^9:27And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children⁵⁰ of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, ^9:28for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.”⁵¹^9:29Just⁵² as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies⁵³ had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.”⁵⁴

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

^9:30What shall we say then?—that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, ^9:31but Israel even though pursuing⁵⁵ a law of righteousness⁵⁶ did not attain it.⁵⁷^9:32Why not? Because they pursued⁵⁸ it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works.⁵⁹ They stumbled over the stumbling stone,⁶⁰^9:33just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall,⁶¹

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.”⁶²

Read in Logos

Footnotes

46 Grk “and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’ ”
47 A quotation from Hos 2:23.
48 Grk “And it will be in the very place.”
49 A quotation from Hos 1:10.
50 Grk “sons.”
51 In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian (𝔓46 א* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine (א2 D F G Ψ 33 𝔐 lat). The longer reading follows Isa 10:22–23 () verbatim, while Paul in the previous verse quoted the loosely. This suggests the addition was made by a copyist trying to make sense out of a difficult passage rather than by the author himself. There is a wordplay in Greek (in both the and here) on the phrase translated “completely and quickly” (συντελῶν καὶ συντέμνων, suntelōn kai suntemnōn). These participles are translated as adverbs for smoothness; a more literal (and more cumbersome) rendering would be: “The Lord will act by closing the account [or completing the sentence], and by cutting short the time.” The interpretation of this text is notoriously difficult. Cf. συντέμνω. A modified quotation from Isa 10:22–23. Since it is not exact, it has been printed as italics only.
52 Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
53 Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”
54 A quotation from Isa 1:9.
55 Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.
56 Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation would treat the genitive δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunēs) as an attributed genitive (see ).
57 Grk “has not attained unto the law.”
58 Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.
59 Most , especially the later ones (א2 D Ψ 33 𝔐 sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify. Grk “but as by works.”
60 Grk “the stone of stumbling.”
61 Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”
62 A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.