Commentary on Romans 9:25-29

THE PROPHETS FORETOLD THE CALL OF THE GENTILES AND THE REJECTION OF THE JEWS
A Summary of Romans 9:25-29 

Having proved from the history of the Patriarchs that the Messianic promises did not pertain to each and all the Jews (verses 6-13), and having shown from Scripture that God is perfectly free and just in the distribution of His gifts, the Apostle now shows that the call of the Gentiles to the faith and the rejection of the Jews as a body God had already foretold in Hosea and in Isaiah. The reference is to the Jews of St Paul’s day. See the commentary on verse 29.
 
Rom 9:25. As in Hosea he saith: I will call that which was not my people, my people; and her that was not beloved, beloved; and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy.

In the present verse the Apostle freely cites the Prophet Hosea 2:23-24 according to the LXX. The words not my people and not beloved, literally refer to the ten schismatical tribes of Israel who had fallen into idolatry and into all the vices of paganism, but to whom God had promised mercy and restoration to the ancient privileges of His people, provided they would be converted from their evil ways. In a spiritual sense the words “not my people,” and “not beloved,” refer to the Gentiles, of whom the ten schismatical tribes were a figure (1 Pet. 2:10). As God could bring back the unfaithful and disowned, so could He bring in those who had not been called before.

The words, and her that had not obtained mercy, etc., are omitted by all the Greek MSS. and the Fathers. The second clause, and her that was not beloved, etc., is also omitted by St. Jerome and a few MSS.
 
Rom 9:26. And it shall be, in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people; there they shall be called the sons of the living God.

The Apostle again cites Hosea 1:10 according to the Septuagint, thus making once more the schismatical tribes of Israel a type of the pagans. As God punished the unfaithful ten tribes with exile, and afterwards reunited the remnants of Israel so as to be again His people; so can He call the Gentiles, before far from Him, and make them His people and His sons.
 
Rom 9:27. And Isaiah crieth out concerning Israel: If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.

Isaiah 10:22 is now cited to show that a remnant of the Jews shall recognize the Messiah and be saved. The LXX is followed with slight alteration. Literally the Prophet’s words had reference to the few Israelites who, through trust in God, should escape the devastations of the Assyrians under Sennacherib; and these the Apostle makes a type of the small number of Jews that should believe in Christ and attain to salvation.
 
The pro of the Vulgate should be super, to agree with the Greek υπερ (=huper).
 
Rom 9:28. For he shall finish his word, and cut it short in justice; because a short word shall the Lord make upon the earth.

The citation of Isaia 10:22-23 is continued according to the LXX. Quoting the LXX from memory St. Paul has given a substantial rendering of the passage, omitting the words ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ from Isa 10:22, and  ὅτι λόγον συντετμημένον, from verse 23, and changing the last words, ἐν τῇ οἰκουμένῃ ὅλῃ  for the similar and more usual επι της γης. The Hebrew of this passage is somewhat different: “Destruction is decreed, bringing justice; for destruction and a firm decree the Lord God of hosts will execute in the midst of all the land.” However, the two renderings of this text, the Hebrew and the Greek, differ only in minor details; the sense is essentially the same. In both instances there is question of a divine decree which is a just chastisement for sin.
 
For he shall finish, etc., i.e., the Lord shall completely and briefly effect an accomplishment of His work on earth, regarding the deliverance of the Jews from the destructive sword of the Assyrian, by reducing to a few the number of the Israelites that are to be saved. This He shall do in justice, i.e., by justly punishing the greater number, and giving to the few the abundance of His favors.
 
Because a short word, etc. This clause is not found in the best Greek MSS., and is but a repetition of the foregoing one, as indeed this whole verse is but an emphasizing of the preceding verse. The words of Isaiah, which literally referred to the deliverance of the Jews from Assyrian destruction, St. Paul is typically using to show that the greater number of Jews will be rejected from grace, and only a few admitted to the blessings of faith.
 
Rom 9:29. And as Isaiah foretold: Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been made as Sodom, and we had been like unto Gomorrha.

The LXX of Isaiah 1:9 is cited to prove once more that a small number of the Jews will embrace the faith of Christ. The Prophet’s words, as before, literally relate to those who survived the Assyrian captivity, and these the Apostle is making a type of the few Jews that will recognize and follow Christ. As comparatively few Jews escaped the Assyrian sword in the time of Isaias, so few comparatively, in the time of St. Paul, entered the fold of Christ; and as in the former instance, so in the latter, these few were as a seed for a future growth and a harvest which shall be garnered before the end of the world.

It would be wrong to argue from these passages that the majority of Christians or of mankind are lost eternally.