20 Nay but, G3304 O G5599 man, G444 who G5101 art G1488 thou G4771 that repliest against G470 God? G2316 G3361 Shall G2046 the thing formed G4110 say G2046 to him that formed G4111 it, Why G5101 hast thou made G4160 me G3165 thus? G3779
Surely your turning of things upside down H2017 shall be esteemed H2803 as the potter's H3335 clay: H2563 for shall the work H4639 say H559 of him that made H6213 it, He made H6213 me not? or shall the thing framed H3336 say H559 of him that framed H3335 it, He had no understanding? H995
Woe H1945 unto him that striveth H7378 with his Maker! H3335 Let the potsherd H2789 strive with the potsherds H2789 of the earth. H127 Shall the clay H2563 say H559 to him that fashioneth H3335 it, What makest H6213 thou? or thy work, H6467 He hath no hands? H3027 Woe H1945 unto him that saith H559 unto his father, H1 What begettest H3205 thou? or to the woman, H802 What hast thou brought forth? H2342 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 the Holy One H6918 of Israel, H3478 and his Maker, H3335 Ask H7592 me of things to come H857 concerning my sons, H1121 and concerning the work H6467 of my hands H3027 command H6680 ye me.
Why dost thou strive H7378 against him? for he giveth not account H6030 of any of his matters. H1697
Perverse disputings G3859 of men G444 of corrupt G1311 minds, G3563 and G2532 destitute G650 of the truth, G225 supposing G3543 that gain G4200 is G1511 godliness: G2150 from G575 such G5108 withdraw thyself. G868
I know H3045 that thou canst do H3201 every thing, and that no thought H4209 can be withholden H1219 from thee. Who is he that hideth H5956 counsel H6098 without knowledge? H1847 therefore have I uttered H5046 that I understood H995 not; things too wonderful H6381 for me, which I knew H3045 not. Hear, H8085 I beseech thee, and I will speak: H1696 I will demand H7592 of thee, and declare H3045 thou unto me. I have heard H8085 of thee by the hearing H8088 of the ear: H241 but now mine eye H5869 seeth H7200 thee. Wherefore I abhor H3988 myself, and repent H5162 in dust H6083 and ashes. H665
Shall he that contendeth H7378 with the Almighty H7706 instruct H3250 him? he that reproveth H3198 God, H433 let him answer H6030 it.
Shall vain H7307 words H1697 have an end? H7093 or what emboldeneth H4834 thee that thou answerest? H6030
For G1063 what G5101 knowest thou, G1492 O wife, G1135 whether G1487 thou shalt save G4982 thy husband? G435 or G2228 how G5101 knowest thou, G1492 O man, G435 whether G1487 thou shalt save G4982 thy wife? G1135
Where G4226 is the wise? G4680 where G4226 is the scribe? G1122 where G4226 is the disputer G4804 of this G5127 world? G165 hath G3471 not G3780 God G2316 made foolish G3471 the wisdom G4678 of this G5127 world? G2889
G2228 Is it not G3756 lawful G1832 for me G3427 to do G4160 what G3739 I will G2309 with G1722 mine own? G1699 G1487 Is G2076 thine G4675 eye G3788 evil, G4190 because G3754 I G1473 am G1510 good? G18
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Romans 9
Commentary on Romans 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
The apostle, having plainly asserted and largely proved that justification and salvation are to had by faith only, and not by the works of the law, by Christ and not by Moses, comes in this and the following chapters to anticipate an objection which might be made against this. If this be so, then what becomes of the Jews, of them all as a complex body, especially those of them that do not embrace Christ, nor believe the gospel? By this rule they must needs come short of happiness; and then what becomes of the promise made to the fathers, which entailed salvation upon the Jews? Is not that promise nullified and made of none effect? Which is not a thing to be imagined concerning any word of God. That doctrine therefore, might they say, is not to be embraced, from which flows such a consequence as this. That the consequence of the rejection of the unbelieving Jews follows from Paul's doctrine he grants, but endeavours to soften and mollify (v. 1-5). But that from this it follows that the word of God takes no effect he denies (v. 6), and proves the denial in the rest of the chapter, which serves likewise to illustrate the great doctrine of predestination, which he had spoken of (ch. 8:28) as the first wheel which in the business of salvation sets all the other wheels a-going.
