Romans 9:15

Romans 9:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
• New King James Version (NKJV)For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
• New Living Translation (NLT)For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

Context of Romans 9:15

13Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. 17For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Romans 9:15 word by word

τῷ Μωϋσεῖ γὰρ λέγει· ἐλεήσω ὃν ἂν ἐλεῶ καὶ οἰκτιρήσω ὃν ἂν οἰκτίρω.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ἄνan · ifG302
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• he saithλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• to MosesΜωϋσῆς, ΜωσῆςMōseus Mōsēs Mōusēs · MosesG3475
• I will have mercy onἐλεέωeleeō · to have mercyG1653
• whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• I will have compassion onοἰκτείρωoikteirō · to have compassionG3627

Cross-references for Romans 9:15

• Romans 9:16It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.
• Exodus 33:19And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
• Exodus 34:6And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
• Isaiah 27:11When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
• Micah 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

Commentaries on Romans 9:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy, etc. - The words of God to Moses, Exodus 33:19, show that God has a right to dispense his blessings as he pleases; for, after he had declared that he would spare the Jews of old, and continue them in the relation of his peculiar people, when they had deserved to have been cut off for their idolatry, he said: I will make all my goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I…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. 15This quotation from Exodus 33:19 emphasizes God's nature. God is not obligated or forced to show mercy to anyone. When God shows mercy, he does so freely, according to his own will.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. For he saith to Moses--(Ex 33:19). I will have mercy on whom I will have--"on whom I have" mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have--"on whom I have" compassion--"There can be no unrighteousness in God's choosing whom He will, for to Moses He expressly claims the right to do so." Yet it is worthy of notice that this is expressed in the positive rather than the negative form: not, "I will have mercy on none but whom I will"; but, "I will…Read the comment
• Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 1515. For he saith to Moses, etc. (The quotation is from Exodus 33:19, and literally from the Septuagint. The verb ἐλεέω is to be taken here in the sense of showing favour rather than mercy, according to the meaning of the Hebrew word; for the idea of mercy is what the other verb, οἰκτείρω, conveys. Schleusner renders it here and in some other passages in this sense. The rendering then would be — “I will favour whom I favour,” that is, whom I choose to…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 9:15

• God Continued...
• Grace of God
• Predestination
• Quotations and Allusions

In the dictionaries

• Moses
• Continual
• Fault
• Resist
• Sovereignty
• Bible, the
• Compassion
• Election
• Paul, the Apostle
• Predestination

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