ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

[9:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ¹² 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.

[9:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.