Rom 9:1-5
We have here the apostle's solemn profession of a great concern for the nation and people of the Jews-that he was heartily troubled that so many of them were enemies to the gospel, and out of the way of salvation. For this he had great heaviness and continual sorrow. Such a profession as this was requisite to take off the odium which otherwise he might have contracted by asserting and proving their rejection. It is wisdom as much as may be to mollify those truths which sound harshly and seem unpleasant: dip the nail in oil, it will drive the better. The Jews had a particular pique at Paul above any of the apostles, as appears by the history of the Acts, and therefore were the more apt to take things amiss of him, to prevent which he introduces his discourse with this tender and affectionate profession, that they might not think he triumphed or insulted over the rejected Jews or was pleased with the calamities that were coming upon them. Thus Jeremiah appeals to God concerning the Jews of his day, whose ruin was hastening on (Jer. 17:16), Neither have I desired the woeful day, thou knowest. Nay, Paul was so far from desiring it that he most pathetically deprecates it. And lest this should be thought only a copy of his countenance, to flatter and please them,
Rom 9:6-13
The apostle, having made his way to that which he had to say, concerning the rejection of the body of his countrymen, with a protestation of his own affection for them and a concession of their undoubted privileges, comes in these verses, and the following part of the chapter, to prove that the rejection of the Jews, by the establishment of the gospel dispensation, did not at all invalidate the word of God's promise to the patriarchs: Not as though the word of God hath taken no effect (v. 6), which, considering the present state of the Jews, which created to Paul so much heaviness and continual sorrow (v. 2), might be suspected. We are not to ascribe inefficacy to any word of God: nothing that he has spoken does or can fall to the ground; see Isa. 55:10, 11. The promises and threatenings shall have their accomplishment; and, one way or other, he will magnify the law and make it honourable. This is to be understood especially of the promise of God, which by subsequent providences may be to a wavering faith very doubtful; but it is not, it cannot be, made of no effect; at the end it will speak and not lie.
Now the difficulty is to reconcile the rejection of the unbelieving Jews with the word of God's promise, and the external tokens of the divine favour, which had been conferred upon them. This he does in four ways:-
In this paragraph the apostle explains the true meaning and intention of the promise. When we mistake the word, and misunderstand the promise, no marvel if we are ready to quarrel with God about the accomplishment; and therefore the sense of this must first be duly stated. Now he here makes it out that, when God said he would be a God to Abraham, and to his seed (which was the famous promise made unto the fathers), he did not mean it of all his seed according to the flesh, as if it were a necessary concomitant of the blood of Abraham; but that he intended it with a limitation only to such and such. And as from the beginning it was appropriated to Isaac and not to Ishmael, to Jacob and not to Esau, and yet for all this the word of God was not made of no effect; so now the same promise is appropriated to believing Jews that embrace Christ and Christianity, and, though it throws off multitudes that refuse Christ, yet the promise is not therefore defeated and invalidated, any more than it was by the typical rejection of Ishmael and Esau.
Rom 9:14-24
The apostle, having asserted the true meaning of the promise, comes here to maintain and prove the absolute sovereignty of God, in disposing of the children of men, with reference to their eternal state. And herein God is to be considered, not as a rector and governor, distributing rewards and punishments according to his revealed laws and covenants, but as an owner and benefactor, giving to the children of men such grace and favour as he has determined in and by his secret and eternal will and counsel: both the favour of visible church-membership and privileges, which is given to some people and denied to others, and the favour of effectual grace, which is given to some particular persons and denied to others.
Now this part of his discourse is in answer to two objections.
Rom 9:25-29
Having explained the promise, and proved the divine sovereignty, the apostle here shows how the rejection of the Jews, and the taking in of the Gentiles, were foretold in the Old Testament, and therefore must needs be very well consistent with the promise made to the fathers under the Old Testament. It tends very much to the clearing of a truth to observe how the scripture is fulfilled in it. The Jews would, no doubt, willingly refer it to the Old Testament, the scriptures of which were committed to them. Now he shows how this, which was so uneasy to them, was there spoken of.
Rom 9:30-33
The apostle comes here at last to fix the true reason of the reception of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews. There was a difference in the way of their seeking, and therefore there was that different success, though still it was the free grace of God that made them differ. He concludes like an orator, What shall we say then? What is the conclusion of the whole dispute?