Romans 9:2

Romans 9:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
• New International Version (NIV)I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
• English Standard Version (ESV)that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
• New King James Version (NKJV)that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

Context of Romans 9:2

1I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For [if it were possible] I would wish that I myself were accursed, [separated, banished] from Christ for the sake [of the salvation] of my brothers, my natural kinsmen, 4who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, the glory (Shekinah), the [special] covenants [with Abraham, Moses, and David], the giving of the Law, the [system of temple] worship, and the [original] promises.

Romans 9:2 word by word

ὅτι λύπη μοί ἐστιν μεγάλη καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ὀδύνη τῇ καρδίᾳ μου.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• haveεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• heavinessλύπηlupē · griefG3077
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• continualἀδιάλειπτοςadialeiptos · continuousG88
• sorrowὀδύνηodunē · anguishG3601
• inὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• inκαρδίαkardia · heartG2588

Cross-references for Romans 9:2

• Romans 10:1Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation.
• 1 Samuel 15:35Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
• Psalms 119:136My eyes weep streams of water Because people do not keep Your law.
• Isaiah 66:10“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; Rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her,
• Jeremiah 9:1Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
• Jeremiah 13:17But if you will not listen and obey, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And flow with tears, Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
• Lamentations 1:12“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass this way? Look and see if there is any pain like my pain Which was severely dealt out to me, Which the Lord has inflicted [on me] on the day of His fierce anger.
• Lamentations 3:48My eyes overflow with streams of tears Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people (Jerusalem).
• Ezekiel 9:4The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, throughout all of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh [in distress] and grieve over all the repulsive acts which are being committed in it.”
• Luke 19:41As He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it [and the spiritual ignorance of its people],
• Philippians 3:18For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ [rejecting and opposing His way of salvation],
• Revelation 11:3And I will grant authority to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth.”

Commentaries on Romans 9:2

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3Paul does not clearly explain why he feels such deep sorrow for his Jewish brothers and sisters. However, he says that he would be willing to be cursed for their sake if it would save them. This shows that his pain comes from the fact that most Jews did not accept Jesus and be saved (see also 10:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-33Too well aware that he was regarded as a traitor to the dearest interests of his people (Ac 21:33; 22:22; 25:24), the apostle opens this division of his subject by giving vent to his real feelings with extraordinary vehemence of protestation. 1-2. I say the truth in Christ--as if steeped in the spirit of Him who wept over impenitent and doomed Jerusalem (compare Ro 1:9; 2Co 12:19; Php 1:8). my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost--"my…Read the comment
• Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 22. That I have great sorrow, etc. He dexterously manages so to cut short his sentence as not yet to express what he was going to say; for it was not as yet seasonable openly to mention the destruction of the Jewish nation. It may be added, that he thus intimates a greater measure of sorrow, as imperfect sentences are for the most part full of pathos. But he will presently express the cause of his sorrow, after having more fully testified his sincerity…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 9:2

• Love
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Continual
• Fault
• Resist
• Bible, the
• Continual; Continually
• Election
• Heavy; Heaviness
• Paul, the Apostle
• Romans, Epistle to the
• Sorrow

Commentaries on Romans 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings