Romans 9:16

Romans 9:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
• New International Version (NIV)It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.

Context of Romans 9:16

14Because of this, someone might say that God is not fair. No! We should never say that! 15Think about this. God said to Moses, ‘I will be kind to whoever I choose to be kind to. I will feel sorry for whoever I choose to feel sorry for.’ So then, it is God who decides these things. It is not because of what people want. It is not because of what people do. It is because God chooses to be kind. 17The Bible tells us what God said to Pharaoh: ‘This is why I caused you to be king of Egypt. My purpose was to show how powerful I am. As a result, people everywhere would know that I am great.’ 18So we see this: God is kind to some people and he forgives them. But he causes some people, like Pharaoh, to turn against him. He chooses what he will do with each person.

Romans 9:16 word by word

ἄρα οὖν οὐ τοῦ θέλοντος οὐδὲ τοῦ τρέχοντος ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἐλεῶντος θεοῦ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Soἄραara · thereforeG686
• thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• notοὐou · noG3756
• of him that willethθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• norοὐδέoude · norG3761
• of him that runnethτρέχωtrechō · to runG5143
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• that sheweth mercyἐλεέωeleeō · to have mercyG1653

Cross-references for Romans 9:16

• Romans 9:11And God spoke to Rebekah before her sons were born. God spoke before the boys had done anything either good or bad. God did this to show clearly that he himself was choosing one child. He was not choosing someone because of what that person had done. He himself decided who he would choose.
• Genesis 27:1Isaac became old. He could not see anything because his eyes were weak. He called for his older son, Esau. Isaac said, ‘My son.’ Esau replied, ‘Yes, I am here.’
• Psalms 110:3When you go to fight your enemies, your people will be happy to fight beside you. As the sun rises on the day of battle, your young men will be there, on the hills round Zion.
• Isaiah 65:1The Lord says, ‘I was ready to answer, even when my people did not ask me anything. I showed myself to people who were not even looking for me. I said, “Look! Here I am!” to a nation who did not even use my name to pray.
• Matthew 11:25At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People who do not know many things can now understand your message. And so I thank you. But you have hidden these things from some other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise.
• Luke 10:21At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. He said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People that do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’
• John 1:12Some people did accept him and they believed in him. He gave authority to those people to become God's children.
• John 3:8When someone is born by God's Spirit, it is like the wind that blows. The wind blows wherever it chooses to blow. You can hear it. But you do not know where it came from or where it is going.’
• 1 Corinthians 1:26Christian friends, remember the time when God called you to come to him. Think about what you were like. Not many of you were clever or powerful in the way that people think is good. Not many of you belonged to important families.
• Ephesians 2:4But God is very good and kind! He loved us very much.
• Philippians 2:13It is God himself who is working in you. Now you want to obey him, and he makes you strong to do that. When you obey him, that makes him very happy.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:13We always thank God for you, our Christian friends that the Lord loves. We ought to thank God, because he has chosen to save you. God chose you to belong to him, as some of the first people that he would save. You believed God's true message. And God's Spirit makes you separate from things that are bad.
• James 1:18He chose to make us his children. He used his true message to do that. Because of that, we are like the first special gift that belongs to him from among everything that he has made.
• 1 Peter 2:9But you are not like that. You are a special group of people that God has chosen. You serve God like priests who serve a King. You are his own holy people who belong to him. He has taken you out of the dark place of sin, and he has brought you into his great light. He has done all this so that you can tell people how great he is.

Commentaries on Romans 9:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16So then it is not of him that willeth, etc. - I conclude, therefore, from these several instances, that the making or continuing any body of men the peculiar people of God, is righteously determined; not by the judgment, hopes, or wishes of men, but by the will and wisdom of God alone. For Abraham judged that the blessing ought, and he willed, desired, that it might be given to Ishmael; and Isaac also willed, designed, it for his first-born, Esau: and…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-24Verses 14-24 Whatever God does, must be just. Wherein the holy, happy people of God differ from others, God's grace alone makes them differ. In this preventing, effectual, distinguishing grace, he acts as a benefactor, whose grace is his own. None have deserved it; so that those who are saved, must thank God only; and those who perish, must blame themselves only, Hos 13:9. God is bound no further than he has been pleased to bind himself by his own…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-16God’s choice is not unfair because God does not owe anything to sinful human beings (see study note on 4:4–5). Anything God gives is an act of mercy, not a payment that people deserve.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. So then it is not of him that willeth--hath the inward desire nor of him that runneth--maketh active effort (compare 1Co 9:24, 26; Php 2:16; 3:14). Both these are indispensable to salvation, yet salvation is owing to neither, but is purely "of God that showeth mercy." See on Php 2:12, 13, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which, out of His own good pleasure, worketh in you both to will and to do."Read the comment
• Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 1616. It is not then of him who wills, etc. From the testimony adduced he draws this inference, that beyond all controversy our election is not to be ascribed to our diligence, nor to our striving, nor to our efforts, but that it is wholly to be referred to the counsel of God. That none of you may think that they who are elected are elected because they are deserving, or because they had in any way procured for themselves the favor of God, or, in short…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 9:16

• Grace of God
• Predestination
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Continual
• Election of Grace
• Fault
• Resist
• Sovereignty
• Bible, the
• Election
• Games

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