Romans 9:7-9

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 

[9:7]  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]  ⁴ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

[9:9]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.