Tree of Life Version
Romans 9:18
18So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills.
Romans 9:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
- New International Version (NIV)Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Context of Romans 9:18
16So then it does not depend on the one who wills or the one who strives, but on God who shows mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up—to demonstrate My power in you, so My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He wills, and He hardens whom He wills. 19You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20But who in the world are you, O man, who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
Read all of Romans 9Romans 9:18 word by word
ἄρα οὖν ὃν θέλει ἐλεεῖ, ὃν δὲ θέλει σκληρύνει.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Romans 9:18
- Romans 9:15For to Moses He says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Romans 5:20Now the Torah came in so that transgression might increase. But where sin increased, grace overflowed even more—
- Ephesians 1:6to the glorious praise of His grace, with which He favored us through the One He loves!
- Romans 1:24Therefore God gave them over in the evil desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies with one another.
- Romans 11:7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained; but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened—
- Exodus 4:21Adonai said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put in your hand. Still, I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.
- Exodus 7:13Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. So he did not listen to them— just as Adonai had said.
- Deuteronomy 2:30But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, because Adonai your God stiffened his spirit and hardened his heart, in order to hand him over to you this very day.
- Joshua 11:20For it was of Adonai to harden their hearts to encounter Israel in battle, that they might be put to the ban, that they might receive no mercy, in order to destroy them as Adonai had commanded Moses.
- Isaiah 63:17Adonai, why do You cause us to stray from Your ways, and harden our heart from fearing You? Return for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your heritage.
- Matthew 13:14”And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing but will never understand; you will keep looking, but will never see.
- Acts 28:26saying, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will keep on hearing but will never understand; you will keep looking, but will never see.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10and with every kind of wicked deception toward those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved.
Commentaries on Romans 9:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will - This is the apostle's conclusion from the facts already laid down: that God, according to his own will and wisdom, in perfect righteousness, bestows mercy; that is to say, his blessings upon one part of mankind, (the Jews of old, and the Gentiles of the present time), while he suffers another part (the Egyptians of old, and the Jews of the present day) to go on in the abuse of his goodness and forbearance…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. 18He hardens whom He wants to harden: Pharaoh refused to let Israel leave because his heart became hard. A hard heart describes stubborn resistance to God. It means refusing to listen or change, even after seeing clear signs of God’s power. The book of Exodus says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12). It also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15). Together, these statements show that Pharaoh was responsible for his actions, even…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Therefore hath he--"So then he hath." The result then is that He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth--by judicially abandoning them to the hardening influence of sin itself (Psa 81:11, 12; Ro 1:24, 26, 28; He 3:8, 13), and of the surrounding incentives to it (Mt 24:12; 1Co 15:38; 2Th 2:17). Second objection to the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty:Read the comment
- Calvin’s Commentaries · v. 1818. To whom he wills then he showeth mercy, etc. Here follows the conclusion of both parts; which can by no means be understood as being the language of any other but of the Apostle; for he immediately addresses an opponent, and adduces what might have been objected by an opposite party. There is therefore no doubt but that Paul, as we have already reminded you, speaks these things in his own person, namely, that God, according to his own will, favors…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 9:18
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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