Romans 9:29
And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
Romans 9:29 in other translations
| BSB | It is just as Isaiah foretold: “Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.” |
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| WEB | As Isaiah has said before, “Unless the Lord of Armies had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been made like Gomorrah.” |
| ASV | And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah. |
| YLT | and according as Isaiah saith before, ‘Except the Lord of Sabaoth did leave to us a seed, as Sodom we had become, and as Gomorrah we had been made like.' |
| DARBY | And according as Esaias said before, Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and made like even as Gomorrha. |
| BBE | And, as Isaiah had said before, If the Lord of armies had not given us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. |
| Webster | And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like Gomorrah. |
What does Romans 9:29 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 9:27-29
27-29. Esaias also crieth--"But Isaiah crieth"--an expression denoting a solemn testimony openly borne (Joh 1:15; 7:28, 37; 12:44; Ac 23:6; 24:21). concerning Israel, Though the number of the children--"sons" of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a--"the" remnant--that is, the elect remnant only shall be saved.
Barnes' Notes
Before. The apostle had just cited one prediction from the tenth chapter of Isaiah. He now says that Isaiah had affirmed the same thing in a previous part of his prophecy.
Except the Lord of Sabaoth. In Isaiah, the Lord of Hosts. The word Sabaoth is the Hebrew word rendered hosts. It properly denotes armies or military hosts organized for war. Hence it denotes the hosts of heaven, and means
(1.) the angels, who are represented as marshalled or arranged into military orders, Eph 1:21, 3:10, 6:12, Col 1:16, 2:15, Jude 1:6 1Kgs 22:19, "I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him" Ps 103:21, 148:2.
(2.) The stars, Jer 33:22, "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered," etc.; Isa 40:26, De 4:19, etc. God is called the Lord of hosts, as being at the head of all these armies; their King and their Commander. It is a phrase properly expressive of his majesty and power, and is appropriately introduced here, as the act of saving "the seed" was a signal act of power in the midst of great surrounding wickedness.
Had left. Had preserved, or kept from destruction. Here their preservation is ascribed to God, and it is affirmed that if God had not interposed, the whole nation would have been cut off. This fully establishes the doctrine of the apostle, that God might cast off the Jews, and extend the blessings to the Gentiles.
A seed. The Hebrew in Isaiah means one surviving or escaping, corresponding with the word remnant. The word seed commonly means, in the Scriptures, descendants, posterity. In this place it means a part, a small portion; a remnant, like the small portion of the harvest which is reserved for sowing.
We had been as Sodoma. The nation was so wicked, that unless God had preserved a small number who were pious from the general corruption of the people, they would have been swept off by judgment, like Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that ten righteous men would have saved Sodom, Gen 18:32. Among the Israelites, in a time of great general depravity, a small number of holy men were found who preserved the nation. The design of the apostle here was the same as in the previous verses--to show that it was settled in the Jewish history that God might cast off the people, and reject them from enjoying the peculiar privileges of his friends. It is true that in Isaiah he has reference to the temporal punishment of the Jews. But it settles a great principle, for which Paul was contending, that God might cast off the nation consistently with his promises and his plans.--We may learn here,
(1.) that the existence of religion among a people is owing to the love of God. "Except the Lord had left us," etc.
(2.) It is owing to his mercy that any men are kept from sin, and any nation from destruction.
(3.) We see the value of religion and of pious men in a nation. Ten such would have saved Sodom; and a few such saved Judea. Comp. Mt 5:13,14.
(4.) God has a right to withdraw his mercies from any other people, however exalted their privileges, and leave them to ruin; and we should not be high-minded, but fear, Rom 10:20.
(c) "Except the Lord" Isa 1:9, Lam 3:22 (d) "we had been as" Gen 19:24,25, Isa 13:19
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Romans 9:25-29
The rejecting of the Jews, and the taking in the Gentiles, were foretold in the Old Testament. It tends very much to the clearing of a truth, to observe how the Scripture is fulfilled in it. It is a wonder of Divine power and mercy that there are any saved: for even those left to be a seed, if God had dealt with them according to their sins, had perished with the rest. This great truth this Scripture teaches us…
Romans 9:29 in the original Greek
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Cross references for Romans 9:29
- Isaiah 1:9
Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- James 5:4
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
- Amos 4:11
I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.
- Jeremiah 50:40
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
- Jeremiah 49:18
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
- Jude 1:7
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
- Genesis 19:24-25
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
- Deuteronomy 29:23
And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
- 2 Peter 2:6
And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
- Lamentations 3:22
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
- Zephaniah 2:6
And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Romans 9:28
For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
- Romans 9:29
And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
- Romans 9:30
What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
Romans 9:29 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y como antes dijo Isaías: Si el Señor de los ejércitos no nos hubiera dejado simiente, como Sodoma habríamos venido á ser, y á Gomorra fuéramos semejantes. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Et comme Ésaïe a dit auparavant: « Si le ✶Seigneur Sabaoth ne nous avait laissé quelque semence, nous serions devenus comme Sodome et nous aurions été semblables à Gomorrhe ». |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und wie Jesaias zuvorgesagt hat: "Wenn nicht der Herr Zebaoth uns Samen übriggelassen hätte, so wären wir wie Sodom geworden und Gomorra gleich geworden". |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | et sicut prædixit Isaias: Nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen, sicut Sodoma facti essemus, et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus. |