God’s Word Translation
Romans 9:29
29This is what Isaiah predicted: “If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us some descendants, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.”
Romans 9:29 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We would have become like Sodom, And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Context of Romans 9:29
27Isaiah also says about Israel: “Although the descendants of Israel are as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a few will be saved. 28The Lord will carry out his sentence on the land, completely and decisively.” This is what Isaiah predicted: “If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us some descendants, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.” 30So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God’s approval won his approval, an approval based on faith. 31The people of Israel tried to gain God’s approval by obeying the laws in Moses’ Teachings, but they did not reach their goal.
Read all of Romans 9Romans 9:29 word by word
καὶ καθὼς προείρηκεν Ἠσαΐας· εἰ μὴ κύριος σαβαὼθ ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν καὶ ὡς Γόμορρα ἂν ὡμοιώθημεν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Andκαίkai · andG2532
- asκαθώςkathōs · as/just asG2531
- EsaiasἩσαΐαςHēsaias · IsaiahG2268
- said beforeπρολέγωprolegō · to foretellG4302
- Exceptεἰei · if: notG1487
- Exceptμήmē · notG3361
- the Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
- of Sabaothσαβαώθsabaōth · hostsG4519
- had leftἐγκαταλείπωegkataleipō · to leave behindG1459
- usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- a seedσπέρμαsperma · seed: offspringG4690
- ·ἄνan · ifG302
- we had beenγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
- asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
- SodomaΣόδομαSodoma · SodomG4670
- been made likeὁμοιόωhomoioō · to likenG3666
- unto GomorrhaΓόμορραGomorrha · GomorrahG1116
Cross-references for Romans 9:29
- Isaiah 1:9If the Lord of Armies hadn’t left us a few survivors, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 6:13Even if one out of ten people is left in it, the land will be burned again. When a sacred oak or an oak is cut down, a stump is left The holy seed will be the land’s stump.”
- Lamentations 3:22the Lord’s mercy. We were not completely wiped out. His compassion is never limited.
- James 5:4The wages you refused to pay the people who harvested your fields shout ⌞to God⌟ against you. The Lord of Armies has heard the cries of those who gather the crops.
- Genesis 19:24Then the Lord made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 13:19Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the proud beauty of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed them.
- Jeremiah 49:18Edom will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities when they were destroyed. No one will live there. No human will stay there,” says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 50:40Babylon will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities when I, God, destroyed them. No one will live there. No human will stay there,” declares the Lord.
- Lamentations 4:6The punishment for my people’s wickedness has been more severe than the punishment for the sins of Sodom. Sodom was destroyed instantly, without one human hand touching it.
- Amos 4:11I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning log snatched from a fire. And you still didn’t return to me, declares the Lord.
- Zephaniah 2:6The seacoast will become pastureland with meadows for shepherds and fenced-off places for sheep.
- 2 Peter 2:6God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them.
- Jude 1:7What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities near them is an example for us of the punishment of eternal fire. The people of these cities suffered the same fate that God’s people and the angels did, because they committed sexual sins and engaged in homosexual activities.
Commentaries on Romans 9:29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29And as Esaias said before - What God designs to do with the Jews at present, because of their obstinacy and rebellion, is similar to what he has done before, to which the same prophet refers, 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 Gomorrha: i.e. had not God, who commands and overrules all the powers in heaven and earth, in mercy preserved a very small…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-29Verses 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. Even among the vast number of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 29The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah shows the reality and seriousness of God’s judgment (Genesis 19).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 27-2927-29. 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.Read the comment
- Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 2929. And as Isaiah had before said, etc. (Isaiah 1:9. The words of the Septuagint are given literally, and differ only in one instance from the Hebrew; “seed” is put for “remnant;” but as “seed” in this case evidently means a small portion reserved for sowing, the idea of the original is conveyed. Schleusner refers to examples both in Josephus and Plato, in which the word “seed,” is used in the sense of a small reserved portion. Its most common meaning in…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 9:29
In the dictionaries
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
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